Do You think Baseball is the hardest sport for....

[Guest NoCalMike]

Ok well I know when I watch basketball and Football(barring 1-2 challenged plays) the pace of the game is just to fast sometimes to get every call right, but I mean sometimes umpires in MLB can be outright HORRIBLE, even when they staring right at the pitch or a play at the plate. My question: Is baseball the hardest sport for an official to make bad calls and not get scrutinized?

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

My first instinct is to say yes because they play so many games, thus they can get away with blowing some calls, especially at one of those ever-so-watched Devil Rays/Royals affairs...

[Guest cartman]

Me thinks he watched the Yankees/Redsox game last night because the umpiring was HORRIBLE....for BOTH teams.

[Guest Redhawk]

Ya know why baseball is the easiest sport to get away with bad officiating? Because baseball players aren't nearly as intimidating as football or basketball players. Sure, you have your occaisional big guys like Mo Vaughn or Frank Thomas, and then you have some "crazy-scary" guys like Carl Everett, but baseball players are the closest thing to regular-looking guys in professional sports (By the way, golf is NOT a sport, so it doesn't count).

[Guest Vern Gagne]

Baseball because you make more calls. Every pitch the home plate umpire has to make a call.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

No, if you remember a few years back the NFL officials were absolutely horrible. Back in 1996, the officials blew everything in the playoffs, when they handed the Super Bowl to Dallas. Pittsburgh/Dallas, Green Bay/Dallas, Pittsburgh/Indy, and Buffalo/Pittsburgh all had bad calls that directly influenced the outcome of those games. Officiating in MLB isn't any worse than any other sport.

[Guest MillenniumMan831]

The officials barely made it out of Cleveland with their heads last year when they BOTCHED a call against The Browns. DON'T PISS OFF BROWNS FANS!!!

[Guest Some Guy]

I think the perseption is there because there are so many calls that an Umpire has to make. Calling a 97 MPH fastball can't be too easy and neither is calling a Knuckle ball. In MLB it's just one guy who makes the call, he doesn't have a bunch to look at for help like NBA and NFL. It's all on his shoulders. A home plate Ump has to call over 200 pitches a game, there aren't even a hundred plays in a football game or 100 calls in a B-Ball game. Plus plays at the plate can be easily masked by the catcher's foot, dirt kicking up, or any number of obstacles. It's a tough job, but what bothers me is the petty bullshit that Umps do, like the aforementioned Sox/Yanks game yesterday. The Yanks (rightfully) complained about the strike zone on Monday and the next day they were penalized for it by being squeezed by the Ump. Now neither Ump is really any good but there's no excuse for throwing out the rules to punish a team for honest critisism.

 

::watches hell freeze over because he stuck up for the Yankees::

[Guest dreamer420]

In Hockey bad calls will often results in heavy booing from the fans so the refs hear it when they fuck up. Plus the NHL has switched to two refs no so there is less chances for mistakes.

 

In the NFL there is always time in between plays and now that instant replay is back, the coaches can often catch a refs mistakes and get it over turned.

 

In MLB everything is happening so quickly. From the speeds of the pitches to the plays on the field everything in baseball is done quickly and quietly usually so I agree that it is easier for them to get away with things. Because refs are constantly having to make calls and decisions, I think the fans tend to let them get away with more, and therefore lots of bad calls go by unnoticed.

[Guest MarvinisaLunatic]

Baseball needs instant replay on homerun calls. Im still bummed out from that kid Jeffrey Meyer reaching over the fence in 96..

[Guest alkeiper]

I was furious that day, but the fact that its only been an issue once in the last seven years would make it more of a hassle then its worth. Maybe some help on fair-foul calls would be nice though.

[Guest El Hijo Del Lunatic]

Basketball is the worst sport for umpires. The rules are so subjective in basketball, and the sport is so fast-paced, EVERY call is a bad call if you look at it the wrong way. There is no clear-cut boundary between acceptable physical play and hacking; between travelling and making a nasty crossover move; between an out-of-control drive to the basket and a controlled one. I mean, in baseball, SOME things are cut-and-dry. And an umpire can tke all the time he wants to make his call. Not so in basketball.

 

LUNATIC

- Pimpin' ho's and clockin' a grip like my name was Dolemite.

[Guest Some Guy]

I think Basketball just needs to lighten up on their rules. I like the game but can't stand there being a foul every ten seconds and the last five minutes being free throws.