Yeah, the Umps and MLB suits are saying that last night's call was a good one. Who you going to believe: them or your lying eyes?
I think that Schilling's description is spot on. But it's said that Baseball is the Thinking Man's game, and that brings to mind Robert Atwan's superb Great Moments In Literary Baseball, with Jean Paul Sartre's Existentialist critique of the Infield Fly Rule.
Strangely, Google has the link here listed as #1, but the server is timing out for me.
UPDATE 6 October 2012 11:10: Thinking about it, the problem with the Umpire's call is the problem of the technocratic state. The rule says that it applies when the ball can be fielded by normal effort. The Umpire waited until the ball was almost caught before making the call. Essentially, it's Monday Morning Quarterbacking by the Umpire, right in the middle of the game. If the ball were obviously playable with normal effort the Ump would have made the ruling immediately.
The problem with the technocratic state is that it is predicated on really Smart rule making by really Smart bureaucrats, and enforced by disinterested bureaucrats who fairly interpret crystal clear Smart rules. Reality is messy and requires the use of judgement by the people on the scene. Unfortunately, judgement is the one thing not delegated by the Smart rule makers.
The umpire got it correct the instant Kozma signaled he had the ball. Once an infielder does that, the umpire calls the infield fly rule. The fact that Kozma dropped it means Kozma screwed up.
ReplyDeleteAs you know, the IFR is designed exactly to prevent faked versions of plays like that--oops, I dropped it, now I'll go for the double play.
Bad call by Kozma. When an infielder is backing up and an outfielder is running in, the outfielder should have right of way if the players know their basic management: an inbound outfielder can more easily make a catch and throw out a runner than a back-peddling infielder.
This is all Kozma's fault. The ump, in my wizened eye, had it right. But I'm willing to read contrary interpretations.
Baseball is "the thinking man's game" because one has so much time for thinking during the game...
ReplyDeleteYAAAAAAAAAWN!
I don't care about the call, or about the Braves being eliminated. What bothers me is a one game "playoff" that removes a team that was six games up at the end of the season. This is bad for baseball and needs to be revisited.
ReplyDeleteI am torn between the timing of the call and the fact that I hate the Braves with the white-hot intensity of a thousand F2 stars that also hate the Braves. My summation of the '95 Series: "Give me the strike six inches off the outside corner and I can win you a Cy Young too.
ReplyDeleteYes, I am the lowest form of life: a Cleveland Indians fan. :-)
There was no problem with the umpire's call. He waited until Kozma (an infielder) called that he could catch it. That's ordinary effort. Rule 2.0 was met.
ReplyDeleteThe umpire signaled the out by raising his finger.
I think there's confusion that a player has to make the catch for the batter to be out. The umpire can call the batter out for the infield fly rule, no matter if the infielder catches the ball or not.
Just as an umpire can call a base runner out for exiting the base path. No play has to be made.
The point of the IFR is to prevent an infielder from intentionally or unintentionally dropping the ball, picking it up, and then executing a double play. The IFR limits the event to one out, rather than a double play based on a faked move.
The runner off the base was out when Kozma signaled he had it. Kozma is still a goof for backing up for a pop fly when the left fielder should have had it (and which would have prevented the IFR).