Reviewing umps good for the game but where's the love for instant replay?

On the heeds of the blown call heard 'round the world, the MLB did something the NBA wished it would have done years ago....review the entire structure of umpires in baseball.

Despite not overturning the last call in the Galarraga game, Selig took the approach of creating a review of several things such as grading the MLB umpires, expanding instant replay and even has put "don't tell me what I can't do" Frank Robinson in charge of being tougher on baseball's umps.

To go along with the "official umpire review" that MLB is orchestrating, ESPN did their own confidential players poll in which players were asked a series of questions like best/worst umpire, expanding the use of instant replay and if the commissioner should have used the "best interest of the game" clause to overturn the Galarraga call.

Overall, the players gave the umpires a B rating and actually voted Jim Joyce the best umpire in baseball. Good to hear since Joyce was so upfront and honest about his regret on missing a call that cost Galarraga his perfect game.

One thing that surprises me is the overwhelming response to NOT have instant replay expanded in baseball. 62% of players voted NO for fair/foul calls and 77% of those same players also voted NO to replay on the bases. ($10 says no Tiger players were contacted for this poll)

How can the players be so against instant replay if it helps their cause? Do these guys really think arguing about a play for 15 minutes takes up more of their time than actually reviewing it for two minutes? Its ridiculous to me that the majority of baseball players are against instant replay but shout from inside the locker room when a play is miscalled.

Another astounding and very certain viewpoint from the poll is that 86% of players agree with Selig not overturning the call in Galarraga's perfect game. Yes, I understand that bad calls happen and you don't want to remove "the human element" of the sport but it was THE LAST OUT and changing one play on one game is not life changing for the sport of baseball.

Shame on these polled players and the traditionalists of the game for sticking with customs that are simply outdated with today's HD and replay technology. It doesn't have to be this difficult, change can be easy.


Hit the title/read more to see the full poll results and video on the state of the umpire in baseball....



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That's right, the call was blown during the top of the 9th inning with two outs on the verge of a perfect game and potentially the only time EVER in baseball that three perfect games would have been thrown in a season (more like a month).


For all the good umpires do, its calls like this you should NEVER miss. The runner was clearly out by a step. Calls of this significance should ALWAYS be reviewed. This call robbed a man of history and Galarragga deserves to share in this spotlight along with Braden and Halladay.

To the ump Jim Joyce's credit, he did apologize to Galarragga and Galrragga graciously accepted.

In special cases like this, the Commissioner should use his power and take back the call, allowing for Galarragga to be awarded the perfect game. And for the future of the game, Instant Replay should be extended to all circumstances excluding balls and strikes.

What do you think about the blown call? Do you think it should be reversed or did Galarragga just catch a tough break?

Hit the jump to catch the video of the entire play and exchange after....

Written by: Rob Lazlo

If you haven’t been following this story, get a load of this: Florida Marlins’ All Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez was benched following an embarrassingly awful play in which he booted a pop up all the way into left field and then loafed after it instead of running it down, while opposing base runners were circling the bases and scoring.

Take a look at the video of Ramirez and the reaction to his half effort.....

The truly shocking part of this story came afterward.  Manager Fredi Gonzalez benched Ramirez for his lack of hustle, and Ramirez responded like a petulant child during the post game press conference.  Asked if he would apologize, Ramirez replied, “For what?” He then was asked if “Fredi” (manager Gonzalez) had spoken to him about the incident or asked him to apologize and Ramirez responded “Who’s that?”  When the stunned reporter answered, “your manager” Ramirez went off on a tangent about how Gonzalez had never played in the majors so he didn’t know what it took to be a major league ball player.

Hit the jump to continue reading....

In Boca Raton, a two hour rain delay between FAU and Western Kentucky has turned into a YouTube sensation.

During the rain delay, the two teams decided to occupy their time with what else but dances, wrestling matches and even an appearance by the INS.

It started off when the entire team of WKY simulated a roller coaster ride. FAU quickly followed with their own rock concert complete with the pitcher as the drummer (so he won't get hurt), an expert air guitarist and even a mosh pit.

The ante was upped when somehow the FAU team had the audio from the Shake Weight commercial and had a rather plump player pretend to use the device as "The Before" and when he was covered by all the players, "The After" in a nicely sculpted body appeared showing the magic results of Shake Weight. (which on a side note, they just made a Shake Weight for men!insert joke here _________)

Western Kentucky wouldn't take these Shake Weight shenanigans sitting down so they in turn held their own wrestling match. Teammates joined arm in arm to create the "ring" while 2 others players carried on a wrestling routine that looked as if they had done this many times before.

Keep in mind that this rain delay lasted only 2 hours. It seems like this would take hours to plan and coordinate! This kind of thing reminds us that we were all little kids growing up playing and watching baseball in some form or another and its really refreshing to see guys have fun with baseball.

Other mini games that were played included commando raid (complete with sniper), dance off, fake hand walking and an "officer" from the INS paying a visit to a player who might not have all of his immigration papers in order.
 

Watch the video after the jump and enjoy....

Baseball Preview Part 6 of 6
Written By: Rob Lazlo


Predicted Order of Finish:

Philadelphia Phillies
Florida Marlins
Atlanta Braves
New York Mets
Washington Nationals




PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES



SEASON OUTLOOK: Prohibitive Favorite

While the rest of the National League focused on how to catch the Phillies, the Phillies’ offseason moves showed that they are getting ready for an anticipated post season showdown with the Yankees or Red Sox. The Phillies boast the best, hands-down the best, lineup in the National League, and are rivaled only by the Yankees in all of baseball. The scary part. . .pretty much no one had a career year last year. Chase Utley and Ryan Howard seem to get better every season. Jimmy Rollins was terrible for the first two months of the season last year and figures to play better in 2010. Jayson Werth is in a contract year. New addition Placido Polanco adds the one ingredient the Phillies lineup was short on - a pure contact hitter. There is an argument that Raul Ibanez played over his head last year but last year was his first in a big time hitter’s park like Citizen’s Bank, he missed a significant stretch of games due to injury, so his overall totals will actually probably get better and either way, there’s a good chance he will be hitting 6th or 7th all season, so even if Ibanez doesn’t put up great numbers it doesn’t exactly damage the lineup. Above and beyond the Phillies ability to slug, they feature excellent team speed top to bottom, Rollins, Victorino, Werth and Utley can all steal bases or stretch hits and they are one of the best teams in baseball up the middle defensively (Catcher Carlos Ruiz is my pick for the best defensive catcher in baseball). The Phillies will continue to wreak havoc on opposing pitchers as they have for a number of years.

Hitter Friendly Citizen’s Bank Park

Hit the jump to see the rest of the preview of the NL East....

Predicted Order of Finish:

Milwaukee Brewers

St. Louis Cardinals

Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati Reds

Houston Astros

Pittsburgh Pirates

MILWAUKEE BREWERS

SEASON OUTLOOK: Solid Contender

Who’s the best smash ‘em duo in baseball?  A-Rod/Teixeira?  Utley/Howard?  Mauer/Morneau?  How about the Brewers’ tandem of Prince Fielder and Ryan Bruan?  Fielder is coming off his best season - a third straight 100 RBI season to go with an on-base percentage over .400 and his home run total at 46.  Braun, meanwhile, hit .320 and slugged 32 homers, his third straight 30+ homerun campaign.  The middle of the Brewers order is, obviously, loaded.  The Brewers have also put some nice pieces around the, including 3B Casey McGhee and RF Corey Hart.  The one thing the Brewers lack is a true leadoff hitter, although they are hoping one of their young players will grow into the job.  Still, with a powerful 1-2 punch that ranks among the best in the league, Milwaukee will score their share of runs and will never be out of a game late.

Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder

On the mound, the Brewers are looking for young Yovani Gallardo (204 Ks last season) to mature into a true ace.  If he does, then Milwaukee has a nice 1-2 set up with free agent addition Randy Wolf.  The bottom of the rotation is shakier, but the collection of veteran pitchers with playoff experience the Brewers have assembled could pan out for them.  Moreover, nothing inspires confidence like run support, and giving up a 2 run homer in the 5^th inning stings a lot less if you have a 5-1 lead at the time.  The Brewers staff should find themselves in that position more often than not in 2010.

Brewers P Jeff Suppan

Hit the jump to continue reading on the rest of the teams in the NL Central.....

Baseball Preview Part 4 of 7
Written By: Rob Lazlo


Predicted Order of Finish:

Colorado Rockies
Los Angeles Dodgers
San Francisco Giants
Arizona Diamondbacks
San Diego Padres



COLORADO ROCKIES




SEASON OUTLOOK: Solid Contender

The Rockies are frequently the overlooked team of the National League, despite the fact that they’ve gone to the playoffs twice in the last three years and even made the World Series as a wildcard in 2007. Like the team itself, it’s hitters are too often dismissed as “products of Coors Field,“ enemy of pitchers and friends of hitters everywhere. Notwithstanding where they play, the Rockies are put together well. CF Dexter Fowler played well in his first full season last year and shows tremendous promise as a speedy lead off hitter. His on-base numbers should improve with experience. 1B Todd Helton is a fixture in the Rockies lineup and has been a clutch performer for years. Similarly, Brad Hawpe is an underrated outfielder who’s delivered 20+ HRs four years running. The questions for the Rockies are what they can expect from SS Troy Tulowitzski (career high 32 HRs last season) in the cleanup spot and which of their other players, like Carlos Gonzalez or Clint Barmes may produce some breakout numbers and elevate themselves and their lineup to elite status.


Troy Tulowitzski


In past years, the bad news for the Rockies always started with the pitching, but that is no longer the case. Ace Ubaldo Jimenez has some of the best stuff in the majors, and heads a solid rotation that includes Jeff Francis, the hero of the 2007 playoffs. This year‘s Rockies‘ staff figures to record a lot of strikeouts (Jimenez and Jorge De La Rosa both topped 190 Ks last season; De La Rosa and closer Huston Street both average more than 9 Ks per 9 innings), a very good thing at hitter friendly Coors field, where every ball in play is potentially the start of a big inning. Playoff tested and talented, the Rockies are my pick to win the NL West.



Jorge De La Rosa



Hit the jump to see the rest of the teams from the NL West....

Written by: Rob Lazlo

When it comes to looking at each Fantasy Baseball position, all of the major sites already have player rankings until you're blue in the face.

Let’s take a look at the players by position:

Catcher

The Sure Things:  Joe Mauer (MIN), Victor Martinez (BOS), Brian McCann (ATL)

Mauer will go early in the 1^st round, but you can still grab a top notch catcher a little later by taking Martinez or McCann.  Martinez gives you the added bonus of seeing extra at-bats as a DH, McCann will probably have a better overall season.  Either way, you can’t go wrong.

Diamonds in the Rough:  Matt Wieters (BAL), Miguel Montero (ARI), Yadier Molina (STL)

Wieters is already showing up pretty highly ranked on a lot of people’s lists, so you won’t probably won’t be able to save him for too long before he gets taken.  By all accounts, he’s an all-star in the making.  Montero was a back up last season until Chris Snyder got hurt.  Montero played so well that now the job is his.  Because he didn’t play a full season, his 2009 stats don’t look as good as some, so fantasy players may take other catchers ahead of him, leaving Montero to fall in your lap.  Despite being an all-star, people still think of Yadier Molina as a “defensive catcher.”  While he won’t hit homeruns for you, he’s a good contact hitter and will put up a nice average.

Approach with Caution:  Jorge Posada (NYY),  Mike Napoli (LAA)

Jorge Posada has always been an above average offensive catcher, but he’s also had a long history of injuries.  Given the chance he could spend time on the DL, and the fact that most of the Yankee pitchers preferred to throw to his backup last year, you may not get your pick’s worth out of Posada.  Napoli had a decent season last year, but manager Mike Sciosia likes backup catcher Jeff Mathis too much to let him fester on the bench.  If Napoli’s your starter, you’d better have a back up who will get good playing time.

Hit the jump to see the rest of the player positions....