“Decent Attempt”?
As any Mets or Giants fans among our readership are aware, Phil Cuzzi put on an umpiring display of the kind I haven’t seen since the late Charlie Williams left the game. Well, actually, it was worse; it sort of combined Williams’ seemingly random strike zone and safe/out calls with Joe West’s even temper. The culmination was a ludicrously blown call at the plate on what should have been the winning run for the Giants. What makes it really special is the justification, which takes attempts to justify the de facto “every play is a force play” rule employed by lazy umpires to a whole new level:
Cuzzi said that he had not yet seen the replay. “I’ll look at it, but I figured I’d eat first,” he said, laughing. “He made a decent attempt to put the tag on him. That’s what it looked to me, and that’s why I called him out.
Not just Mets or Giants fans. I’m not a big baseball fan, but they showed a replay on NY1 the other morning, almost in passing, along and I was stopped in my tracks at how bad a call that was, how obviously bad it was. The juxtaposition of that travesty with the breezy voiceover recapping the game caused me to ruminate for a moment on how little justice there is in the world…
That extra “along” in there is my gift to the grammar police
You wanna speed up the pace, don’t let batters step out of the box unless they get a brushback or make contact with the ball, and limit the pitcher’s time between throws. You could have all the time for instant replay you wanted if you just did those two things.
That’s not remotely workable.
Why’s that?
Well, how do you propose enforcing the rule?
With clocks, warnings, and ejections.
Once you’ve decided what the rules of a game are, enforcing them is relatively easy.
There’s no reason that a baseball game should take 3.5 hours to play. It’s completely ridiculous.
1. Shut the fuck up already. If you don’t like the game, don’t watch it. I’m so sick and tired of people trying to tinker with the way the game is played over a non-issue.
2. You’re talking about basic elements of how the game is played. Some pitchers are just slow workers by nature, but every pitcher slows down with runners on. It’s part of how you keep them from stealing for Christ’s sake. And batters will always step out and re-set as a way of maintaining timing and balance, which are kind of fundamental to hitting.
Ah, an Internet Tough Guy. I love you guys.
Look–why does wanting to change something mean that I don’t like it? Isn’t that the same nonsense the conservatives spout anytime you say you’d like to create a more just and/or equitable society? Maybe I want to change baseball because I like it, not the other way around. Do you want to do away with the DH? Night games? Black players? Batting helmets? Free agency? Bring back the spitball? All of these were changes to the game, and I’m sure some people thought that they were non-issues at the time.
The fact that it takes an entire evening to watch a nine-inning game isn’t a non-issue. Maybe–just maybe–if the games were shorter, you could have more doubleheaders, and then the season wouldn’t last until freaking Halloween, when the weather in large parts of the country simply isn’t conducive to playing baseball.
Regarding pitching and being timed: I’m sure some quarterbacks are slower workers by nature, too, but they all somehow manage to get the vast majority of their plays in before the play clock expires. I don’t see why pitchers should be given all day between pitches, seeing as how that involves coordinating far fewer people and activities than calling a football play. Hitters would learn to adapt to the new rules, too.
It’s a game, not something fixed and eternal. The governing bodies can change it as they see fit; they’ve done so in the past, and the game goes on.
Why does he still have a job? Because all the pro leagues zealously protect these guys from all criticism.
And then, when something truly egregious as this happens, the leagues do nothing in response. I’m sure that the possibility that he might not make a few extra bucks in October is really weighing his conscience since he knows he still has a job come April.
When was the last time a baseball ump was fired that had nothing to do with a labour dispute?
Woof!
‘Cuzzi the Doozie’ strikes again!
That call was awful. So was the one that bounced off the plate and the 3rd base umpire said went off the batters foot!
And you gave it to him, Cuzzi, because the catcher tried hard? No, I’m sorry, made “A DECENT ATTEMPT!”? WTF!
What’s next, the batter broke from the box and sprinted all the way to first as hard as he could, so, never mind that the throw beat him by a foot, nice effort, and ‘You’re SAFE!”?
If he’s not fired for being inept, he should be fired for that ‘nice attempt’ line.
Yeeesh…
Yeah- this is what the bad calls USUALLY are, which made the Perfect Game screw up so weird- they always go for the “nice try.”
“It was the biggest call of my career, and I kicked it. I just cost that kid a perfect game.”
You’ve got to admit that Joyce’s attitude is a welcome contrast to Cuzzi’s . . .
Because MLB is cheap. You want Cuzzi gone? Give him early retirement. There is no reason anyone over 50 should be umpiring a game. Too much is riding on eyes that are declining to keep this up. MLB can afford a generous retirement package, do it and improve the game.
It almost makes a Mets fan forget that even with the “win,” they lost three series in a row, and blew yet another game for Santana.
Getting a win like that, including K-Rod getting it vulture style, is pretty bad. I won’t give it back, but it’s pretty bad.
As to replay, why not have a “two minute warning” like rule to cover this sort of thing — a call from the box when necessary. It can only apply to the ninth inning or extras and again, can only be called from the booth.
We might have another perfect game with that.
In fairness, K-12 must have been a living hell for the young Cuzzi, what with “Scuzzy Cuzzi! Scuzzy Cuzzi!” echoing down the hallways whenever he passed by. And that was the teachers!
Badda-bing! Thenkyewverymuch!