Instant Replay

If you are a baseball fan at all, you have to be outraged at the way the umpiring has been going this postseason in the MLB playoffs. Last night in Game 2 of the World Series was just even more proof that someone needs to give Bud Selig some smelling salts and a defibrillator to get him out of his slumber and see just how bad this is getting. Before Game 2 yesterday, Selig stated

"The more baseball people I talk to, there is a lot of trepidation about it and I think their trepidation is fair, I've spent a lot of time [on this] over the past month and will spend a lot of time in the ensuing months as well. I don't want to overreact. You can make light of that but when you start to think you're going to have more intrusions -- and even if they're good intrusions -- it's something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do. Life is changing and I understand that," he said. "I do like the human element and I think the human element for the last 130 years has worked pretty well. There have been controversies but there are controversies in every sport."

Which baseball people is he talking to, little league coaches? Bud, PLEASE, OVERREACT, DO SOMETHING, show us all that you still have somewhat of a pulse! And this coming from a guy that called a tie in an All Star game no less. OK, Bud WAKE UP!!!!This human element that you have been holding on to, isn't going to fly anymore. You do not want to affect the game on the field? How about how all these bad calls that are essentially already affecting the game on the field. How could you honestly sit there and tell us that the umpiring that has been going on this postseason has not affected any of these games at all? Even if a call went against my team, I at least want to know if it is a fair call or not on a close play, and especially if it is a clearly blown call that goes against my team, I would love to have that play reviewed. Are you afraid that the pace of the game might get slowed down? Are you kidding Bud? The pace of baseball games are so slow now that even newly graduated high school kids could pay for concessions with their Social Security checks by the end of the game. And yes Bud, there have been controversies in every sport, but why do you want that when you have a chance to bypass a controversy altogether?

MLB decided in this year's World Series that they would have experienced crews working the games, but experienced crews as we should have already have known, guarantees nothing. Let's face it officials in any sport can screw up calls, it happens. It happens in baseball, in football, in basketball. It will happen whenever someone with a pulse has to make a split-second decision in any sport. What has been happening is that MLB has the technology it takes to help the umps make the right call, but they want them to live in the dark ages of technology and then have us as fans get upset at them for making the wrong call. This has to stop. I maybe crazy, but this is what I propose for the remaining game of the World Series. Give each manager two challenges per game, have two well respected veteran umpires in a booth in the press box, give the crew chief on the field a headset so that he will be able to get the call from up in the box, and play ball. These umpires are human too and if we as fans had to make a split second decision like they have to do, we may not always make the right call either. It is easy for us to get upset at the umpire for making a bad close call when we are not the ones having to make the decision. These blown calls goes all the way back to Bud Selig and MLB for not instituting instant replay in situations such as what happened last night. Face it Bud, you are clinging to the hopes of keeping baseball stuck in the 20th century when 21st century technology will help the games, the players, the fans, and eventually, help the umpires themselves.