It’s been a few days since the perfecto that wasn’t in Detroit. Unless you’ve been snoozing all week, you know the story… Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga mowed through the Cleveland Indians last Wednesday night; 26 up, 26 down. On the 27th batter, what would have and should have been the final out of this season’s third perfect game and fourth no-hitter in roughly five weeks, a slow grounder to first baseman Miguel Cabrerra forced a bang-bang play at the bag. Galarraga beat the runner. Umpire Jim Joyce called the runner safe. Replays showed Joyce blew the call. Galarraga smiled in disbelief. The Tigers went ballistic.
So what to do? Well, I see nothing wrong with Joyce having the “option” (wink, wink) to sneak a peek at the Jumbo-Tron on the scoreboard and watch the replay just to see if he was indeed correct with his safe call. After all, when you have an entire team storming up to you after the final out to yell at you, not to mention a stadium full of home fans wanting to smack you over the head with your umpire’s cap, you should have the prerogative to double-check yourself and preserve your own carcass. But alas, major league baseball is the only professional sport that does not allow comprehensive use of instant replay for disputed calls. I mean, we’re not talking about silly stuff like balls, strikes, or even balks. We’re talking about really close calls at a base or home plate, or close to grass catches, or fair versus foul balls near the chalk line. So far, MLB only uses instant replay for disputed home runs. And, as Jim Joyce said after his vapor lock, his blown call cost Galarraga and MLB a part of history.
Why? Because after so many years of blown calls, Bud Selig had enough of his umpiring ranks looking like clowns during national broadcasts, specifically last year’s World Series. And even this decision seemed so slow in processing you had to wonder if Selig was waiting for signs from the heavens to guide him. As Mike Lupica wrote in the New York Daily News and said on ESPN’s Sports Reporters, there’s no guarantee that Selig will ever expand instant replay even after the perfecto that wasn’t, and it’s no surprise Selig did not overrule Joyce’s blown call and award Galarraga a retroactive perfect game.
But this goes even further. Bryan Burwell (St. Louis Dispatch) chimed in the line (I've paraphrased) of the season during the Sports Reporters – Bud Selig is so resistant to technology in MLB, one could imagine him being among the cavemen trying to convince them that fire was bad.
I know there are sports writers and baseball writers who don’t think instant replay is such a good idea in MLB, primarily because it will compromise the human factor of umpiring and further slow down games. But I think enough’s enough and there needs to be a mechanism in place for umpires to reverse blatantly blown calls that clearly affect the outcome of a game. Like Lupica, I see no reason why managers can’t have red challenge flags, perhaps provided the option to challenge one call every three innings for the sake of symmetry. I like the challenge system in the NFL and don’t see why it couldn’t work in MLB. And, if you limit the number of challenges a manager has each game it perhaps will reign in emotional pressure cookers like Ozzie Guillen from storming out onto the field to protest every single call until he gets the boot.
However, I would make one major change in the replay system, which should also apply to NFL games… get rid of those stupid sequestered cameras with hoods! It looks like a voting booth, and this ain’t no presidential election folks; it’s looking at a replay of a borderline call. Let the refs or umpires look up at a scoreboard the same way thousands of fans are watching in the stadium. If hearing 30-70,000 fans yell at you “hey bozo, my kid’s blind hamster could make calls better than you” doesn’t get your attention while you watch the scoreboard with them, then you have no business being a sports official. Trust me, decisions will be quicker, delays will be shortened, and officials will be more sensitive to detail as they make calls. Oh, and I guarantee we’ll see officiating as much more human as we do now.
So… what’s this yammering about the Lakers winning the NBA title after their Game 1 home court win? Yeah, yeah… I heard it all… Phil Jackson’s teams are 47-0 in Game 2 after they win Game 1. Teams rarely win the NBA title after falling behind 2-0 in this 2-3-2 format. Blah, blah, blah...
Heard it from sports writers, basketball experts, Lakers fans, and even Celtics fans. HA! So what happened? Boston 103, Los Angeles 94. Silly people… I said Celtics in six and I’m sticking to my prediction. These two teams have played for the NBA title 11 previous times, and only twice – 1959 and 1965 – did the series go less than six games. This is going to be a grind it out series between two very evenly matched teams. Now repeat after me… Whoops! My bad…
So… the Dodgers were toast and Joe Torre forgot how to manage? Have you noticed who’s in first place in the NL West? That’s right… Torre’s Dodgers remembered how to win again. A month ago I wrote that the Dodgers were underachieving, but who could be sure if this was really underachieving or an overrated roster. I guess we now have our answer. Besides, I also wrote not long ago how a sign of whether a team is the real deal in terms of winning a division can be determined by their intradivisional record. Last month San Diego and San Francisco were on top of the division, but neither enjoyed a winning record against their own divisional competition. Here we are a few weeks later and the Dodgers are feasting on divisional foes while the Padres and Giants continue to struggle. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Now repeat after me… Whoops! My bad…
By the way, has anyone wondered which McCord spouse gets custody of the NL or World Series trophy if the Dodgers win the pennant or whole enchilada this season? Speaking as a divorced person, just wondering while their lawyers work things out.
Turning attention to the NL East, three last thoughts… First, as impressed as I am by the Atlanta Braves, I’m still not convinced this hot streak and stay in first place will last. Why? Look at the Braves’ intradivisional record. They’re still struggling against their own competition. Sure, it would be something to see Bobby Cox go out on a high note, and he’s definitely doing a great job managing, but I’m not sure they can sustain it when they have to grind against the Phillies, Mets, Marlins, and Nationals day after day in August and September.
Second, as much as I still think the Phillies are the class of the division, I’m no longer convinced they can dominate like they’ve done the past two seasons. Why? A shaky bullpen, depth of starting rotation, and the long-term health of Jimmy Rollins raise too many questions for me. Believe it or not, I really do think the Mets can win this division IF they stay healthy, play better on the road, and don’t get into too many extended slumps after they cool off from hot streaks. I see a lot of parallels between this team and the 1969 version that simply got better as the season progressed then overtook everyone when the afterburners kicked in. I like the starting rotation, even with question marks after the first three of Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey and Jonathan Niese. I truly believe this divisional race could be a war of attrition, and the Mets may have the right balance of youth, veterans, health, and growing confidence to outlast everyone else.
Third, and last, another Whoops, my bad for Oliver Perez and his genius of an agent, Scott Boras. Did anyone know Ollie’s had a balky right knee all season? Funny how these things work out when a pitcher has too much pride to admit a trip to the minors is the best way to straighten himself out, especially when he’s making $12 million per season no matter where he pitches or whether he pitches at all.
But I think Ollie Perez’s situation raises a more serious question about the Mets brain trust over the past two seasons since Jerry Manuel replaced Willie Randolph. We now have two situations where pitchers who thrived under Rick Pederson have regressed under Dan Warthen. I like Dan Warthen and how he generally handles Mets pitchers. But Maine and Perez have not only regressed since their 15-win seasons in 2007, they’ve both been injured and not been completely honest about their health. I attribute this more to Maine and Perez not trusting Warthen enough to be open in a player-coach relationship and this is not a good sign. Something has to give on a team that is among the leaders in both strikes and walks. When a pitching staff needs every available and healthy arm on a daily basis, pitchers and the pitching coach all need to be on the same page. If the Mets are going to be successful this season until the end of September, they really do need to get something out of Maine and Perez. I hope the Mets are paying attention to how Maine and Perez relate to Warthen, because 90 percent of pitching is half-mental, as Yogi used to tell us. I really don’t think the problems Maine and Perez are having are exclusively physical.
If Maine and Perez can’t work with Warthen, then the Mets need to bring someone in to either work as a buffer between all three parties or cut bait on one or more. I like Steve Popper’s (Bergen Record) idea to consider bringing Pedro Martinez back into the fold in some capacity, perhaps as an extra pitcher or as a pitching consultant. I actually think it could be to the Mets’ benefit to bring back Pedro as an extra pitching coach to specifically help Maine and Perez straighten out their heads and mechanics, then add him to the 40-man roster when September 1 arrives. For whatever folks thought about Pedro during his time here, he did bring back the winning swagger and impart his wisdom, enthusiasm and love for the game on younger pitchers.
Hey… it couldn’t hurt. If it doesn't work out, Whoops! My bad...
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