That's similar to what a PCL umpire told me. As I recall when Hirchbeck talked to the media he mentioned something about he WAS GOING to talk to Foster. I would assume that meant he hadn't yet heard anything about what Foster said except what Jeter was reported to have claimed.

What would I think is this were true? Business as usual for a Rat.

And now we have ANOTHER unbelievable call!
 

Just a few minutes ago, in the Cubs/Reds game on WGN, Laz Diaz badly butchered a play at the plate, in which he was 3BLX and in perfect position. He just saw a tag when there was none, while at the same time, the runner's foot was all over the plate. The catcher missed the tag by a good 6", yet somehow Laz saw a tag and banged the runner.

What's with the rash of missed calls lately?

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=5757733

You're just noticing them.

It was a brutal call, but it's not easy being human.

Good grief, that was brutal. The phantom tag was one of the lamest I have ever seen.

The umpires who go on the record will say that there are more cameras at better angles at more stadiums so the umpires are under more scrutiny than ever. There's more and more pressure to get the play right. Not that they haven't always wanted to get them right...but it's the human element. They're going to get plays wrong and we're all going to see them on super slow-motion and not 1 time bang/bang at real time. Hopefully the umpire's union can hold off replay as long as possible.

The percentage of plays that they get right are still very, very high.

As we all know, we're the only ones on the field who are expected to be perfect every time.

That Laz Diaz play was as bad as it can get on that type of play, irrespective of new technology. I saw a play at first base the other day that was awful. There were also some awful calls in the 70s, 80s and 90s as I recall.

It's not extra cameras that makes it seem like there are more than before, it's the sheer number of televised games and the multimedia access to the clips. We simply see a drastically higher number of games and highlights than in days past.