Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So you're arguing that mistakes should never be corrected retroactively, only prospectively? What sense does that make?
Basically, yes. When leagues have bad rules in place, they're simply clarified or changed for future play. They don't normally go back and change the outcome of games to correct the mistake. Sorry.
Because that's not how it works. Umpire human error happens at least a half-dozen times in every single game. Just because this one was particularly egregious doesn't mean that it should be special. This was just one meaningless regular season game. There is an argument that can be made that one bad call in a World Series game 25 years ago actually cost the St. Louis Cardinals a championship. I'm sorry, but if Selig starts second-guessing on-field judgement calls, it's a never-ending exercise. It's simply unfair to pick and choose special instances to change calls.
"Because that's not how it works?" Isn't that playground logic?
Actually, extreme circumstances often yield extreme, and unprecendented actions.
The whole its one "meaningless game" thing plays into my sides favor, we arent asking you to take a win away from a team, we are asking to overturn one meaningless (your words) games' FINAL out.
It's not a second guess when you have proof and its this black and white. Oh well, whats done is done, and this is just another notch in Seligs bedpost of fail. Hopefully good will come out of it and a Gallaraga Rule can be put in place that will avoid crap like this.
Also, although I do think the MLB could overturn the call with little or no long-term fallout, I really just wish they had a system in place where it could have been corrected last night. That would be 100000x better than any result that could have come from Selig today
Galarrage bobbled the ball. He may have been out, but it wasn't by that much.
I agree. It was closer than most are making it out to be. I don't want instant replay for a call like this, but if there was, I bet it would be ruled too close to overturn. I posted the video earlier in the thread (no longer available on youtube) and am really surprised the bobble isn't being discussed more in the sports media. They keep showing the video from the view from the stands on the first base side.
Even in this news clip. The sportscaster talks about the blown call, "not even close" and "standing in the way of history" but watch the ball at the :56 mark.
Just b/c something hasnt happened does not mean that it shouldn't, there is always room to improve, and correcting this obvious injustice would be a good place to start.
Such a correction would come with a price. If we are to reverse an existing policy where blown calls were left to stand, we would have to do it for all such controversial calls in the future, not merely the one in question before us. Is that something that we would want? The existing system has the drawback of upholding incorrect calls, but to overcome that flaw, we would also have to give up the virtues of immediate resolution.
As an example of what we would be trading for, consider the wildcard playoff game in the NL in 2007. That was the year that Colorado had staged the extraordinary winning streak and tied San Diego for the wild card on the final day. That game was the epic affair won by the Rockies when they scored three runs in the bottom of the 13th with Matt Holliday sliding face first into home......except of course as the replays showed us, he didn't seem to ever actually touch homeplate. He was ruled safe and the explosion of joy took place for the Rockies and their fans.
Now, suppose we had initiated your proposals at the start of the 2007 season. Now Holiday slides, is ruled safe, Coors erupts....and a few hours later we are hearing that the Padres have appealed to the commissioner who will review the tapes and decide if the game is to be resumed. So all the joy is sucked back in by the Colorado fans, and then either rereleased, albeit at a greatly diluted level, upon a favorable ruling, or turned bitter should the Commissioner decide against them.
Meanwhile, the scheduled start of the NL playoffs is delayed for a day while we are waiting..and then delayed another day if it is decided that the Padre-Rockies aren't yet finished.
Getting it right is harder, and sometimes may make it joyless. Risking wrong is easier because it is so less complicated. Getting it right is very important in science, business, personal morality and other areas. Is getting it right at the cost of introducing delays and legalities, important for sports? I mean, this is entertainment, not anything which is actually critical. In such circumstances, I think that we a free to get it as "right" as we need to serve the primary purpose....entertainment.
Movies tend to end with the villain being killed by the hero, not with the villain's trial. It is done that way because that is what audiences prefer. I think that on field rulings are left standing for pretty much the same reason.
Now, suppose we had initiated your proposals at the start of the 2007 season. Now Holiday slides, is ruled safe, Coors erupts....and a few hours later we are hearing that the Padres have appealed to the commissioner who will review the tapes and decide if the game is to be resumed. So all the joy is sucked back in by the Colorado fans, and then either rereleased, albeit at a greatly diluted level, upon a favorable ruling, or turned bitter should the Commissioner decide against them.
No one is contending that the Commissioner should reverse every incorrect call. We all know that most incorrect calls involve bells that can't be unrung. The error in Galarraga's perfect game, by contrast, is an easily remediable mistake. It's a once-in-a-generation sort of incident, which is why it's silly to suggest that correcting it would open up Pandora's box.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
