It's ironic that after Carlos Delgado was robbed of a home run, Alex Rodriguez was robbed of one a few nights later. When I say robbed of a home run, you would think that an outfielder made a leaping catch over the wall to steal the home run. But, that isn't the case because the outfielders didn't rob the home runs...the umpires robbed the home runs! Delgado's home run hit the foul pole and bounced into the stands, in foul territory. If you didn't see it clearly, it would look like a foul ball. But, with the replay, you can clearly see the ball hit the foul pole, making it a home run.
A-Rod's homer was even clearer than Delgado's. I have no clue how they botched this call two nights ago. In right field, there is a yellow stairway about 15 feet from the ground, leading to the bleachers. Alex hit a line drive home run to that stairway, and when it hit the stairway, the ball bounced back into the field. Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis played it and threw to second. Great acting job by Markakis. Everyone in the park knew it was a home run, except for the umpires. A-Rod and Girardi argued to no avail as Alex was stuck with a double.
Other than these two calls, there were two other home run controversies during this week involving the Cubs' Geovany Soto and the Cardinals Ryan Ludwick. The debate has started and heated up about whether to include instant replay in baseball. Some say it should be for home runs and others say it should be for any controversial call. It could get ridiculous with red flags, like they have in football. I wouldn't expect to see two challenges a game for each team, especially because the people opposing instant replay say it will slow down the game. Ah, c'mon. An extra couple of minutes for umpires to review a call and get it right...that sounds good to me.
If replay comes about, where do we stop with it? Should it just be for home runs? Well, there was a call in last night's Yankee game that suggests maybe the replay should be for other plays too. Jason Giambi had two strikes on him in the bottom of the 9th when he was thrown a ball...but wait, Oriole catcher Ramon Hernandez said that the ball hit Giambi's bat. And yes, the umpire then said that Giambi tipped the ball into Hernandez's glove, after Hernandez told him to make the call. Joe Girardi was as fired up as I have ever seen him, while he kicked his hat and screamed at the umpire. Yeah, he got thrown out, but it was evident that he fired up his team when Robbie Cano hit a walk-off single, scoring Hideki Matsui. The problem with the call on Giambi was that the umpire said nothing after the pitch, until about 4 seconds later after Hernandez told him what to call. First of all, the ball wasn't even close to hitting Giambi's bat. Secondly, you know there is something wrong when the umpire doesn't make a call until a player tells him what to say.
Baseball definitely needs instant replay, but I'm not sure how they should limit it. The game is 3 hours and 10 minutes long, and the umpires got all the calls right with instant replay. Or, the game is 3 hours long and the umpires blew a call to cost a team the game. Which scenario would you rather?
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