I know there has been a lot of talk about how this is the year of the pitcher. I myself have talked about that only a few posts back. However, I would venture to say this has also been the year of the umpire, or, at least the year of umpire scrutiny.
2010 has been a tough season for the boys in blue. While it’s easy to make calls from your couch with aid of HD, slow-motion, and instant replays, it’s quite another thing to get it right in realtime with 58,000 fans screaming out death threats at you. I don’t envy their job, even when I get screwed on a play, because I know umpiring is a skill just like a lot of the other human actions, and while I’m accustomed to being hated by at least one side of the field, I can’t imagine what it’s like to be hated by every side of it.
Since the Galarraga fiasco, it’s not uncommon to see umpires making highlight reels on Sports Center weekly, and never for the positive. When was the last time a clutch call got limelight praise on a cable news show? This year has thrown more fuel on the raging fire of of instant replay use and given reason for more ranting comment clogged webpages than any other. More blue video game style grids, more laser light pens, more announcers saying, “Riiiiiiight there… see!” And hey, I understand, but I also think that if you mechanized all the chance aspects of the game, you really would take away some of what makes baseball, baseball.
I’ve heard the comparison to other sports where calls can be challenged, and I think it could and would add something to the game, but I also know it would take away those moments when I, the pitcher of record, get to come in and say to my hitters, “He’s really given me off the plate away to righties tonight, might want to crowd a little more then usual.” Baseball is a game of adjustments, after all. And adjusting for the umpires zone is part of it. The strike zone is a moving target, always has been and always should be. It makes pitching a much more challenging, respectable, and fun craft to watch knowing that each guy you who steps into the box has a different relationship between his knees and his letters (and honestly, when was the last time strikes got called at anyone’s letters?). Personally, I would like to see more midgets with impossible strike zones in baseball. Can football find a valuable roll for wee-man from Jackass? I doubt it.
The dimensions of the field, on the other hand, are set things and should be scrutinized and challenged. That’s why they are measured, marked, and repainted before every game. What ever reservations you have concerning a challenged call and it’s potential to slow down the game might bring, bear in mind most games are 3 hours plus theses days… I mean, you’re going to be there for a while, might as well get the call that could either make you leave the park pissed of at the world or in love with your hometown boys right, right?