Marlins vs. Phillies: Instant Replay, Cowboy Joe West and Robot Umpires
The Philadelphia Phillies lost 5-4 to the Florida Marlins in 14 innings on Sunday. Or did they?
The Phillies played the game under protest after a double by Hunter Pence in the sixth inning was reviewed and changed to fan interference…and an out.
I know what you’re thinking: the umpires aren’t allowed to review a play that wasn’t a home run. You would be correct. The rules of the game don’t seem to apply to Cowboy Joe West, crew chief of Sunday’s game, who decided he should take a look to see what exactly happened on the play.
What happened was this: the Phillies went from having runners on second and third with no outs to having a man on first with one out, after Pence’s double was changed to an out. The runner, who was on third, had to go back to first. The problem is, West didn’t go to replay the call until after Marlins manager Jack McKeon came out to complain about fan interference. Following that discussion, West and his crew talked it over and went inside to check out the replay. When they came out, they ruled it was fan interference and an out.
Now, the thing that seems (ahem) fishy about this, before we get to the replay situation, is that the fan did interfere with the play, but there’s still no absolute guarantee that a fielder jumping at the wall is going to make the catch. West just assumed, based on the replay angles he had, that the fans interfered with an out.
Charlie Manuel certainly agrees, telling reporters (via Phillies.com):
“When I looked at it on replay, they assumed he’s going to catch the ball, but assuming is not how it’s played. A lot of times when you hit the fence, it jars and you will miss the ball. They assumed that the guy being there is interference. I’ll argue that with you, too, because I played there 20 years. That’s how I look at it. At least we should have got a double out of it with men on second and third.”
Manuel is right. He’ll never not be right. You can’t assume a leaping player would hold onto that ball. But even if West did think that, he’s not allowed to review that part of the play!
“I had two managers on the field,” West said. “One of them was arguing that they wanted an out, and the other was arguing that he wanted a home run. Because they wanted me to go look because they wanted a home run, I got to judge whether it went over the fence or not.
“[Home-plate umpire Chad Fairchild] already thought it was spectator interference. So now we go look at the replay, and we have to take all the evidence that we get from the replay and that’s why we came up with the rule, which is the correct ruling.”
First, it’s not the correct ruling. West assumes it’s the correct ruling based on how he thought the play would end. But more importantly, despite what the home-plate umpire thought, it’s an un-reviewable part of the play. The only thing West was able to review was whether or not it was a home run. If it wasn’t a home run, it was a double, not an out.
Manuel questioned West’s fast-and-loose interpretation of the rule:
“My understanding is that’s not the rule. Even if you go look if it’s a home run or a double, the defensive play doesn’t come into play there.”
McKeon, whose team clearly benefited from the situation, brought up the notion of “getting it right.” Isn’t that what we all want, after all?
Yes, we want the calls to be right. But unless the ball was pulled out of the fielder’s glove, there’s still no 100 percent certainty he was going to catch that ball. The umpires’ assumption of a possible outcome is as irresponsible as deciding to reverse a call they don’t have the authority to reverse.
Of course, this situation will lead Major League Baseball to revisit the replay rule in offseason (if not sooner), and certainly, any play at the wall, at the plate or involving a fan will have to be eligible for review. Major League Baseball can’t hide its head in the sand anymore with replay. Whether this protest is upheld—once the Phillies came back to take the lead before eventually losing, any hope of the protest being upheld went flying out the window—the league has to address a veteran umpire taking the rules into his own hands.
Not only should MLB institute a wider replay threshold, they should do what the NHL has done and make the call come from the league office. Forget about an extra ump in a booth or managers throwing challenge flags. Let someone sit in the MLB offices and buzz the crew chief when the league wants to look at a play. Then, whatever the league officially decides, stands. There’s nobody for the managers to kick dirt on, either.
The delay yesterday, which saw both managers come out and complain, an unwarranted video replay, an ejection and the game being put under protest, took more than 13 minutes. There’s no way MLB’s review of a close call would take more than two.
People clamor for instant replay, but it won’t solve anything because decisions will still be subjective. Until, of course, you take it out of the hands of the umps on the field. Or, make them all robots.
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