Incompetent Baseball Umpires

Juan Taveras
Mr. Ferretti
Sports in Literature
June 5th, 2013
Research Paper Baseball umpires who are deemed incompetent should be suspended or fired. Many umpires throughout the history of the game have made ridiculously wrong calls that even spectators could easily point out. Numerous of these wrong calls have cost players hits, homeruns, wins and even no- hitters. Something needs to be done in baseball to make it a much fairer sport such as increase the use of replay after close plays. Umpires who make absurd calls that everybody knows was wrong should be penalized. The wrong calls should then be changed after clearly showing a replay. Managers and players continuously argue with umpires they don’t agree with. Sometimes calls are very close and it is not the umpire’s fault but other times umpires make calls that would make anyone want to argue with them. Baseball needs to start getting tougher when it comes to umpires because it is starting to get out of control. Umpires in baseball have too much power when it comes to deciding calls. A perfect example is umpire Angel Hernandez in an A’s versus Indians game earlier this month. It is believed that “Hernandez refused to overturn the bungled home run call in Wednesday 's A 's/Indians game because he opposes instant replay in baseball. The claim may be impossible to prove, but there 's logic to the theory. Video of the play in question provided clear evidence. It was a home run.” (Malafronte, 1) Just because an umpire opposes instant replay doesn’t mean that it shouldn’t be shown. Umpires should not have the power to decide not to show a replay just because they don’t want to. If a replay is necessary it should be shown. A rule needs to be established that if a play is too close to call then it should be up to instant replay to decide. Some believe that baseball is trapped in a stone age where umpires are needed to decide calls. With so much technology around us there should not be games where umpires continuously make wrong calls. Things such as cameras and even motion sensors could and might be the deciding factors in baseball in the near future. Many people including MLB executive vice president Joe Torre favor the use of instant replay. Torre said "We 're going to increase replay next year, we just don 't know how we 're going to go about it yet." (Purdy, 1) The usage of more replay might not happened until the 2014 season. “It was likely there would be an expansion of MLB 's replay policies by the 2013 season. Which means, of course, that it won 't happen at all in 2013. It might happen by 2014. (Purdy, 1) The use of technology in baseball will increase over the years but umpires will never be taken out because they have always been part of the game. While it may seem that everybody favors instant replay in baseball, there are some that dislike the idea. “Adding even more replay options is a terrible idea for all sports, but in baseball it will only further slow down a game that already moves at a glacial pace.”(Molinaro, 1). Some find baseball boring to watch and wasting more time on replays will just make the game dull. “Nobody can know how many times umpires will leave the field to take a look at the tape. Or how long they 'll be gone. Or how many people watching TV will be annoyed by the delay and tune out.” (Molinaro, 1) Fans do get upset when umpires make wrong calls but it’s the media that makes a big deal about it.
Is there a great demand among fans for more replay rules? I doubt it. This is mostly a media-driven thing. Blown calls get a lot of attention from talk shows, blogs and TV, but they 're generally accepted by the public as part of the game. There are so many games, after all. Over a long season, the calls even out, don 't they? (Molinaro, 1)
Many argue that baseball should not waste time on replays and discussions. Baseball like most sports is a game that should keep fans excited as much as possible. Author Bob Molinaro believes that “While patiently sitting through an otherwise slow-paced affair, fans should be able to jump out of their seats on a close play at first or after the dust clears at home without then being asked to twiddle their thumbs as the umpires check the tape.” (Molinaro, 1) The media is pressuring MLB to become much like other sports where technology determines the outcomes of a play. Another area where umpires make the most incorrect calls is behind the batter’s box. For this reason an electronic eye was installed. “That eye, rather, is incased in a metal shell, hidden behind a glass lens, perched high above the center field fence, capturing 2.1 megapixels per frame. The camera sees all. It can zoom, freeze and slow down the action. Unlike a human, it never blinks. It never gets sick or tired, and once installed, it doesn 't ask for more money.” (Rayno, 1). When it comes to determine the location of 80+ MPH pitches, umpires are not to be blamed if they made an incorrect call. The electronic eye is a perfect alternative to home plate umpires. It will only negatively impact incompetent umpires who continuously make wrong calls which the camera can easily point out. Over the years MLB has made changes that introduced technology into the game. In 2001 “MLB implemented its first pitch-track system, QuesTec, to create a more consistent zone across the board, and to evaluate umpires in the process.”(Rayno, 1) In 2009 it was then upgraded to Zone Evaluation,
A video tool installed at all 30 MLB ballparks that records a ball 's position more than 20 times before it reaches home plate. That helped enforce the rulebook strike zone: a rectangular box that extends from the midpoint between a player 's shoulders and the top of his pants down to the knees, over the 17-inch width of the plate. Previously, umpires were often calling a lower zone that went farther off the plate. (Rayno, 1)
Some umpires like the use of technology. “All we want, as umpires, is to get the call right," Wendelstedt said. "So if we can use a little bit of technology to make sure we get the calls correct, I 'm in favor of it." (Rayno, 1) These changes to baseball have changed the way the game was traditionally played but technology is now becoming a big part of it. Umpires will never be replaced in baseball because if they do it will just bring up more controversy. Umpires are a traditional part of the game. They are not only responsible for calls but for also explaining rules and regulating part of the game. Umpires who are deemed incompetent are the ones that need to be gone. In Cleveland this season “three umpires went to a video review and upheld an original call that a ball didn 't clear the fence even when the video showed clearly that it was a game- tying home run by Adam Rosales of the Oakland A 's.” Even MLB executive vice president Joe Torre called it a blown call but it was never changed. This season MLB has proven to act tougher on umpires. Four umpires were suspended in one week. “The glaring mistakes of the past week didn 't go unnoticed by Major League Baseball, which suspended one umpire for two games and fined three others after they botched a rule on pitching changes in Houston that most fans watching on television could have gotten right.” (Dahlberg, 1) (Dahlberg, 1) Also umpire Fieldin Culbreth was suspended for two games after his crew allowed the Astros manager to improperly switch relievers in the middle of an inning. His crew was also fined. Umpires seem to act as if they make the rules in baseball and will sometimes not change a blown call even after seeing the replay. Managers shouldn’t even waste time arguing with them because it will just result in a rejection. Many wonder why umpires don’t like the idea of changing their minds. The reason is that umpires are still resistant to anything that takes away their absolute authority or exposes them as human. That seems to have been the case in Cleveland, where three umpires couldn 't bring themselves to change a call despite irrefutable evidence on the screen in front of them that it was a home run. Things are going to get tougher on the umps, though, when replays start forcing them to do something else, something they hate most.
Admitting when they 're wrong. (Dahlberg, 1)
It has occurred many times in baseball. A batter waits for a pitch on a 3-2 count. As the pitch comes by, the batter lets it go because it is not in the strike zone. As the batter trots to first base the umpire calls “strike three”! Next thing you know the umpire is in a huge argument with the batter. The manager may have to come out of the dugout to either calm down his player or join the argument. The only person who is going to win the argument is the umpire. The manager and player will either give up on the argument or the umpire rejects them both. Umpires are too arrogant when it comes to a call. They do not want to be proven wrong so they will argue and reject when necessary. The increase use of replay and cameras in baseball though will for sure force umpires to change a blown call if it clearly wasn’t. The strike zone as identified in the rule book will be strictly enforced this season. The rule book says a strike should be called if the pitch passes through "that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter 's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball. (Knisley, 1)
An umpire’s job is not easy at home plate so you can’t blame them for every wrong call. Some umpires though are unfair either to the pitcher or batter. Sometimes umpires make calls that always seem to benefit one team more than the other. In conclusion baseball umpires who are deemed incompetent should be suspended or fired. Umpires that do not seem to be doing their job right should be replaced by higher skilled ones. Baseball is beginning to change as the use of replay is becoming more and more common. There will come a time where umpires will be required to use replay for deciding a call and even change a call after they have already called it.

Works Cited
Dahlberg, Tim. "Right call may be more replay after umps ' bad week." Virginian Pilot (Norfolk). 12 May. 2013: C9. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Knisley, Michael. "Baseball: See a different Game: Having two strikes Against You." Sporting News. 29 Mar. 1999: 68-71. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Malafronte, Chip. "SUNDAY GRAVY: Not every umpire is an Angel, even when they are." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 11 May. 2013 eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Molinaro, Bob. "baseball should hit pause button when it comes to more replays." Virginian Pilot (Norfolk). 14 Apr. 2013: C1. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Purdy, Mark. "IT 'S TIME FOR BASEBALL TO FAST FORWARD WITH REPLAY." Daily Press; Newport News. 09 Mar. 2013: B5. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Rayno, Amelia. “Major League Baseball umpires: Danger zone ahead?” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. 21 Aug. 2012 eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. Minneapolis. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/
Walker, Ben. "Baseball suspends, fines umps." Baxter Bulletin; Mountain Home, Ark. 11 May. 2013: B4. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/

Cited: Dahlberg, Tim. "Right call may be more replay after umps ' bad week." Virginian Pilot (Norfolk). 12 May. 2013: C9. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Knisley, Michael. "Baseball: See a different Game: Having two strikes Against You." Sporting News. 29 Mar. 1999: 68-71. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Malafronte, Chip. "SUNDAY GRAVY: Not every umpire is an Angel, even when they are." McClatchy - Tribune Business News. 11 May. 2013 eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Molinaro, Bob. "baseball should hit pause button when it comes to more replays." Virginian Pilot (Norfolk). 14 Apr. 2013: C1. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Purdy, Mark. "IT 'S TIME FOR BASEBALL TO FAST FORWARD WITH REPLAY." Daily Press; Newport News. 09 Mar. 2013: B5. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Rayno, Amelia. “Major League Baseball umpires: Danger zone ahead?” McClatchy-Tribune Business News. 21 Aug. 2012 eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. Minneapolis. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/ Walker, Ben. "Baseball suspends, fines umps." Baxter Bulletin; Mountain Home, Ark. 11 May. 2013: B4. eLibrary. Web. 28 May. 2013. http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/elibweb/