Quote:
Originally posted by PeteBooth
I realize this topic is a little radical but here goes. I am personally tired of hearing that baseball is unique; it stands alone and all those other accolades that one says about Baseball Officials.
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1. Once and for all it's time for the UIC to educate the Coahces / Players and Fans about what's going on out there.
How many people still do not know that the ball is live on a Foul Tip RE: THEY WERE NEVER EDUCATED . Our answer to this: "Hey read the book" IMO This is not the correct approach.
2. OK I'm ready to take the heat on this one. Baseball should use Instant Replay . An umpire at his / her discretion should be able to use Instant Replay to determine if a ball is in fact a Home-Run or a Ground Rule Double.
3. Finally, concerning our latest thread - Changing Calls. AT THE UMPIRES DISCRETION ONLY They should be allowed to convene as in Football and Basketball to get the call right. Forget about the other runners - where to put them etc. Any coach would rather keep an inning alive than have an unjust out called against them. The opposite is also true.
Now is all of this going to prevent Human Error - Of coarse Not but IMO will make the game better - The Game is Played as a Team and it should be umpired the same way.
Pete Booth
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Pete,
I have made my feelings known in another thread about change for change's sake. I also concur with what Jim Porter and T. Alan Christensen have posted. Let me just add the following comments:
1. Umpires have enough to do without adding the requirement to educate coaches and players on the rules. Most players and coaches would probably either be embarrassed by that effort or resent it or both, certainly at the upper levels. It simply isn't our job and shouldn't be our job, any more than it is their job to help us understand why they put on this play instead of that.
2. Part of the game, and among its underlying principles, are a requirement to have respect for authority and reward for self discipline. Baseball tries to instill those principles in its participants in many subtle ways. Instant replay destroys the respect for authority by second-guessing the officials, and encourages the abandonment of self-discipline to force officials to go to replay. Quite apart from Jim Porter's valid point that the game isn't structured to allow it, I say that the game is deliberately reliant on individuality of its officials, and the possibility of human error, to get some of its most important messages across. Life isn't absolutely fair, and as a reflection of Life baseball is deliberately designed to mirror that.
3. Convening to discuss close calls would destroy the fluid nature of baseball's plays. Football fans might be prepared to sit for 2 hours 30 minutes to arrive at the outcome of a game intended to take half that long. Baseball fans already expect games to take much longer than that, and you want to add the extra time that conferences would take? That is NOT a proposition calculated to boost flagging attendances and keep the game attractive to its fans.
I'm sorry, Pete, but I agree with Tee on this. I'd go so far as to say, with the best humorous intent, that you may even be on the wrong PLANET with this one! (grin)
Cheers,