HARD TIMES FOR UMPIRES.

HARD TIMES FOR UMPIRES. Umpires have always been criticized, but umpires are in a worse position than they have ever been. Instant replay and special cameras for strike zones expose almost every bad call. TV announcers show those bad calls over and over. Umpires still try to “sell” their calls with gestures which are meant to show how sure they are of their call, but replays of a bad call just make those gestures ridiculous. I think, paradoxically, that publishing reviews of umpire performances would be helpful for the umpires. If people were aware that the best-rated umpire is still going to miss about 6% of his ball and strike calls (with lower-rated umpires missing over 12%), I think people would be more accepting of bad calls. (i used the number in this post for those estimates). As for calls on the bases, I don’t think that baseball realizes that the example set by football in using instant replay makes the refusal by baseball to use instant replay seem like indifference to getting it right.