Last night in Detroit, a blown call from a first-base umpire robbed Tigers’ pitcher Armando Galarraga of a perfect game on what should have been the very last out. I first saw what happened right after the Flyers won Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night. The Flyers were able to take that game into overtime and win partially because an official replay showed that their second goal just barely crossed the line (after it was initially not counted as a goal). Currently, baseball only has replay for disputes over whether a home run is really a home run. Is it time for baseball to implement instant replay for out/safe calls on the basepaths?
UPDATE (Goldy):
It should be noted that the Flyers needed to score twice in overtime to win the game, the first goal being disallowed when the referee blew a clearly early whistle, just before the Flyers swatted a loose puck into the net. So replay is no panacea.
I don’t think so. Who would decide what to review and when? What do you do with other runners on base? Say a player is on second and a “trapped” fly ball is ruled an out and reversed. Well, on the out call, the baserunner returned to second. Award him third taking away the possibility that he could have scored? Assume that the outfielder would not have made the trhow to the plate in time and award the run? And really, give the folks who think baseball is too long another argument?
I’m not so sure the call was bad. The player must catch and control the ball with no movement on an out play. It was a snowcone catch and Gallaraga had to make another move to retain control. It wasn’t the “secondary move” to get the ball out of the glove like a double play. This was a bobble to keep control on the out. Yes, I know the ump said later that that wasn’t his call, he ruled the runner beat the throw. But I think we have a reversable hit/error call, safe at first, no hitter not perfect. The official scorekeeper can make that change today and Gallaraga gets his no hitter.
Hockey has a problem with the quick wistle on goalkeeper control. The Flyers had a goal disallowed on a quick whistle when the puck ended up in the net in overtime.
I don’t know about instant replay, but Galarrage and Harvey Haddix should form a support group for those who’ve pitched a perfect 9 innings and yet…..
@1
The call looked bad to me. It was a sno-cone catch, but I thought he had control before the runner hit the base.
If they do replay, it should be like football, where you get one or two “challenges” per game. Probably just one. Baseball is long enough already.
I missed the part about “on the basepath” but it still holds, hit and runs, and other plays you have a problem with what to do about other baserunners.
@3
The problem with the sno-cone is he must retain control, if at the moment he turned his glove and rolled it into the web it had popped out, and hit the ground, the baseball world would be talking all night about how Gallaraga blew his perfect game bid after 8.66 innings.
I vote an emphatic NO on instant replay.
Yep, it looked like a real bad call.
But no, keep instant replay out of baseball.
Unlike football, the Commissioner of Baseball has the authority to pretty much do what he wants. So he could handle this as a one-time event, keeping the game as called, but ordering the official stats to reflect the no-hitter. Sure, he might get flooded with requests from then on, but he can make it clear that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime event (or at least once in a decade), resulting in an asterisk in the official stats.
(Note: Back when the Nordstrom’s owned the Seahawks, one player was telling reporters how dissapointed he was at missing an incentive payment – I forget the details. An assistant coach, overhearing the exchanged, told the player that as far as the team was concerned, he did, indeed, make the incentive payment. “We don’t go by the official stats” he said. “We make our own decisions”.)
@1
But home run calls can have the same problem. Let’s say a ball is called a home run due to fan interference with a man standing on first base. Turns out replay shows the fan didn’t touch it and it just landed in fair territory. Where do you put the runners? It then becomes a matter of umpire judgement. But the call is closer to the outcome had the original call been correct than it would have been without replay, so I think I’m ok with that.
A guy on KJR today pointed out that replay will save time in baseball because in baseball you’re allowed to argue calls. Rescind that rule in favor of replay and you shorten games.
No, no, no to replay/review.
I agree with czechsaaz @1. While the umpire clearly blew the call he made — Galarraga’s foot hit the bag long before the hitter got there — the runner should have been called safe on the bobble. Call it 3E1, an assist for the 1B and an error on the pitcher. Since he retired the next batter to complete the game, it’s still a no-hitter but not a perfecto.
For the record, I strongly disagree with MLB’s definition of no-hitter:
Somehow, they’ve decided that you have to pitch at least nine innings to toss a no-hitter. Which means that the four games in which a home team had no hits but had outscored the visitors after the top of the 9th (6/21/1890, 7/1/1990, 4/12/1992, 6/28/2008) aren’t offical no-hitters. Nor are the three dozen no-hit games that were shortened by weather or darkness. Even worse, four of those shortened (non)no-hitters were (non)perfect games — Ed Karger went 7 (darkness) on 8/11/1907, Rube Vickers went 5 (darkness) on 10/5/1907, Dean Chance went 5 (rain) on 8/6/1967, and David Palmer went 5 (rain) on 4/21/1984.
For me, any official game in which a team achieves zero hits should be called a no-hitter. It’s not the pitcher’s fault that he didn’t continue to 9 full innings.
OTOH, I’m pleased that MLB doesn’t consider Harvey Haddix’s game on 5/26/1959 to be a no-hitter, much less a perfect game. Yes, Haddix threw 12 perfect innings. But there was an error, a hit, and a run in the 13th. Thus, not only was it not a perfect game … it was also not a no-hitter and not a shutout.
But the “no hitter” accolades are credited to the pitcher, not the team – so it would only make sense that the pitcher go all 9 innings.
Selig should reverse the decision and the game should be recorded as the perfect game it was.
When EVERYONE knows it was a botched call, let’s not just meekly do nothing about it. This is a reversible call and the man who can do so should.
Ummm, no.
There have been nine officially-recognized combined no-hitters, including the one on June 11, 2003 wherein six Astro hurlers (none of whom went more than 2.2 innings) no-hit the Yankees. The first combined no-no was the famous (non)perfect game by Ernie Shore on 6/23/1917, in which Red Sox starter Babe Ruth walked the Senators’ leadoff man, argued about it, and was ejected; with Shore now pitching, the runner was caught stealing … and Shore retired the next 26 hitters in a row. So it’s not necessarily “the pitcher” (singular).
In addition, “no-hitter” and “perfect game” are the only pitching feats for which MLB forces the pitcher(s) to go 9 innings. To throw a complete game, a pitcher has to be his team’s only pitcher in an official game, irrespective of the game’s length. To throw a shutout, a pitcher has to throw a complete game and allow zero runs, irrespective of the game’s length. So, for example, David Palmer’s accomplishment on 4/21/1984 — 15 up, 15 down in a rain-shortened game — is officially recorded as a CG and a ShO, but not as a no-hitter or a perfect game.
I find that inconsistent on the part of MLB. Not that I would expect either consistency or sense from Bud Selig’s MLB.
FTR, in the Ruth-Shore game, Shore gets neither a CG nor a ShO. It was, however, the best relief pitching performance there’s ever been.
@12
I should have written “perfect game” rather than “no hitter”. That was what I was thinking.
And that makes a difference how?
In my world, if it’s an official game, and if the pitcher (pitchers) retired every single batter, then he (they) pitched a perfect game.
Sadly, we live instead in Bud Selig’s world.
WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?
the Gold one needs to remove the black and orange glasses!!!!!
the FLYERS did not need to score 2 in OT….the 1st never crossed the line.
good grief are fans the most stupid of all people????
i do think so
oh yea….i am also against all replays too.
@15
Yes, they usually are.
Lee, how’s Renton treating you?
1:
Good examples exist for instant-replay systems in other sports. The NFL system, especially when it gets to the final two minutes of a half and in overtime, where all reviews are initiated from an official specifically charged with watching replays, is the gold standard. A similar system exists in elite rugby competitions, where if the referee cannot make the correct call (usually on tries, where the scoring player must touch the ball down in the endzone to score), he defers to the Television Match Official (TMO), who then uses instant replay to catch what the ref couldn’t and make the ruling on the try.
A system similar to the above examples could be implemented in baseball in about five minutes. It’s just the antediluvian nature of baseball that prevents it, to the detriment of the game and its reputation.
Baseball is vinyl. It’s analog. It’s a funky old overstuffed mitt, a jalopy.
Leave it be.
@20
Exactly. Leave it alone, imperfections and all.
@18
I’m enjoying it. Thanks. Good neighbors and a good location. Now that the chaos of the move has largely settled down, I have more time to blog (usually in the evening, though, after the Z-man goes to bed).
@3 you need two challenges. One poses the problem of managers possibly “saving” them for a more important call later. And if we limited it to two challenges, challenging home runs calls would still of course use a challenge even though we already have that today.
@23
Home run reviews are initiated by the officials (similar to how hockey goals are reviews), and I don’t think I’d want to change that. But I’d be ok with giving a manager the ability to challenge a baserunning call once or twice a game. That way, instead of running out of the dugout and screaming at the umpire for five minutes to no avail, the manager can just demand a look at the replay.
@24: Lee
But, but but …. how will Lou Piniella get to kick the bag, scream at the ump and then get tossed?
Won’t this hurt the integrity of the game (sic).
@25
You’re right, I would miss that. :)
@24 The manager can ask for a review on home run calls, but the umpire doesnt have to agree to it. The umpires can also do it for themselves.
@27
Yeah, that was how I understood it. The umpires decide, whether they are asked or not. Definitely wasn’t clear from my last comment. Thanks.