Making the Call

[Jim Porter]

Originally posted by jicecone
Up for discussion.

With McGwire's home run, it was obvious to 50,000 assembled fans and a television audience of millions that he missed the base. His body language and his coach's body language were both screaming, "Missed base!" Of course an umpire couldn't, shouldn't, and wouldn't overlook that.

But what if the missed base wasn't so obvious? What if the umpire felt he was one of only two or three people who even noticed it? If he calls it, what if replays are inconclusive? Then he becomes the umpire that has taken away McGwire's record-breaking dinger. It becomes a much foggier area then. And we'd all be talking about the umpire who thought he was bigger than the game by injected himself into a historic moment, wouldn't we?