Michael Kay just gave the figures of reviewed plays this season & said that of the over 1200 reviews 47.6% have been over turned. I mean DAMN! that means that umpires have been wrong almost 1/2 the time. Shit! no wonder why they scream...."KILL THE UMPIRE!".
Less pressure on umps to get it right. Couple their compensation and jobs to their performance and see that % jump sky high.
...that's less than 600 plays out of how many total plays in MLB?...all in all, the Umps still are pretty damned good at what they do.
Still when you consider all the obvious calls that don't need to be reviewed getting half of the reviewed calls wrong is still a high % any way you look at it.
...the idea behind the review system is to get it right...and it's working for the most part. There are a lot of bang bang plays and the umps do a good job in general. ...you're also not taking into account how many times the manager goes out there, and is given the "thumbs down" from the dugout...those plays are never even reviewed. ...I don't see this as an indictment on Umps...no way.
I never quit realized how hard an Base Umps job is, until I did as much for H.S. Ball. (long time ago)....on Bam Bam plays, its as hard a job as any for the mind to call a flash of lightning play. Even listening (at 1st) for the pop of the glove and thump of the foot on the bag, its still as hard as it gets, to make a call right the 1st time. Thus I have the utmost respect for Umps. (Also very hard to dodge a bullet line drive, when you don't have a glove on). What IS amazing, is there are more ejections this year, than ever before. Mostly due to Mgr's. arguing replayed calls, a NO NO... or instant ejection.
Given the circumstances the umpires are right on top of things. I do like the challenged replays as well, nice improvement to parts of this game.
_______________________________ Doesn't surprise me in the least. I've been saying for years (thanks to TV/network replays), the umpires are probably blowing approx half of all close (and not so close) plays- especially around the bases. Many of us have been calling for replay challenges over the years with the managers getting 2-3 per game - now MLB has to use this tool to grade the various umpires. There MUST BE (as if we didn't know, lol), some umpires who are lousy at their jobs and are not much better than an average fan walking onto the job. lmao Weed these guys out and do not allow them to umpire important September and post season games.
