HE'S SAFE? HE'S SAFE? ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME? This is what many of us screamed last night after Julio Lugo was called safe at home in the bottom of the 19th inning of the Braves win over the Pirates. While clearly out by about 5ft with the naked eye what we all saw on replay was conclusive enough. And lets face it, all real baseball fans know the neighborhood rule, "if the ball beats you and a tag is implied, more often than not you will be called out".
Now that it has been a day or so, and many of you have had a moment to calm down, it is time to examine the need for extensive instant replay use in Major League Baseball. Instead of them using it solely for home run calls.
You will not find a more "traditionalist" when it comes to baseball than I am. My love for that tradition is largely what shaped my being a Mets fan instead of a Yankees fan, to me the DH is bullsh*t and robs the game of some of its strategy and purity. And while the presence of human error has always been a part of the game, the 37,000 thousand angles and 2,000,000 replays available to the viewing public have not been.
The scrutiny that is now involved with umpiring/refereeing professional sports today almost demands that baseball catch up with the times, or at least the NFL and NBA, and allow its umpires to use all available tools to get the calls right. There is simply too much on the line. Games, places in the standings, post season victories, and the occasional perfect game have been affected and it's wrong.
I hope the Pirates don't end up tied or losing their division by 1 game at the end of the season. If that does happen there will be a new "most hated man" in Pittsburgh and his name will be Jerry Meals.
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