Everything he said. Bravo, Joe, Bravo.

Great stuff about strategy and umpiring, Joe, although I couldn't disagree with you more about the scheduling. The off-day between games 4 and 5 is a great idea. It allows teams to rest up their top tier relievers and possibly start their number one starter three times in a 7 game series. Frankly, I (and I think most fans) would prefer to see the stars fight it out, rather than the 11th man-in-the bullpen wars of attrition that postseason games on consecutive days (not to mention extra innings) can lead to. Also, unless you watch (and write about) baseball for a living, its pretty damn hard to fit two full playoff games into a weeknight. staggering the series with an extra off day allows fans to see more of the games, which is always a good thing.

True true true and true.

Local radio here in DC on Arod: 1) we get the he's-more-relaxed-credit-Tex story and 2) if he has a bad WS, nothing matters.

Fox has to get their goddamned shows in. I say if they're that concerned with that and not baseball, screw them and let a network that cares get the games.

While I agree that the empiring in the series has been absoulutley pitful, I also wonder what could replace the quick umpiring calls and without lenghtening the games. Maybe something like what the NFL has with the opposing managers having a limited number of challenges during the regular season with most/all plays being reviewed in the postseason? I just don't want to further extend the already marathon affairs that are MLB games today.

What about one umpire whose sole job it is to watch the entire game on monitors, and who would be the only one allowed to overturn calls. This would mean there would be no lengthy pause for review, since he's already be "in the booth". It would also mean you'd have one umpire who is about as popular as an internal affairs cop among regular cops, and perhaps less willing to show up his peers.

Good article, and I definitely agree about the day's break between Games 4 and 5. It's all about TV, of course. And I have to think TV is the reason for the length of these games. Both NLCS Games 1 and 4 were 4 hours or close to it - for 9 inning games!! Do they add 2-3 minutes to the between-innings time in the playoffs?
On to the umpiring. Monday night's NLCS game had the worst balls and strikes calling I've ever seen, regular or postseason. Finally, I did't see the ALCS game last night, but it sounds like McClelland went with the old "even up" call you see so much in hockey.

It's not about Fox not getting the shows in, it's about MLB not having to put LCS games on at 1pm on the West Coast or 10pm on the East Coast any more than is necessary.

The offday not only sucks for a fan who wants to see some baseball, it also skews the series in favor of top-heavy pitching staffs. This year, that helps the Yanks, as they got to pitch CC in games 1, 4 and, if necessary, 7. They get to avoid using their 4th starter, who is a big step down whether it's Joba or Gaudin. If the Yanks had a deep front four (as they did during their dynasty years) but faced teams with only 2 or 3 really good starters, the advantage would be the other way. It effectively punishes teams with balance and depth in favor of stars 'n scrubs pitching staffs. I'm not sure I like that.

Plus, November baseball is a bad idea in NY, Boston, Chicago, etc.

McClelland said without instant replay, no one would have known he missed the calls. Perhaps we couldn't have PROVED it, but I could tell Cano was off the base from my seat in the upper deck.

Once the fans in terrace level saw the replay on the TVs they have down there, they started loudly booing, then the crowd started chanting "Bullshit" for quite a while. Did Fox let that through on the air?

Re McLellan's call on Swisher's tag at third, in basketball they have a name for that - "make up".

In an article so concerned with accuracy, shouldn't the umpire (Dale Scott, not Tim Scott) get the courtesy of having his name reported correctly? It's worth noting that, unlike umpires, the authors and editors on this site have time to review their decisions.

Playing baseball well in the postseason is not a skill above and beyond playing baseball well.

Idk.. I'm not saying there is a huge, huge difference like the msm will have you believe, but players are under quite a lot of pressure during the post season and they frequently admit, they feel the pressure a lot more during october than the regular season.

I'm not saying look at one bad series and infer "that guy will always choke under pressure", but players are human, and pressure situations affect all humans differently. I would certainly say playing baseball well in the postseason is a skill above being a good ball player, in that you have to deal with a lot more stress just to be able to perform at your normal talent level.

Think about a job interview. Is it not a skill to perform as well in a job interview as any other social situation (where there is significantly less pressure)?

Not to bring out the "nerd in your mother's basement" jokes, but I don't see how a non-player could make that assertion, and it just seems overly contrarian.

When a something other than the participants of a sport decide the outcome, it demeans the very meaning of sport. Doesn't matter how it's fixed or how often it's needed, there is no outcome worse for the game than a bad call. The fact that you can have a guy in the booth fix things in roughly 15 seconds makes MLB's backwardness all the more appalling.

Let me throw out an idea regarding extra down time due to instant replays to make correct calls:

What if during an instant replay the network goes to a commercial (or 2), then when there is an actual commercial break it is 1 (or 2) commercials fewer?

I have to think that the players do not need as much time to switch sides as the commercial breaks give them.

Wow...there are no shortage of opinions on these matters.

(And here are mine...)

1.) Honestly the off days allow fans the ability to enjoy the games after they get home from work on East Coast; Monday's Game Two at 4pm EST sucked for those who work a regular gig and would like to watch their team play. In tonight's case, Dodgers/Phillies fans can watch the game in prime time (again...East coast bias), as can Yanks/Angels fans tomorrow. It's still a million times better than the NBA BTW.

2.) I've never in 30 years of watching baseball seen worse officiating. I believe in earnest that the Swisher tag call was a makeup for an obvious blown call at 2nd base, however the Cano/Posada debacle was a joke. As a Yankees fan I don't know which was worse, the call or Cano's stupidity.

Joe - another great, provocative column. You manage to say the things that so many of us are thinking and you say them with such passion! Well done.

I'm with you on some sort of robot/computer/instant replay in baseball but I've yet to see a three-dimensional computer strike-zone. The ones on tv, at least, are two-dimensional. But the strike zone is three-dimensional. A pitch can be out of the strike zone when it first crosses the front of the plate but then be in the strike zone when it crosses the back end. I'm not saying umpires would necessarily be better than computers at understanding the three-dimensionality of strike zones, but as far as I know, they're the only ones who do. Also, strike zones change, not just from batter to batter, but within and between pitches as hitters crouch down, stand up, or otherwise move about during their at-bats. Again, I'm not saying it's impossible to develop a computer model to capture this dynamism, but as of now, the umpires have the uniquely best views in the game.

On the bases and base-lines, it's a different story.

Its only my eyes, but Chone Figgins sure looks like a guy whose skills always shrivel in the playoffs. Its not hard to believe some guys can relax and play to their norm, while others get tight and do worse. It happens in war.

But its unlikely you can identify those players by a small sample of post-season statistics. Teams should put pressure & moisture sensors in bats, maybe that'll provide verifiable results.

I don't understand why Cano is getting all the negative attention. Posada's mental errors were far more egregious. On the play where Cano stopped short of third and was tagged, the Angels mad misplayed a rundown allowing Posada to take third. I repeat, Posada was safe at third. But then he stupidly left the bag. Had he stayed there, Cano could have tried to retreat to second. Of course, Posada should have already scored anyway. How you can fail to score on a double from second base is beyond me. I guess Posada was watching Hunter, who completely decoyed him, rather than the ball. Later in the game, Posada lost track of the outs and left his position (with Hunter on third)after a double play. Had A-Rod not hustled to cover home plate, that could have been an extremely embarrassing moment. Posada's head was just not in the game.
Conversely, Jeter, Teixeira (despite his lack of hitting) and A-Rod have played like consummate professionals. I feel privileged to witness their greatness.

Joe, you're absolutely right about McClellan being taken off the field right now - on the second blown call he made absolutely no attempt to get into position to make the call. It wasn't exactly a bang-bang play - it could easily have been anticipated from the moment the ball was hit, and McClellan was out of position when the tags were made. Shameful and inexcusable - an embarrassment that cannot be overcome in any other way than by suspending McClellan immediately and indefinitely.

Joe,

I mostly agree with you here, but can you clarify something?

The "slow 8-year-old" wasn't supposed to be a euphemism, the way a lot of people use "slow" for "retarded," was it?

You were writing about foot speed, right?

Because I seriously can't imagine you were writing the other thing.

I used to be in the human umpire corner but I've grown tired of it all. My main argument against instant replay being expanded was that the system was still inexact, but if umpires are resorting to neighborhood play conventions, then I'll give the computers a shot. I also don't think they'd lengthen games because the five to ten plays a game that take an extra 30 seconds to review will be mitigated by the absence of 5 to 10 minute long arguments/ejections.

Easy solution for replay; in the playoffs, eliminate the two foul line umps (Phil Cuzzi's missed call on Mauer's double proves they are useless) and put them in a booth watching the network feed, which usually provides replays from good angles fairly quickly. If both umps agree that a call was blown (put aside balls and strikes for a moment, for argument's sake), the call is reversed. Perhaps they could each have a red button that they press, or something. I think a standard akin to the NFL's, "indisputable visual evidence" seems reasonable. They would have to press their buttons prior to the next pitch; this would give an advantage to the defensive team, just as the offensive team has an advantage in football.

The only real complication would be on those plays (mostly fair balls called foul) which cause the defense to stop playing, or the offense to stop running the bases. I have no perfect solution for this, but would suggest the rule that if the ball passed the base on the fly, it's an automatic double, on the ground it's a fielder's choice, with the lead runner being called out.

This would correct the blatant errors, without increasing the game length by any noticeable margin.

One more thing, on a slightly related topic. While the idea of the "human element" on things like fair/foul balls, or close plays seems silly to me, I'm not sure I feel that way about balls and strikes. Does a pitcher having stuff which fools the umpire into thinking a ball is a strike, or a catcher framing a pitch effectively, not feel like "part of the game" to anyone else? What about selling a phantom tag on a stolen base attempt?

I guess my question is, are the skills that allow a player to fool an umpire "part of the game?" Should they be?

Baseball has long been lagging behind the other major sports and some of their policies are still laughable in today's highly competitive and megabucks making sports world.

They're slow to get instant replay;

It is ridiculous that a player who gets suspended for fighting or throwing at a batter gets to keep playing under the guise of an appeal (if you're suspended, you should sit out right away--no appeal, no whining, just get lost for 2 or 3 days--this is not the American justice system here, it's players playing in a private club with private rules);

No viable solution to the vast gap between the haves and the have nots.