12
2012
Tough Series For Larry Vanover, More Replay Needed?
An article by 
Through the first six games, the umpiring in the games the Mets have played has been rather suspect.
But we really saw it take a turn for the worse this series against the Nationals.
Larry Vanover, a 21-year MLB veteran umpire, made a few key questionable calls in this series. The first actually benefitted the Mets when Adam LaRoche was called out at second base in the first game of the series on a play that really wasn’t close at all.
However, during Wednesday’s game, the strike three call to Jason Bay was a monstrosity. The pitch was well into the left-handed batter’s box, and of course it came at a time when the Mets were mounting a rally.
Before even getting into the terrible call, you have to feel for Bay. A big hit in that spot could have gotten him going, but instead the bat was taken completely out of hands. Thanks for that Larry!
Too many times, we have seen the umpiring of a game decide the outcome. Now I’m not saying that if Vanover hadn’t punched out Bay that Bay would have come through. But hopefully Vanover looks at the replay of the pitch to see just how far outside it was.
That leads me to the point of the post: instant replay. It’s been debated and discussed countless times not only in this forum but all around the league.
Early in the offseason, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig mentioned the possibility of expanding instant replay—which right now is just for home runs—to include fair vs. foul calls and trapped balls. However, the league decided to hold back on the expansion for the 2012 season.
But in Vanover’s case, we’re talking about balls and strikes, which the league would never agree to review. Just think: After every single pitch, one of the managers is calling for a ball vs. strike review. The game would take 10 hours.
Detractors of instant replay argue that being able to review a call takes away from the sanctity of the game since an umpire’s judgment has determined close calls for years. Then again though, seeing a batter take “strike three” that is almost a full foot off the plate has put me over the edge. That is what is truly taking away from the sanctity of the game.
I’ll admit, I don’t have the answer for finding a medium between correct calls and a game that lasts forever. But I do know that I would rather see a system in which the correct call is made even if it has to be reviewed.
What if baseball adopted a system similar to football? You get two “challenges” per game, and if you win both, you get a third. Naturally, some plays cannot be reviewed—like balls vs. strikes—just like in the NFL.
Home run calls wouldn’t have a separate review system and would instead be included in all plays that can be challenged.
For example, looking at Vanover’s call at second base on Monday, Davey Johnson would throw out his red flag, and the entire umpire crew would go have a look to make the correct call. Pretty simple right? Especially for a play like that, the umpires really would only have to see the play one more time in slow motion to realize the call needs to be reversed.
I’m curious to hear some other opinions on this or if anyone can add to this discussion. How can this system be figured out?
About the Author: Jim Mancari
Jim Mancari hails from Massapequa, N.Y. He recently earned a Master's degree in Journalism at Hofstra University. He is a devout Mets fan and takes pride in his team, despite their lack of success over the last few years. Like all Mets fans, Jim has plenty of hope. He also writes as the sports reporter for the Brooklyn Tablet newspaper and the senior editor of metroBASEBALL Magazine. Click my name to view my personal website.
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NL East Standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Braves | 24 | 18 | .571 | - |
| Nationals | 23 | 20 | .535 | 1.5 |
| Phillies | 20 | 23 | .465 | 4.5 |
| Mets | 16 | 24 | .400 | 7.0 |
| Marlins | 11 | 32 | .256 | 13.5 |
Last updated: 05/18/2013
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Also the play at 2nd base when Tejada flung the ball to Murphy the ruuning was called safe. On the Replay Murphy had the ball in his glove before the runner touched the base. Bad call also.
I cannot see adding more instant replay. Games are already too long. I would like to see MLB hold the umpires more publicly accountable. Publish grades. Suspend consistently bad umpires or send them to the minors. Becoming a Major League Umpire is like being appointed to the supreme court… It’s for life. If grades are made public it would put more responsibility on the umps to work harder to be better to avoid an embarrassingly low grade and a suspension or demotion.
Maybe give the teams two challenges! If you lose your first one, you lose the second challenge. I like to see them get the call right. I don’t think I would want to bother with ball and strike challenges. …Bottom line get the call right!
I agree the games are too long and need to be shorter. I went to a college game (Florida vs LSU), they have a 20 second pitch clock (once the pitcher gets the ball back) and the batter could not leave the batters box.
Why not have a umpire in a box, wtih monitors of all the camera angles. As the game is played all calls are monitored. If a wrong call is made, that ump, raidios the home plate ump, with the corecct call, he make the correction, game continues on. No one has to challange anything. Balls and strikes can be as easy as a chip in the ball, and proximity field a home plate. When the ball crosses the stike zone, the homeplate ump hears a beep, calls a strike, no beep, ball. Simple.
IMO, they don’t need more replay. That’s treating the symptom of bad umpiring, not the cause.
I think two things need to happen:
1. Better treatment and training of minor league umps. All umps start out in the minors. With the low pay, lack of respect and treatment they get – for the opportunity to ride buses all over and be on the road quite a bit – they’re not attracting enough talent. They’re getting guys who need a job and are willing to put up with being a minor league ump for a paycheck and maybe for a chance to get to the majors. Attract better ‘talent’ and couple it with better training and we might get a better class of major league umps.
2. Hold the ML umps accountable. Other than being rated every year, is there any accountability for some of these guys that consistently suck at getting calls right?
What you do is partially what John L. suggested, but with a challenge system.
An extra umpire is placed off the field as the replay umpire. This umpire is also available to fill-in should an on-field umpire become unable to continue during the game (injury or whatnot). If a manager decides to challenge a call, he leaves the dugout and alerts the crew chief that he is challenging the call (any time a manager leaves the dugout now becomes a challenge). The off-field umpire reviews the play on a 90-second timer and relays the ruling to the crew chief via radio, phone, etc.
Every manager can MISS two challenges a game. If you challenge and are correct, you still have two left. If you miss one, the manager/pitching coach/catcher is NOT allowed to make a mound visit for the rest of the inning (or the following half inning if applicable); the only time a manager/pitching coach/catcher can make a mound visit during this time is for a pitching change. If you miss a total of two challenges in a game, the manager is ejected.
Right now, if a manager argues with an umpire once or twice in a game, it’s likely to result in an ejection anyway, this just makes it the procedure and skips the argument.
I should add: balls and strikes are NOT reviewable. Fair/foul, home runs, out/safe are. The only way to properly review balls/strikes is with a computer, and I don’t want to REPLACE umpires, I just want them to be more accurate. If umpires consistently miss balls/strikes calls, they shouldn’t be home plate umpires.
Bah….it was bad umpiring but lets not deflect attention from the fact that Jason Bay is killing this team. He needs to be benched or cut, preferably cut.
You don’t need an in game review the game already takes way too long as is…
What they need to start doing is letting teams post challenges to calls, Have the league review those calls and look at the replays.
And if an Umpire reaches a certain number of bad calls that full replay would reverse in a year he gets the boot!
Mistakes are going to happen thats why pencils have erasers on them, But making Umpires accountable in some way will go a long way to getting rid of those bad calls.
Truth is the technology already exists to determine balls and strikes., The Union would never allow them to use it without going on strike!
Well is it better to have a 2 1/2 hour game with bad calls leading to a wrongful win or loss, or a 3 hour game with a true result?
Slightly off topic: Deadspin has been running a series called Better Know an Ump that gives profiles and breakdowns of the umpires working this season. I’m eagerly anticipating every Mets fan’s favorite, Angel !@#$%^& Hernandez.
Angel is and it’s not even close, the worst umpire I’ve ever seen, followed closely by CB Bucknor, Phil Cuzzi and Eric Gregg. Honorable mention, Greg Gibson, Laz Diaz and Kerwin Danley. I have never seen Angel get a close call right.
Balls and strikes could be called by automation. It would be a simple process. Let the home plate umpire call the swing, Catcher interfierce, hit by pitch and taging the runner.
all that can be done by automoton too,
Larry did it again. This time it was Cody Ross on 4/16. Not one pitch was in the zone. He was called out on strikes. HE HAS GOT TO GO!!!!!!!!!! HE HAS LOST IT AND HAS NO BUSINESS IN BASEBALL!!!!!!!!!!!