That's why we should mention that, for all the grief that they get, the men in blue do actually get a majority of the calls they make right. When they get one wrong, however, boy do they hear about it.
The Red Sox caught a break thanks to a blown call on Monday, but they've been on both sides of mistakes in the last few games.
Mike Aviles was allowed to continue his at-bat after what should have been a strikeout, eventually resulting in three runs for the Red Sox that they shouldn't have scored. On Sunday, they found themselves getting burned by a missed call, with Dustin Pedroia called out on the basepaths erroneously in what turned out to be a one-run loss to the Rays.
With the use of instant replay, the umpires might have been able to take a second look at the plays and get the calls right. But as it stands, baseball only allows the use of instant replay for limited reasons.
Instant replay began in 2008, when the league allowed it for home run calls only. In the latest collective bargaining agreement, there is also language to expand it for fair/foul calls and to determine if a ball was caught or trapped. That hasn't been put in place yet, after a conflict with the umpires union, but it seems like it will be implemented soon.
However, that might not be enough of a change for some fans. While many applaud the use of umpires and appreciate the so-called "human element" of baseball, still others would argue that replay should be used at every opportunity — for safe/out calls on the bases, as well as if a batter was a hit by a pitch or not. The ultimate, of course, would be even using instant replay or computers to call balls or strikes.
Armando Galarraga likely would cast his vote for one side of the argument — where do you cast yours?
