As the night went along, I felt that the Pirates had a really good chance of winning the marathon game that was the Pirates vs. Braves in Atlanta. But in the bottom of the 19th inning and at 1:40am EDT, home plate umpire Jerry Meals decided that he was done doing his job and suggested that it was time to get what his last name says! With runners at 2nd and 3rd and 1out in the inning, Pirates pitcher Daniel McCutchen faced off with Braves pitcher Scott Proctor. Proctor hit a ground ball to 3rd baseman Pedro Alvarez who was playing in with the rest of his infield mates. Alvarez threw a strike to Pirate catcher Michael McKenry, who was positioned perfectly as Julio Lugo raced towards home. McKenry reached down as Lugo was sliding in for a win and "TAGGED" Lugo for the second out of the game. WAIT, WHAT??? Umpire Meals calls him safe and the game is over!!! Are you kidding me???
While I struggled to sleep after that disappointing finish to one of the most exciting games of the season, I thought to myself, "That didn't happen, did it?". As I awoke this morning, the reality set it. What makes me furious is that one of the unwritten rules umpires have is that if the ball arrives ahead of the runner, the runner is out when in doubt. The ball arrived what seemed like minutes before Lugo got to home, but still called safe. Now I know, fatigue probably had something to do with it. But wouldn't the most conservative approach to this situation would be to call him out, unless there was absolutely no doubt that he was safe? The tag occurred 3 feet from home plate and the umpire made the call prior to Lugo ever touching home plate. How does something like this happen?
Human factors plays a part in everything we as people, do on a daily basis. When fatigue sets in, the human mind and body is capable of almost anything and most will surprise you. Being a professional airline pilot, I have encountered fatigue on the job more than once. Studies show that when someone becomes fatigue, their decision making ability becomes that of someone who is over the legal alcohol limit of .08. Could fatigue have cause this mistake to happen? One can argue yes, however human ego is what, in this case, prevented this umpire to correct his call once any doubt entered his mind. Additionally, his fellow umpires on the field can conference with the home plate ump and discuss this call. Could they have changed the call? The answer is YES!!
So this begs the question - will baseball expand instant reply???
Bels
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
While I struggled to sleep after that disappointing finish to one of the most exciting games of the season, I thought to myself, "That didn't happen, did it?". As I awoke this morning, the reality set it. What makes me furious is that one of the unwritten rules umpires have is that if the ball arrives ahead of the runner, the runner is out when in doubt. The ball arrived what seemed like minutes before Lugo got to home, but still called safe. Now I know, fatigue probably had something to do with it. But wouldn't the most conservative approach to this situation would be to call him out, unless there was absolutely no doubt that he was safe? The tag occurred 3 feet from home plate and the umpire made the call prior to Lugo ever touching home plate. How does something like this happen?
Human factors plays a part in everything we as people, do on a daily basis. When fatigue sets in, the human mind and body is capable of almost anything and most will surprise you. Being a professional airline pilot, I have encountered fatigue on the job more than once. Studies show that when someone becomes fatigue, their decision making ability becomes that of someone who is over the legal alcohol limit of .08. Could fatigue have cause this mistake to happen? One can argue yes, however human ego is what, in this case, prevented this umpire to correct his call once any doubt entered his mind. Additionally, his fellow umpires on the field can conference with the home plate ump and discuss this call. Could they have changed the call? The answer is YES!!
So this begs the question - will baseball expand instant reply???
Bels
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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