This has been on my mind all postseason, and now it’s time to let it out.  There is a desperate need for Instant Replay in baseball.

Look at that play in the Bottom 5th with Jimmy Rollins.  He caught Cano’s jam shot, and got the double play by doubling off Matsui who didn’t know what hit him.  It was a great intelligent play by Rollins that could have been erased by bad umpiring.  

Just in this postseason alone, there have been a ton of plays where the umpires have made egregious errors.  At home we can see them, all the fans at the game can see them, the players even turn to look at the replays on the Jumbotrons; everyone on the planet but these umpires sees the play and knows what the call should be.

In the ALCS you had two Yankees clearly tagged out at 3rd, Posada and Cano, who was on some other planet, but the umpire missed it.  Then two plays with Swisher, the pick off at 2nd and the tag up at 3rd, more missed calls.  All it took was a pair of eyes watching the right spot at the right time, which is the essence of umpiring.

We need Instant Replay.  

Having one more umpire up in a booth, in front of a T.V. watching the game is the solution.  Every MLB game is televised, so it’s just a matter of breaking out of this Stone Age way of thinking that the game isn’t pure unless human error is involved.

Having play go on when there is a clear and obvious error is a stain on the credibility of the umpires, which is a shame.  These umpires are great umpires, but their job is extremely tough to do, no matter how many umpires are on the field.

Looking to the other professional sports, the NFL, NBA, NCAA, and NHL all use video replay to get the calls right.  

Just using it for the HR calls is a joke, a tease.  The number of times they review HR is minuscule compared to the number of calls that are wrong.

This postseason has been defined by missed calls.  Do we really need to hear from umpires after the game that all they do is go out there and try to do their best?  

I say leave the human element in baseball to the players, and let’s get the calls right.  Put an extra umpire in the booth.  With an umpire already in the booth, all they will need to do is signal the booth, and a few moments later, the right call will be made.

In the time it takes for the crew of umpires to huddle up, discuss, argue, ponder, and come to a decision, the right call can be made, and the game goes on.  

If you want to cut down on delays, limit the number of times a catcher can go to the mound.  It seemed like Jose Molina was going out to the mound talking to A.J. Burnett before every pitch in key moments. It was ridiculous.

If the players can have endless time-outs, why can’t the umpires have one?

I can go on and on with more examples, and I know you purists out there have many questions about my theories for improving the game, but hey, we’ve got a game out there in the rain.  I’m going to watch the rest of Game 1.

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-Greg Amsinger