It's somewhat pointless to be upset about too much as a Cubs fan these days, but this is more about being frustrated by media coverage of America's passtime than anything else.
Why is it that it is okay to pley Zambrano's meltdown in the dugout as frequently as Howard Dean's meltdown in the last Democratic primaries, but it's not okay to play the blown calls that lead to the inning that lead to the meltdown. Is it MLB striving to protect the credibility of the men in black making the calls? I think we all realize that the umpires are just humans making (or not, as the case may be) the calls during a game - and they make mistakes. In an unprecedented pro-Cubs moment, even the ESPN guys admitted it was a blown call. Granted, teams shouldn't fold up so that a blown call extends an inning to the point where the other team wins, but that's not really my point... Players are human, too (well, kinda). Why are they subject to the scrutiny of the camera any more than the officiating crew?
Why is it okay to zoom in on a player's warts, but not the officials?
3 comments:
I think one thought is that the same ump is calling balls and strikes for both teams, so unless the charge is bias of some sort (the fix is in, the guy is from L.A., etc.) it should be equally fucked.
I've noticed, in the few games I've watched, that big Z has extraordinary command and rides the inside and outside of the zone. I saw back to back strikes get called balls in one inning, then the exact same pitch in the exact same location called correctly an inning later. At least if you're calling stuff poorly, make it consistent.
Maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about, but it seems like this is an epidemic this year.
I actually kinda feel for the umps. I know they use a lot of cues, like where the catcher sets up vs. where they catch the ball, to determine strikes vs. balls. I'm sure they practice the hell out of it at umpire academy (Steve Guttenberg movie anyone? We could get that sound effects guy, too... Hilarity would ensue when he made the sound of a home run on a strike and the batter rounds the bases with a quizzical look on his face).
My point is that, the way it was presented, it was "Oh... Big Z flipped out again." But there was a confluence of events that led to that flip out. MLB seems reticent to show, "Oh... Bob blew a call again." Just seems like they should tell the whole story.
I watch a lot of baseball, I do every year. The Umps are having a really bad year this year. The only thing I can say is it seems they are calling bad calls equally for both teams.
All of the games I have watched and measured are completely fucked. I don't even think they know what they are looking for.I have the benefit of cool graphics, instant replay and watching the flash on my computer to see where the pitches land.
If they are going to get it this wrong then we need to get rid of the ump behind the plate and put a machine back there. These guys are proving that humans are just incapable of doing anything close to a good job, or least the current humans we have.
Consistently bad is not the consistent calls we are looking for. We need them to establish a fucking strike zone and keep it there from inning to inning, batter to batter and pitcher to pitcher. Nothing makes me more nuts that to watch to innings and have the same pitches called differently. Or worse to watch three innings and have pitches call different.
Umps suck.
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