In the sports world when it comes to making close calls the
human eye precision lacks
In pro basketball and pro football a referee’s call will
need a slow motion replay to have it backed
In pro football a coach can challenge a call but needs to be
right
If not overturned a loss of a time out for questioning a
Zebra’s eyesight
In MLB where cameras show the flight and speed of every pitch
A manager cannot have an erroneous ball and strike call
ditched
In a Cardinal White Sox game with the White Sox leading 6-5
The Cardinals in the 10th inning loaded the bases
with none out making it doubtful White Sox would survive
But the next 2 Cardinal batters struck out and then the rains
came
Baseball cannot be played in the rain so game delayed while
Cardinal fans hoped the Rain gods would be tamed
And the White Sox fans not wanting to be soaked to their
skins
Wanted the game to be called so back to their dry homes with
a win they could go in
The umpire refused and the game was delayed for 3 hours with
most of the fans taking a hike
When it finally resumed pinch hitter Ivan Herrera went to the plate
With the count 1-2 a pitch low and outside the strike zone
determined his fate
Instead of a clearly ball 2 C.B. Bucknor called it strike
three
Game over and a White Sox ill-deserved victory
C.B. Bucknor is an umpire whose accuracy is not near the top
Could be the poster child on why having the plate umpire call balls and strikes should
stop
MLB records each pitch of every game and can determine
whether the call was accurate or incorrect
If umpires fail to meet a high standard of accuracy their
position as umpire MLB should reject
Or more draconian on strikes and balls
And out or safe at the plate end their ability to call
© May 5, 2024 Michael P. Ridley aka The Alaskanpoet
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