By James Bailey
If there’s a silver lining to the blown call that cost Detroit’s Armando Galarraga a perfect game Wednesday night, it might be as a catalyst to finally bringing instant replay to plays on the bases.
Jim Joyce was defended as a good umpire by many in the game in the hours following baseball’s biggest blooper of 2010. He admitted he blew the call and apologized to Galarraga and the Tigers. But he can’t undo what was done. Even if fan petitioning for Major League Baseball to recognize Galarraga’s gem as a perfect game instead of a one-hitter is successful (doubtful), the accomplishment will forever be tainted.
The play wasn’t all that close, as close plays go. It certainly wasn’t bang-bang. More like bang … wait for it … bang. The kind of decision that would have been exposed and reversed in mere moments in MLB’s replay headquarters.
The equipment is already available, and the infrastructure is in place. MLB has been reviewing—and reversing—home run calls since 2008. That came on the heels of a spate of controversial calls early that year. Decades of resistance to replay broke down, but only for a very limited purpose. Was a ball fair or foul, and did it truly clear the fence?
One reason many have long objected to replay is the time it could potentially add to games, which as umpire Joe West would remind you are way too long already. The delays haven’t been that long on the home run checks, and the ability to get the call correct outweighs a minute or two of extra time.
Considering most of the calls would be debated by an unhappy manager anyway, the time it takes for MLB officials to review a home run is likely a wash. And at least the delay serves a purpose. When was the last time you saw an umpire change his call when confronted by a manager? Never? But the skippers keep steaming out of their dugouts anyway. Right or wrong, they rush the field to question the men in blue on trapped balls in the outfield, neighborhood plays at second, and judgment calls at first. Inevitably they return to the bench unsuccessful.
Here’s where a football-like challenge flag could be useful. Instead of running out to kick dirt on the ump’s shoes or poke the bill of their cap in his face, the manager could toss his challenge flag out on the field and sit back and wait. The folks in the league office, with access to multiple viewpoints from cameras located all over the stadium, could review the play and issue their verdict. No fuss, no muss. Nothing personal. No one gets ejected. And most importantly, the call gets made correctly.
This hasn’t been a good couple of weeks for umpires. West has been in the headlines for comments about the length of Red Sox-Yankees games, which players on both sides found out of line. He got in a scrap with White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle and manager Ozzie Guillen over a controversial balk call on May 26. And his publicist informed the media prior to last week’s swing through Boston that West would be “available for media interviews and guest appearances.”
This Monday, Astros ace Roy Oswalt was ejected in the third inning after yelling at himself on the mound following an outside pitch. According to Oswalt, he was upset that he didn’t make a better pitch. As he cursed himself and stomped on the mound, umpire Bill Hohn raced out from behind the plate to challenge him for arguing balls and strikes. Oswalt yelled “I ain’t talking to you.” Hohn challenged him again and he repeated it, then was ejected.
“I have never seen that before,” Oswalt said. “I was actually upset that I threw a ball that ended up a little bit off the plate. I was actually talking to myself on the mound and I wasn’t even looking his way.
“When I turned around, he was pointing at me saying something like, ‘Keep your mouth shut,’ or something,” Oswalt said. “I couldn’t really tell you what he said. I told him that I wasn’t talking to him, and he kept on talking.”
The Astros trailed 4-1 when Oswalt was sent to the showers. They would go on to lose 14-4. Though Oswalt didn’t have his best stuff, Houston certainly had a better chance to win the game with him on the hill. Monday’s outing was his first all year that didn’t go in the books as a quality start.
West’s ego and Hohn’s itchy trigger finger are an embarrassment for the league, but neither galvanized fans the way Joyce’s honest blown call did Wednesday night. Joyce clearly regretted his error, saying afterwards:
“I don’t blame them a bit or anything that was said. I would’ve said it myself if I had been Galarraga. I would’ve been the first person in my face, and he never said a word to me.”
With replay in place, there would have been no need for an apology. Imagine instead this scenario:
With two outs in the ninth, Jason Donald grounds a ball to first baseman Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera tosses the ball to Galarraga, who appears to step on the base before Donald reaches it. Joyce calls Donald safe. Tigers manager Jim Leyland tosses his red challenge flag onto the field. Joyce calls timeout and the play is reviewed by officials in the MLB office. The call is reversed, with Donald being out and the Tigers celebrate Galarraga’s perfect game.
No fuss, no muss. No asterisk. No death threats for Jim Joyce. No reason to wait any longer on this.
