Blown Calls

Is there anything worse than an umpire blowing a call?  Whether it's a missed strike or blown call on the bases it happens at least once during a game.  Baseball has seen it's fair share of missed calls and some of them happen to change a game or even history.  It's calls like Jim Joyce's during Armando Galarraga's perfect game that makes me cringe.  At the same time Joyce didn't miss the call on purpose.  People sent hate mail and death threats to the guy which is absolutely crazy.  They had to fly his family out of Detroit because MLB was afraid something might happen.  The aftermath also included a cry for instant replay.  It's the nature of the game and I'm glad instant replay is only used for home runs because no baseball fan wants to see instant replay.  Aside from ruining the game, baseball is slow enough already and it would ruin the tempo of the game.  Replays for home runs already take up to five minutes and you're talking about 15 minutes a game for reviews.



The worst of blown calls sometimes bring a manager's tirade and make for great TV.  Nothing fires me up more than my manager going out and sticking up for the player and team.  I think every player loves a manager sticking up for them and I think it's the quickest way for a manager to earn the player's respect.  One stipulation for arguing calls is it has to be obvious.  Everyone in the ballpark has to know that he just blew it.  It also must come at the right time such as if the guy has botched calls all day or if it's a big situation.  Over the years there has been great blowups but there has also been some terrible scripted acts.

Great

Terrible