Please Make Baseball Better

Last night in the World Series game, there was a close play at first base and the runner was called out. The announcer, professional buffoon Tim McCarver, insisted the umpire got the call right...until a slow-motion replay showed that the first baseman's foot had been off the base, and the runner should have been safe. "Still sure he was out?" asked the other announcer, Joe Buck. "Noooo..." McCarver moaned limply.

I am a massive baseball fan. I love the game about as much as I love anything, and that includes bacon. But in this day and age, to not utilize instant replay to get important calls right is nothing short of absurd. It isn't as if these types of blown calls are a rarity. In the ALCS, a Yankee hitter was hit by a pitch, but the umpire ruled it was a wild pitch, allowing a run to score when the play should have been dead. Towards the end of the season, a Giant hit a ball down the line that hit the chalk and should have gone for a double, but was called foul. I could go on and on. This happens all the time.

These are big calls in big games. Potentially game-changing calls. Series-changing calls. Season-changing calls. Life-changing calls. How about the pitcher who lost a perfect game earlier this year because of an umpire's stupidity? That's life-changing right there. Why should everyone in the world be able to see, through the magic of replay, what the correct call should be, except for the person actually in charge of making the call?

The arguments against replay are, for lack of a better word, dumb. It will slow the game down? Not really. We're not talking about reviewing every ball and strike. Just allow a couple possible reviews for each team on crucial calls, like they do in football. Has anyone complained about the advent of instant replay in the NFL de-proving that sport? Besides, I have news for you: people don't exactly watch baseball because it moves at light speed. It's already pretty slow.

Another argument is that replay will diminish the sentimental, human element charm of the game that makes baseball so unique. To that I say: fuck off. There is nothing nostalgic or charming about getting important calls blatantly wrong. Besides, it's not like other improvements haven't been made over the evolution of the sport. In the 1800's, a player on the bench jumped out of the dugout to catch a popup, so they made a rule that only players on the field, in the game, can catch a ball. Makes sense, right? Later, in 1951, they made a rule outlawing midgets after the St. Louis Browns put one in the lineup, and he walked on four pitches, because he was so small he had virtually no strike zone. Where were the purists hollering about the sanctity of the game when these rules were introduced? (Although I'm not sure I wouldn't like seeing that last one overturned.)

I know it's a lengthy kvetch, and one that has been written about endlessly, especially this past season, as umpires appear to be developing more and more cataracts. But as a baseball expert and enthusiast, I had to say my piece on it. Come on, Bud Selig: give my baseball-mocking friends one less round of ammunition in their arsenals. Give us instant replay.

PS - separate kvetch on how much I hate Tim McCarver coming soon.