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Personally I just can't understand watching a play like this and not thinking IR in some form is a good idea.
PHILADELPHIA -- Francisco Rodriguez and the Milwaukee Brewers had a little extra help holding off the Phillies.
Second-base umpire Mike Estabrook called pinch-runner Kyle Kendrick out on a pickoff even though shortstop Jean Segura tagged him without the ball and the Brewers held on to beat Philadelphia 4-3 on Saturday.
Kendrick was the second out of the inning, and the next batter doubled before Rodriguez was able to nail down his third straight save.
After the game, crew chief Tom Hallion told a pool reporter that it was an incorrect call after looking at replay.
"The ball goes in the glove and comes out of the glove with Kendrick diving back in and with Segura diving back for the ball," Hallion told a pool reporter. "Obviously, Mike was in the right position to make a pickoff play call like that. But the way that the play developed, the ball comes free and rolls right in Segura's bare hand and he comes up shows him the ball."
I'm on the fence. Look at how many calls are made in every game, every day compared to the one or two that are bad - the number of times the umps get it right is staggering. I was watching MLB network, I forget the game, I forget the analysts, but there was a play at second where the runner was called out. All of the analysts chimed in with the "I'm not sure they tagged him" mess. Then after a few seconds they conceded "All of us were wrong and it took slow motion and multiple camera angles to prove the umpire was right all along".
My solution would be to give each team 3 IR's per game, including home run calls. Use them wisely. This should keep the game from getting bogged down and stop the managers from questioning every single call.
The A's were leading 10-2 in the 8th last night against the Brewers when Weeks hit a shot that struck the top of the wall, bounced up into the air and came back down on the field. The umpires ruled it a home run. A's manager Bob Melvin came out and argued that the ball had bounced straight up into the air and come back on the field, the umpires had ruled that it had hit the wall behind the outfield fence and come back, so it was a home run.
They agreed to review it and while they were off in their huddle, the broadcast showed the replay numerous times from every available camera angle and.....it was absolutely impossible to tell what happened. The ball strikes the top of the wall, goes up and vanishes against the farther wall's background because unlike the fence which is green, the wall is light colored. Not one of the angles was decisive. And it wasn't like from some angles it appeared to hit the wall and others it did not....you just couldn't tell from any angle.
The A's announcers assumed that when the umps returned, they would uphold the home run since that was what was called on the field and the replays were clearly inconclusive.
Surprise...they returned and ruled it a triple. How they determined that is elusive.
As we saw earlier this season in the A's/Indians game, even with instant replay you have bad calls which are upheld and a head office which shugs its shoulders. If suspensions are a prelude to ridding the league of its worst umpires, I'm all for it, but I don't think Selig, Torre, et al will institute any measures.
I've never been a fan of Bob Davidson. He just misses too many calls.
During the Phillies-Marlins game in 2010, he blew the call for the Marlins by calling a groundball past third base a foul ball which in replay it is clearly a fairball. Must C: Controversial | phillies.com
I think I remember that one. Adam Rosales hit a home run, they go and look at the replay, and still ruled it a double. Umpires need to be brought to task.
I think I remember that one. Adam Rosales hit a home run, they go and look at the replay, and still ruled it a double. Umpires need to be brought to task.
See I don't know how in the world Hernandez did not see the home run on instant replay. It's clearly a home run on replay because it went over the yellow line. That was a major miss by Hernandez.
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