The Lofton Out at Second

[David B]

Originally Posted by jimpiano

Seems to me that the play at second where Kenny Lofton was out on a nice throw from Manny Ramirez is a perfect example of why instant replay is a bad idea in MLB.

Lofton went in hand first, the umpire was in perfect position and the ball beat Lofton, but slow mo replays showed Lofton's hand beat the tag which first grazed the bag as it swept toward him.

Lofton never argued the call and went back to the dugout. It is a play that is called the same way hundreds, if not thousands, of times in the regular season.

The players know that a slide into the tag when the ball is there the result is most likely an out, even if the foot or hand gets in.

Agonizing on each of those calls over slo-mo replays would serve no useful purpose and delay the game to the point of boredom.

I agree with the jest of your post, there after all was no argument from anyone; however, the umpire was "on top of the play" literally.

He was way too close to the play for some reason and might have been a problem on the call. He probably could have seen it from a better distance, it looked on TV like he was only about five feet from the call.

Don't know how that happened ...

Thansk
David