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Guys,
Bottom line the umpires did a great job in the ALCS. The calls they reversed were done "by the book" (the new book that is, as written by the powers at be of Major League Baseball).
It's obvious that the "get it right" philosopy has arrived in MLB and regardless of what us amateurs think, it is here to stay. Yes, it may not look pretty sometimes and yes, it goes against the old pro ball mentality of "live and die" with your own call - but the reality is, the game of baseball wants it done this way and this is the way it it's going to be.
We have already adopted this philosophy in NCAA baseball and like everything else that starts at the MLB level, this accepted practice will filter down into all levels of amateur baseball. Are there +'s and -'s to this.... Ofcourse there are - just like when there's a change in mechanics (ie - 3 man: guy in the middle going out on trouble balls). Umpiring, like the game of baseball, evolves and changes with time. And just like the game of life, if you can't embrace change, life (or the game) will pass you by.
I think we all agree that "huddling" to get the call right is not the issue but rather WHAT type of calls, WHEN to get together & HOW to go about doing this are the questions to focus on. In my amateur opinion, the big leaguers not only "got it right" in the ALCS, but they way they went about it (the WHAT, WHEN & HOW) was on target as well. I guess that's why they're professionals and we're amateurs.
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