Obviously, we’ve come to a crossroads in professional baseball with regards to the quality of umpiring in the league. It is no secret that the quality of refereeing has dropped considerably in the last twenty years. In fact, I’d have to say that umpiring in Major League Baseball has become nothing short of egregious, and not just behind the plate, but on the field as well.

In recent seasons, new technology was implemented to monitor an umpire’s performance when calling balls and strikes behind the plate. “QuesTec,” as it is known, has had its share of defenders, as well as those who have outright rejected it and prayed for its demise. To say the least, he is looked down upon by most referees when he is submitted to them while announcing a game. They tend to call a game much “tighter” when they know “Big Brother” is watching. I have also noticed that there are more confrontations between coaches and referees when QuesTec is present. Apparently it tests the stress and tolerance limits of both sides of the equation.

However, I have always felt that the start of this technology came about simply because the call and strike parameters lacked consistency between the two leagues. For years, National League umpires have been accused of having a more lenient or relaxed strike zone. On the other hand, American League umpires are known for their tighter strike zones.

For me personally, the notoriety of the quality of officiating was born during Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals. Don Denkinger, the first base umpire in that game, made one of the biggest umpiring errors in baseball history. In the bottom of the ninth inning, the St. Louis Cardinals were holding on to a 1-0 lead and on course to win the championship (they were 3 games to 2 at that point in the Series). Borrowing part of the story from baseball-almanac.com, “Reliever Key Dayley filled in for reliever Danny Cox for the Cardinals and put up a scoreless effort before the bottom of the ninth inning. In a brilliant move, Dick Howser ( Kansas City Royals manager) sent Darryl Motley, a right-handed pinch hitter to face lefty Dayley.

“St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog reacted to Howser’s move by calling up right-hander Todd Worrell from the St. Louis bullpen to replace Dayley. As the chess game continued, Howser responded with Jorge Orta instead of Motley. The Lefty responded with a hot grounder to first baseman Jack Clark, who fielded it cleanly and threw it to Worrell, who had run to cover first base.

“Referee Don Denkinger called Orta safe, although everyone else in the park was convinced he had followed Worrell by a pass. Television replays indicated Denkinger was wrong, but the runner in dispute remained on first. Steve Balboni followed Orta with a textbook pop-out, but Clarke (still upset about the failed call) couldn’t field the ball.

“With two runners on (including pinch runner Onix Concepción) Jim Sundberg bunted a force out at third. As the rotating lineups continued, Hal McRae approached home plate (for Buddy Biancalana) and was intentionally walked after the Los Angeles catcher. Cardinals Darrell Porter hit a pass that moved all runners forward Dane Iorg drove Concepcion home with a single to right field closely followed by Sundberg, who avoided Porter’s tag at home as the Royals tied the Series with the 2-1 victory”.

Although the Series was now deadlocked at 3 games apiece, the Cardinals were so devastated by Denkinger’s mistake, it came as no surprise when the Royals handily defeated the Cardinals in Game 7 by a score of 11-0, converting the Royals in the World Series. champs Simply put, Denkinger’s terrible call gave the Royals the series. For months and even years afterward, Denkinger received tons of “hate” mail and even death threats.

Recently, Clint Hurdle, the manager of the Colorado Rockies, was said to be “actively campaigning” for instant replay in Major League Baseball. Bob Watson, who is vice president of field operations in the commissioner’s office, stated that this will be a hot topic at the November general managers meetings in Orlando, Florida.

Keep in mind that the players’ union and Bud Selig (the MLB Commissioner) have to approve this measure for it to become a reality. Selig, in my opinion, has been a mediocre commissioner at best. He has or has not made key decisions during his tenure. One of his two biggest mistakes he made involved how the home team for the World Series was decided. As a result, it is no longer done on a rotating basis: whichever league wins the Summer Classic (also known as the All-Star Game), they are awarded home-field advantage in the Series.

Your second biggest mistake is actually bigger than your first. Instead of doing his job as Commissioner, he conveniently lingered on the steroid issue, blamed everyone but himself for the problem, and now the federal government is involved in an area he has nothing to do with. , namely professional sports. Thanks again, Mr. Commissioner.

Why do I focus on Mr. Selig’s ineptitude as a commissioner? Because he plays as big a role in the decision-making process of what has the potential to impact professional baseball as he ever has. He will obviously vote against it, as he has been quoted as saying that he didn’t want the human element removed from the game. But what to do when that human element has become so questionable that it becomes necessary to introduce technology like QuesTec?

Would it be a surprise to anyone that today’s major league umpires feel insulted by the use of QuesTec? How do you think they’ll react to instant replay reversing one of their decisions on the field? Since the big issues here are credibility and integrity, I have no doubt (unfortunately) that Major League Baseball has no choice but to introduce the use of instant replay.

Credibility and integrity are supposed to be the foundations on which arbitration is built. But is this the case anymore? Obviously, professional football felt it was necessary, so necessary that it has become a permanent fixture in the NFL. It is also used in professional hockey in order to check if a goal has actually been scored or not. So the NHL obviously felt the need to review the calls from officials. There have even been some clamor for it to be implemented in the NBA.

And now, one of the NBA officials recently came under serious scrutiny from the FBI because he allegedly made bad calls to influence the outcome of the point spread when the game ended. The fact that he had a serious gambling problem didn’t help either. I’m willing to bet this will be a serious catalyst for implementing instant replay in the NBA.

Needless to say, I am sad that we are faced with this dilemma. Unfortunately, the quality of refereeing has dropped so much in the last 20 years that I don’t think it will get better any time soon. QuesTec has been a mere sugar coat or Band-Aid for the problem. Now, there is no choice but to leave quality refereeing in the hands of a camera and its operator. In that sense, Mr. Selig, you are very wrong when you say that instant replay removes the human element from the game. I don’t see any robots operating those cameras that televise a game, do you?

On a final note, baseball fans everywhere, whether they’re at the ballgame or watching it on TV, will be subject to enduring a longer stay at the ballpark or having their butts glued to the couch for periods yet longer of time. time for which they have been charged. And to make matters worse for viewers, there will be more commercial breaks to deal with every time the game is delayed by a questionable call review.