Jesmael,
You are operating under a misconception... and I don't mean the timing issue.
In today's society everyone seems to think they are a judge and jury. And that every decision made must be justifiable to anyone that wants to question it; and, my God, do we have a slew of people that want to question everyone's authority. What a total pain in the a$$. What an incredible obstacle to any kind of progress. ...Well let's stop and debate this. Let's see if Mr. Umpire really made the right decision. Let's develop some kind of a computer program that will determine a pitch's location and call it Questek. Let's make everything mathematically provable.
Yes, an umpire tries his best to use timing when making decisions about safe and out. But the real crux of the matter is not timing, that might be justifiable to the CAUSUAL observer. The real answer to whether a runner is safe or not, is whatever the umpire says.
Umpires do their best, but we still make timing mistakes. THE END RESULT (to the runner) IS WHATEVER THE UMPIRE SAYS. If the umpire says "out," then the runner is out. If he says "safe," then the runner is safe. He is not afforded the luxury of stopping to debate each decision. It would be an intractable impedance to the progress of the game if all umpires had to stop and consider some outsider's timing analysis before rendering their final decision.
Same goes for pitches. I don't know a single umpire that calls a precisely rectangular strike zone. Balls and strikes are umpire decisions. To turn every decision into a mathematically justifiable decision is, in my opinion, ludicrous. Perhaps some day it will happen and computers will run the whole show... but then we will have to come up with computized players because the ones we have now are no MORE capable than any umpire (and in most cases I would say LESS capable) to make decisions - like is that pitch going to be in the computerized strike zone and should I swing at it. Where exactly is the bottom of the hollow of the knee? And one fraction of a red thread inside the bottom outside corner of the prescribed zone is technically/justifiably a strike. The computer is going to call that a strike so I guess I better swing. Ooops too late. Is the shortstop gong to field that ball and should I speed up my running so I won't arrive at 1st after the ball - No! runners run full speed every time, or they get yelled at by their coach/manager/owner for being lazy and getting called out.
The real fact of the matter is that umpires like OUTS. And if they have an opportunity to call an "out," they likely will. In my opinion, they better.
That's my final decision... and as of yet, it's not debatable. Heaven forbid the day that it ever is.
Hugs and kisses to your "tie." OUT!
