Those who know me best know how fiercely loyal I am to tradition in baseball and, for the most part, in all athletic contests as well. Tinkering with the rules can have the effect, and quite often does, of deteriorating the game. Just two of these modifications solidify the assertion. Fouls and traveling in basketball and pass interference in football have those sports looking as different as college wresting versus professional wrestling.
Some changes were both necessary and admirable and made the games more civilized and humane and should be applauded. Those that have made them more physically aggressive and therefore more controversial and uglier need to be destained. At the heart of the debate is whether these changes have made the games more enjoyable for the fans. Some fans obviously yearn for the advent of Rollerball and would probably admit that two of their favorite movies were Slap Shot and North Dallas Forty. Others yearn for watching the games played as they were intended with outcomes determined on precision, skill and an exemplary feel and knowledge for the game rather than by thugs, brute force and controversial umpire and referee calls and non-calls.
The debate in baseball now rages around the implementation of the technological advancement of the Automatic Balls and Strikes (ABS) system that has been under experiment the last few years within the college ranks and spring training games. Knee jerk response is that human error has always been part of the game and, to many, one of its real charms. Then one is reminded of the worse call and the biggest injustice the game has perpetuated upon its players and fans.
On June 2, 2015 Armando Galarraga pitching for the Detroit Tigers against the Cleveland Indians was on the verge of a perfect game – not just a no-hitter but a perfect game. After retiring 26 hitters on just 88 pitches and striking out only 3, Galarraga along with the Tigers and the fans were denied the perfect game on a bad call from umpire Jim Joyce at first base. That game, that call, that play changed baseball forever. It ushed in instant replay to review umpire calls on the field. In doing so it gave greater credibility to our precious pastime.
We can argue percentages but what is most important here is doing all we can to get umpire calls correct. So far this season about 88% of umpire calls from behind home plate have been deemed correct. So, the question is simple. If the game can reach 100%, or something very close to that, in accuracy haven’t we improved the level of precision and skill which has been intended in the game? This would also have the effect of eliminating the very annoying nonsense of players whining when they are called out on strikes that were either in or very close to the strike zone. They KNOW that with two strikes they must swing at anything that is close to a strike and their refusal to do so isn’t the fault of umpire’s but rather their attempt to deceive us by masking their incompetence.
Yes – ABS needs to be instituted immediately. As for me: Well, so much for my ALWAYS being fiercely loyal to baseball tradition. Let's improve the game to its highest level of performance.
https://www.mlb.com/video/missed-call-ends-perfect-game-c8616789
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