Do We Really All Need To Argue Like That?
Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:44 am
Yesterday in the great spirit of Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, we saw two MLB managers defend their players by going nose to nose with MLB umps. It was classic theater for the fans. An old gruff manager like Jim Leyland standing up for his players who were first thrown at after Miguel Cabrera mashed another home run. He was nose to nose with some young ump who could smell tobacco with every swear word Leyland could muster. Then later last night we saw young manager Mike Matheny rip into an even younger ump for showing up one of his young players. He got right in his face and told him what a jerk of a showman he was.
Now I've been in some dandy debates in my lifetime and I've even had to jaw with Vikings fans at Lambeau Field as we again had to end the conversation with "how many Super Bowls have you guys won again?" But NEVER have I gone nose to nose with another man (or woman for that matter) to make my point. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen any other man do that outside of the tough guy at 2 am outside a bar whose blood/alcohol level was above 0.25. Men don't need to get that close to each other to make their point, do they?
It's showmanship and it's stupid. As long as we're cleaning up the game from PEDs, can we also clean it up from bad calls, stupid theater like this and managers having any importance on who gets thrown out of a game or not? I mean, seriously, we don't need to see this.
Here's one way to stop these dramatics. USE INSTANT REPLAY!! Did anyone watch Wimbledon? Tennis has the coolest instant replay system in the world and it makes line calls instantaneously and down to the last blade of grass. The players watch the replay on the big screen on the court and everyone knows the call is right in a matter of seconds. There are no more John McEnroe outbursts or controversies. The best players win. Why the hell can't baseball do that for home runs, foul balls and even bang-bang plays at home play. Bryce Harper clearly scored last night against Philadelphia and the call was wrong in the first inning of a big, big game. I understand we want the human element, but in less than one minute that call could have been corrected and the Nats would have been ahead 1-0. Would the umpire have his feelings hurt? Sure, but not any more than the Wimbledon line judge who had his/her call reversed in public.
Baseball takes way too long for instant replays and the NFL is monetizing its instant replays. Ridiculous. Kudos to tennis. And when calls are wrong, what do we get in baseball? Grown men nose to nose hollering at each other for 10 minutes. Hell, tennis would get 4 more games in during that time thanks to instant replay.
I love baseball, but change is tough for this sport. Heck, just ask the Cubs' owners who are trying to spice up that park with a new scoreboard. Blasphemy some purists say. Keep the old one. Sorry, I was just at Wrigley and I said to Tom "doesn't it feel weird not to see instant replay at a ballpark?" I vote for the new scoreboard and make a museum for the old one. But that's just me.
I'm sure if we debated about the Cubs' new scoreboard, we'd do it civilly and not nose-to-nose. Although it sure would be good theater for the fans if we did it that way. I just don't ever remember fighting that way, do you?
Now I've been in some dandy debates in my lifetime and I've even had to jaw with Vikings fans at Lambeau Field as we again had to end the conversation with "how many Super Bowls have you guys won again?" But NEVER have I gone nose to nose with another man (or woman for that matter) to make my point. In fact, I don't think I've ever seen any other man do that outside of the tough guy at 2 am outside a bar whose blood/alcohol level was above 0.25. Men don't need to get that close to each other to make their point, do they?
It's showmanship and it's stupid. As long as we're cleaning up the game from PEDs, can we also clean it up from bad calls, stupid theater like this and managers having any importance on who gets thrown out of a game or not? I mean, seriously, we don't need to see this.
Here's one way to stop these dramatics. USE INSTANT REPLAY!! Did anyone watch Wimbledon? Tennis has the coolest instant replay system in the world and it makes line calls instantaneously and down to the last blade of grass. The players watch the replay on the big screen on the court and everyone knows the call is right in a matter of seconds. There are no more John McEnroe outbursts or controversies. The best players win. Why the hell can't baseball do that for home runs, foul balls and even bang-bang plays at home play. Bryce Harper clearly scored last night against Philadelphia and the call was wrong in the first inning of a big, big game. I understand we want the human element, but in less than one minute that call could have been corrected and the Nats would have been ahead 1-0. Would the umpire have his feelings hurt? Sure, but not any more than the Wimbledon line judge who had his/her call reversed in public.
Baseball takes way too long for instant replays and the NFL is monetizing its instant replays. Ridiculous. Kudos to tennis. And when calls are wrong, what do we get in baseball? Grown men nose to nose hollering at each other for 10 minutes. Hell, tennis would get 4 more games in during that time thanks to instant replay.
I love baseball, but change is tough for this sport. Heck, just ask the Cubs' owners who are trying to spice up that park with a new scoreboard. Blasphemy some purists say. Keep the old one. Sorry, I was just at Wrigley and I said to Tom "doesn't it feel weird not to see instant replay at a ballpark?" I vote for the new scoreboard and make a museum for the old one. But that's just me.
I'm sure if we debated about the Cubs' new scoreboard, we'd do it civilly and not nose-to-nose. Although it sure would be good theater for the fans if we did it that way. I just don't ever remember fighting that way, do you?
?? in reality here's Lowry and I below. I um, have the ball. Well briefly...
