Quote:
Originally posted by WindyCityBlue
From Pete Booth -
Pitcher's give up Gopher balls - Do we give them a mulligan
Players' make errors
managers make mistakes
In all the above there are no second chances. When the ball sails over the Fence, or through someone's legs (remember Bill Buckner), or the manager makes a terrible pitching or player move, we do not ask the manager to Group together with his staff and change things. It's called part of the game.
Contrary to popular Belief, Umpires will make mistakes too. Remember a baseball game is 9 innings long and the smallest series is the best 3 out of five games, so in a nutshell, the best team will win regardless of a bad call or not.
Pete,
I've always admired the way you write. I may not always agree with the substance, but you make some excellent points. I hope you can see where I'm coming from with this.
Players get traded, cut or sit on the bench when they make mistakes.
Coaches get fired when they make errors.
Umpires are paid to ensure that the game is administered fairly and in accordance with the rules. My theory is that if you call a foul ball fair, you'be broken a rule and are not administering the game fairly. (per Crawford's call in the Div. series) We recognize which calls deserve help when a call is blown. I give no import to the call. In other words, if I blow a call and my partners can fix it, do it no matter how bad it looks or how it affects the false outcome of the play. A blown call is poorly administering the rules of the game. Recognizing our fallibility is the first step. Yes, we make mistakes that cost players, coaches and administrators their jobs, if not their sanity. being big enough to solicit help when it is offered and applicable is the difference. I can not offer the proper way to offer assistance for all levels. I only know what is acceptable at the level I work. We have discussed this before. I urge you to consider that the kicked call you make might be seen by the next generation of umpires. I would rather they see me make a call and know that there is an accepted recourse. You don't need to get hung by a bad call. We've all made them and we all know how sh*tty it feels.
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There was a great piece on Denkinger and his call against St. Louis in 87? I think.
He is and was a great umpire who made a mistake.
But the piece on ESPN highlighted how he was still able to be a great umpire in spite of a blown call.
He even had the plate for the next game which St. Louis got blown out.
In his house there is a wall of all his outstanding achievements etc., and in the midst of it is a picture of the blown call.
When asked why, he said "we can learn from a mistake.
Its part of who I am today!"
Wow what a concept. We will blow them and the sun will still come up tomorrow!
But we can be better tomorrow than we were today!
Thanks
David