According to Wikipedia, that is how Tim Welke is now described. I'm not sure who was most shocked, Don Mattingly, Todd Helton, or Sims when he logged on to grab Harper and saw he was already gone.
I mean, that is just incredible. How is that allowed? Is he not allowed to ask the Home Plate umpire, (or even the blind woman in section 121) for some help? This isn't just a bang-bang mistake, this is a joke.
BUT...it allows me to finally join the endless Umpire conversations on here, and include a clip from the greatest comedy of all time.
Classic.
ReplyDeleteEventually, I want to have the instant replay debate. But first we have to set the stage with bad umpire stories. Thanks for contributing. I haven't discussed it with him, but I'm certain Ron is in the 'human element' camp when it comes to the value of umpires.
Without getting into that instant replay debate, but sort of getting into it...why is it that the refs/umps that are doing the game have to be the ones to look at the tape? Isn't that what is wasting time? Watching 4 overweight baseball umps jog over to the dugout? Or Ed Hochuli bouncing over to look under the hood, just to spend 15 minutes explaining it to everyone? Why do THEY have to be the ones who watch it?
ReplyDeleteWouldn't things move quicker if they were all set up like hockey, with a control room, watching all games, and the video replay technicians there making the calls and relaying it to the game refs? As always, hockey does everything right.
I agree 100% and that's my trump card when I argue for more instant replay - it will speed the game up. You have a replay official that looks at every close play as soon as it happens. If he sees clear evidence to overturn it, he hits a button that buzzes the umpire. The umpire feels the buzz and knows he made the wrong call and overturns it. That way, managers know that close calls are being called correctly and it cuts down on them running out to the umpire, getting in a discussion, umpires huddling, etc. etc.
ReplyDeleteanything that results in less of a lou pinella or ozzie yelling at umpires is just wrong and can never be allowed into the game. you're headed to a path of cerebral and calm major league managers and that's not the baseball i grew up . .
ReplyDelete