By now you?ve probably heard about the big Joe West/replay/fan interference call that took place in the sixth inning of the Phillies-Marlins game yesterday. This was a wonderful set of?occurrences because it marries at least three of my personal hobby horses: Joe West bashing, instant replay and Phillies fans. If steroids were involved somehow I probably would have had to have been hospitalized yesterday.
So here?s the video of the play. Probably worth watching it first so we can all agree ? and I think we can all agree ? that yes, that was a case of fan interference.*?But the fan interference itself was not really the critical thing here. Joe West?s use of instant replay to overturn the original call of a double is what really turned this into an argle bargle/foofaraw.
The replay rules say that home runs or potential home runs are reviewable. As the play went down, no one ? and here I mean the announcers and the people watching the game live and tweeting about it ? thought this was a potential home run call being reviewed. Nor did Charlie Manuel. They all thought this was a defensive play (i.e. a double or a fan interference call) being reviewed, which would seem not to be a reviewable call. So, Joe West reviews it, calls Hunter Pence out and everyone freaks about Joe West cowboying his way into a call that should not have been.
Except after the game West told reporters that this was, in fact, a potential home run call being reviewed. He said that home plate umpire?Chad Fairchild thought that the fan interference could have prevented the ball from being a home run, thus rendering the review appropriate.?Manuel contends that no one was talking about it being a potential home run when everyone was arguing about it on the field, suggesting that the potential home run contention was a post-facto thing by the umps in order to validate their call.?The Phillies have protested, of course. But given that an umpire will be on the record in his report saying that the review was of a potential home run, I?m pretty sure that the protest will fail.
But the protest is not terribly interesting to me. It?s not going to change the fact that the Phillies will win the division. And even if it succeeded, it may be a bad thing for Philly given that they?re already playing 26 games in the next 24 days. Sure, everyone would love to get Roy Halladay another win if possible, but when are they supposed to replay this one if the protest is upheld?
No, what really jazzes me about this is how clearly it illustrates the lame artificiality of the current instant replay rule. ?About how the umpires are technically allowed to look at a play if X, but are not allowed to look at and review the very same damn play if Y.
From what I can determine, the validity of this call is based on whether Joe West thought he was reviewing a defensive play or a potential home run. But on what planet is a sane replay system governed by what happens to be in Joe West?s head the moment before he looks at the video monitor? ?Why should a call that was ultimately correct even be considered improper based on the premise of the review? Right is right, right? ?This rule is akin to one that says a police officer assigned to traffic duty can?t do anything about it if he sees a robbery happen on the corner 20 feet away.
Baseball can?t continue on with this kind of silliness. The calls should be correct, and if a video review can help the umpiring crew make the correct call ? even if it?s not a home run call ? that?s all that should matter. ?And if it takes Cowboy Joe West being Cowboy Joe West for someone in a position of authority to finally own up to this and expand replay, I?m just fine with that, thank you very much. ?Only Nixon could go to China, and only an umpire of Joe West?s particular charms can show the ridiculous inherent in the system.
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*Interference by a Phillies fan, it?s probably worth noting. And I note it because some folks who were sending me tweets about this yesterday were saying stuff like ?fan interference on the road screws the Phillies!? ?No, my friends, if the Phillies were screwed here it was not by some Marlins fan. It was because of an event that was kicked off by a Phillies fan who couldn?t resist messing with a ball in play.
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