[JRutledge]

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Jeff,
Stop. Your posts are endlessly convoluted.

First of all I have a right to give an opinion about this or anything. If you do not like it, do not read them or do not come to this site. Then you will not have to worry about the nature of my posts. It is not like we interact during the season.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

I have never stated that instant replay will fix all bad calls in baseball. No one expected it in professional football, basketball, hockey or soccer. About a decade ago some umpires complained about the huddles they saw taking place on NCAA and MiLB fields. When MLB adopted the "let's work to get the call right" attitude, some whined that the human element was going away from the game. Now, we see the LWTGTCR mentality prevalent on amateur fields across America. The game didn't suffer. It improved.

OK, but there are many examples that replay would not correct plays or give a better angle in baseball. Those other sports can put a camera on the goal line or goal to show if the ball went in the goal or a score was taking place. I also did not say the game would suffer, I said that many of these plays that people go crazy about will not be overturned if they take the model from other sports where you need conclusive evidence to make a ruling (like the Oklahoma at Oregon college football game several years ago). Even football has many problems with getting good angles on certain plays. And with the TV disparity that MLB has where the Yankees has a better TV deal than the Royals, you might find out that there is a inconsistency in the application or ability to show plays in one park compared to another. Football does not have this problem because they share revenue with TV coverage are almost the same from one game to another.

Originally Posted by MikeStrybel

Meals admitted his mistake because it was very public and the MLB office expects professional demeanor from WUA members. I respect Meals immensely for owning up to it. I deplore those who harassed his family and the barstool jockeys who believe they could have done a better job that night. He is a terrific umpire who just showed the world that he is human. Meals did what many here would never do, admit a shortcoming. MLB will think far more of him for doing that rather than acting headstrong about a bad call.

Again, this is something that was done because of the nature of the coverage. If ESPN did not go over this play 100 times, there would have been no comment about this call. I have seen many missed calls this season and did not see any statement from the umpire. This is not about him as an umpire, but there was a time when they did not give this kind of access to the media about calls. And other leagues do not allow their officials to directly comment about situations they are directly involved in. This is all about PR and I am sure he was encouraged by his bosses to talk about this play to the media where other leagues would just have someone from the league discuss these plays and keep the individual from making personal statements. And I also think a lot of the fuel he is given personally with his address exposed are because he commented on this play. Torre and others from the league should talk about this, not the umpire involved. And that has nothing to do with being headstrong.

Peace