A Plea to the Umpires

I know right now that this is a waste of my time. I’m going to write this, and a couple hundred of you are going to read it, and nothing is going to change. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is going to hold a few meetings this winter to make it look like the league is trying to do something to remedy the situation. The fact of the matter, though, is that Major League Baseball umpires are doing a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad job.

I don’t really need to give examples. You all watch the games. You’ve seen it. You’ve rationalized that it all balances out over time. And quite frankly, it usually does. But this year has just been icky.

We probably all say the same thing every year. In fact, I know we do. But somewhere along the way someone has to step in to say “enough is enough.”

Early in tonight’s game, there were four missed calls. Big calls. Inning ending calls. Home plate umpire Wally Bell called not one, but two fourth-pitch balls as strikes. Not “I’m-watching-this-game-on-TV-so-I-have-a-skewed-perception-of-where-the-ball-actually-crossed-the-plate” kind of balls, but “even-Fox’s-crappy-pitch-track-graphic-shows-the-ball-six-inches-off-the-plate” kind of balls. The umpiring staff missed a blatant balk by Giants starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner as Jimmy Rollins was attempting to steal second base. Jimmy would get picked off (to end the inning) but after seeing the replay from multiple angles, it appears he was indeed safe.

I can’t sit around and make excuses for the Phillies. They have to hit the ball and they have to win this game unless they really want to face Lincecum, Sanchez & Cain back-to-back-to-back to attempt to finish the series. As I write this, the Fightins score their first runs in almost 16 innings. They may be winning right this second, but you can’t get shut out for the equivalent of almost two straight games and expect to move on to the next round of the playoffs. All I’m asking for is that the one constant in the game actually remains consistent. Isn’t that why math-minded people tend to be baseball fans? Consistency! Precision! I don’t understand why the umpiring has gotten more lax when the game itself has not.


I don’t know what it’s going to take MLB to start taking the missteps by their umpires seriously. I don’t know if they already do – it has never been public knowledge what type of discipline they get for botching calls, games, series, etc. All that is known is that they have to fill out some paperwork afterwards, at least after they eject a player, and from there I’m assuming there is some type of recourse. But it’s nothing like the way a player’s or manager’s suspension or fine gets publicized and dissected eight ways to Sunday. What I do know is that if these guys can’t get their act together they should, at the very least, be sent down to the minors just like the players are when they’re not performing the way the organization feels they should be. The only problem with that logic is that maybe MLB is perfectly content with the way things are and that’s why literally everything appears to go unaddressed. I wouldn’t be surprised.

I can only hope that the crew umpiring the World Series has their head on straight, whether the Phillies are participating or not. If not for my sanity, then at least for the love of the game.

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