I'm perfectly fine with imperfect

Photo Courtesy CCLLBaseball.com

Graham Walker

April 26, 2013

I worry sometimes when talk of modernizing baseball comes up in various circles. It’s been a topic off and on for numerous years now. There are video reviews that we see in other sports, but through the test of time baseball has persevered without.

Some could ask if the sport is behind the times, look at the NHL for example, every few years new rules and regulations creep into the game, additionally, we have seen new camera angles and video replay for the refs to review.

However, no other sport official has more influence on a game than in baseball. Every pitch has the potential for human error. And to be honest, that’s fine with me.

Last night Crew Chief Jeff Kellogg decided to make up his own version of Major League Baseball’s rules and reverse a call without dispute from Yankee’s skip Joe Girardi. But are calls like this reason to take the human element out of the game?

If we could manufacture a robot that knew every rule and would never miss a call, would you want that? Would it be enjoyable to watch? We could call balls and strikes called over the stadium intercom and have ‘Siri’ provide the color. Where do we draw the line? Is sport about right or wrong? Aren't blown calls the stuff that city folklore is made of? Remember back to Armando Galarraga's imperfect game. That particular game will forever be remembered and had the last call not have been blown, none of us would be able to recall it (well maybe Armando).   

For the most part they get it right. On average the umpire crew has to make an average 147 calls a game and the percentage they get wrong is so small we could present the union with a six-sigma award.

The point is we have humans calling our game, it is imperfect, and it is with error and that is the way it should remain. Baseball, I would argue, is more about the passion, the emotion, the romance, and the intangibles. The game the pro’s play is no different than the one we all played and fell in love with on sandlots as kids.

If the game was good enough for the last 100 plus years without digital interjection, I say, “if it ain’t broke…”