Reversing The Final Play Of The Game

May 9th, 2013

It seems that there has been another blown call in baseball. This time, what would have been a game-tying home run in the 9th inning was ruled by the Crew Chief as not a home-run. Even after reviewing a video replay, the Umpires let the call stand.

With two outs, Rosales sent a drive to left that appeared to clear the 19-foot-high outfield wall and strike a railing. Melvin asked Hernandez and his crew to review the hit, and three umpires left the field to view replays in a designated area near their dressing room.

After a lengthy delay, the umpires returned to the field and instructed Rosales to stay at second, a decision that shocked the A’s, the Indians, 14,000 fans in attendance at Progressive Field and people watching on television.

Justice Joe Torre denied certiorari on the Oakland A’s appeal. Well, pretty much.

“By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief,” Torre said in a statement released during Thursday’s series finale. “In the opinion of Angel Hernandez, who was last night’s crew chief, there was not clear and convincing evidence to overturn the decision on the field. It was a judgment call, and as such, it stands as final.

I ‘ve previously blogged about the importance of calls at the end of the game–perhaps most famously the blown call that cost Armanda Gallaraga a perfect game. Should the umps just let ’em play, and err on the side of an exciting conclusion?

For more on judging and umpiring in sports, see hereherehere, and here.