Lets see how MLB handles this one....

[Rich]

Originally Posted by lawump

A few years ago professional umpires (including myself) were TAUGHT by their bosses (re: PBUC supervisors) to call the neighborhood play. Since I wanted (at that time) to advance "up the ladder," I did what I was instructed. I do not know how my doing what I was told equates to arrogance.

Even in those dark times full of umpiring arrogance , there was a subtle but understood difference between a middle infielder being "in the neighborhood" while turning a double play and the requirement placed on the middle infielder to hold the bag (like a first baseman) when the only play attempted by the defense was the attempted force at second base.

Since the advent of HD instant replay from 18 different freakin' angles, the "neighborhood" has gotten a lot smaller; the neighborhood's shrinkage has nothing to do with the elimination of purported umpiring arrogance.

Forgive Mike, he's just using this to climb back up on his soapbox.

I thought it was a great call, but what I don't understand is why players go nuclear over a single call. The play at the plate the other night where the catcher went nuts is a great example -- the catcher had no clue whether the tag beat the foot onto the plate and yet he still went nuts and got run (and the talking heads said the umpire had a quick trigger, even though it was clear this would be an ejection at any level of play).