Replay not even close call

Umpires' postseason gaffes make it clear they need some help

PHILADELPHIA -- It's time. After an October that seemed to include at least one botched call by umpires per game, instant replay needs to become as much a part of the postseason as bunting and frigid weather.

If Major League Baseball hadn't instituted the use of instant replay this season for home-run calls, then it would be easy to rely solely on human element. But with the door cracked open for using replay as a crutch, let's give the OK for a little extra help for umpires, who seem to be screaming for it this postseason.

You are always going to get questionable calls behind the plate or at first base, but some of the missed calls this month have been atrocious. No one seems able to recall another postseason so riddled with horrible calls. We have seen an umpire stationed in left field miss a fair-foul call on a ball that landed a few feet away from him -- and several feet away from the line.

We have seen confusion, stubbornness and, more often than not, umpires sticking with the wrong call.

It's a taboo subject that won't go away because with each new game comes another blown call.

''I've spent a lot of time [on this issue] over the past month and will spend a lot of time in the ensuing months as well,'' commissioner Bud Selig said before Game 2 of the World Series. ''I don't want to overreact. You can make light of that, but when you start to think you're going to have more intrusions -- and even if they're good intrusions -- it's something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do.''

One of the arguments against replay is the time it will add to games. But look at the time wasted as the entire umpiring crew gathers in the infield to mull over another mistake by a colleague. In almost every instance this postseason, replays have clearly revealed what should have been the correct call. Yet the group discussion generally leads to sticking with the wrong call.

The issue was brought up again Friday, a day off for the World Series as the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies worked out at Citizens Bank Park.

''We've been on the side of some calls, and we've been on the other side of some calls,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. ''Each team has had to deal with that for years. Nobody is perfect out there. There are not enough eyes to see every play that takes place. We all know that.''

If expanding the use of instant replay, at least in the postseason, isn't a major topic when general managers gather in Chicago on Nov. 9-11 for their annual meetings, it should be. After years of resisting, GMs finally gave their OK to instant replay -- for home-run calls only -- in an overwhelming vote of approval at last year's meetings.

It just so happens that replay for a home-run call hasn't been necessary this postseason, but it sure would have come in handy for a batch of other bad calls.

The key is making sure replay doesn't cause a time drag for baseball games -- especially in the postseason, where time seems to stand still -- the way it does in the NFL.

''My concern about using instant replay too much is the rhythm of the game, especially for the pitchers,'' Girardi said. ''So if it was expanded, I would like to see an umpire in the booth that could make a call within 30 seconds because I think most calls you could make within 30 seconds, which a lot of times would be quicker than a manager running out there.''

Girardi seems more open to the idea than Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who admitted after Game 2: ''I probably never think the umpiring is good.''

Less than 24 hours later, Manuel was more sympathetic to umps.

''You're going to make mistakes, umpires are going to make mistakes, players are going to make mistakes, even managers make mistakes sometimes,'' Manuel said. ''I don't know if I'm for it or not. It's just something that, I haven't come to a conclusion on how to fix it, so therefore, I don't know. But it's the way it's always been played.''

True. But until this season, instant replay was never a part of the game.

If you're going to use a little, you might as well use a lot. The bottom line is getting the right call, especially this time of year.