Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Wow
Just, wow. I'm not sure if you have seen the replays of the "final" out of the Tigers-Indians game, but do yourself a favor and go watch it. For those who haven't heard, Armando Galarraga had retired the first 26 batters he faced, and got Jason Donald to ground to first. It wasn't an automatic play, and Galarraga had to cover first, but Donald was out by a step. And then Jim Joyce called him safe. Joyce has already admitted he was wrong, but it is too late now, and Armando Galarraga is left out of the history books. I understand some of the arguments against replay (particularly fears of slowing down the game), but isn't it more important to get it right? With the past few weeks, MLB umpires are approaching NBA ref levels of incompetence.
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5 comments:
Unreal. I posted a link to the video on the league home page.
At least Joyce had the common sense to apologize right off the bat, both to the media and to Galarraga. I liked Tony Kornheiser's tweet - "The lack of replay isn't just unfair to Galarraga, it's unfair to Jim Joyce."
I gotta say, I never expected this incident to end with Joyce getting an ovation coming onto the field this afternoon, and actually shedding tears at the plate when Galarraga brought him the lineup card. There was a hell of a lot of class on display from the Tigers, their fans, and Joyce. He fucked up royally, but I can't put him in the group of self-righteous asses like Joe West, Angel Hernandez, and CB Bucknor.
Meanwhile, Selig's statement says he'll be re-examining the MLB umpire situation and need for further replay, in light of this event "and other recent events." Could be interesting, but probably won't.
Meanwhile, how much will Galarraga go for on Saturday?
My NBA comparison was unfair. If the MLB umps were as bad as NBA umps, Jim Joyce would have ejected Galarraga and challenged him to a fight.
Here are some great quotes from Ken Macha about instant replay:
I'm against it," Macha said. "Let me throw this one out there: What if the guy was safe and they called him out? What if he had two strikes on the hitter and threw one right down the middle and the guy called it a ball, and the next pitch, he walked him? You're getting into so many hypotheticals.
and this:
"Let me tell you what, there have been some great plays in baseball where the guy missed the call," Macha said. "They've got Jackie Robinson stealing home and Yogi Berra back there. [Robinson] is out! And they called him safe. Go look at the replay. How many times have they put that out there?"
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