Thursday's Trends and Indexes - 5/9 (NBA, NHL, MLB, Misc.)

[Udog]

U-dog--Long time Tribe fan here--have to admit we got away with one last night---but---Bob Melvin is an old school ump, and what he did was back up the call that was made on the field--at real-time speed--because the replay view that he had was 'inconclusive'....

Well, I watched it about a dozen times in slow motion and it sure looks like the ball ricocheted off the yellow. A ball in the yellow is gone, right?

Angel Hernandez had a lot of problems like this in the minor leagues, too.

[RS170]

It happens so fast it's hard to see, but on close inspection it did hit the railing first. I think it was Bob Melvin that made the call not Angel Hernandez--but I could be wrong on that. Melvin is old-school.

[Udog]

RS,

This is from CBS. MLB agrees it was a blown call but can't really do anything about it.


In the wake of Wednesday night's blown home run call in the Athletics-Indians game, MLB has issued the following statement:

"By rule, the decision to reverse a call by use of instant replay is at the sole discretion of the crew chief. 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.

"Home and away broadcast feeds are available for all uses of instant replay, and they were available to the crew last night. Given what we saw, we recognize that an improper call was made. Perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor, but our goal is always to get the calls right. Earlier this morning, we began the process of speaking with the crew to thoroughly review all the circumstances surrounding last night's decision."

The home run off the bat of Adam Rosales would have tied the game in the top of the ninth inning, as you can see in the video above. Instead, it was ruled a double and the Athletics went on to lose.

Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com explained why the league should not have overturned the incorrect call:

"Of course Major League baseball isn't going to reverse the missed home run call in the A's-Indians game Wednesday night. Nor should it.

Baseball isn't perfect. We've known this for quite some time now. And we're not going to change that with one reversed call from the home office.

There were missed calls in every game last night, and the night before that. Baseball is imprecise. That's one of the beautiful things about the game.

There have been missed calls before on reviewed plays, too. It happens, unfortunately.

The review is there to lessen the chance of a mistake happening. But they still do happen. Umpires err, just like players and writers do (there's probably a typo in this blog).

MLB can't be in the business of reviewing calls from the night before. That's what the replay review is supposed to be for. That's what umpires are for.

They make final calls. Not all of them are right, the umpires or the calls.

So the call will stand. As it should.

But please, let's dispense with the silly conspiracy theories. Crew chief Angel Hernandez (and his crew) did not miss the call on purpose.

Umpires don't enjoy being the subject of controversy, or certainly ridicule. They don't want to get it wrong.

And no, Angel Hernandez is not in the middle of every controversy. It only seems that way.

The A's' Adam Rosales' long drive that would have tied the score did clear the fence, as most folks could eventually tell. Though I'm not so sure everyone else could be sure, as A's manager Bob Melvin suggested in his postgame comments.

When Rosales hit the drive off Indians closer Chris Perez, in fact, it looked to most like the ball smacked off the top of the fence, as was originally called. Rosales stood on second base with his double, and didn't argue.

The announcers didn't know it should have been a home run, either. They, too, assumed it was off the wall.

Then Melvin rose to ask for a review. Only on replay did it appear Rosales' ball went over the fence and struck a railing just n the other side of the wall. It seemed pretty clear, but not so clear that I'd assume every single person could see it.

Unfortunately, Hernandez (and is crew) is one of the folks who wasn't so sure after looking at the same replay.

Maybe he (and his crew) wasn't looking at it right. Maybe he has a different definition of “inconclusive.''

I'm not sure. Whatever the case, he blew it (or blue it, if you like puns).

Anyway, MLB can't get into the business of arbitrating bad calls after the fact.

Unfortunately, there are just too many of them. And it doesn't matter that this bad call was looked at with the benefit of replay. It's still a bad call. Nothing more, nothing less.

It's not a rules interpretation issue like the Pine Tar game. It was just a misjudgment, like there are in every single game.

It's no surprise lots of folks on the internet are calling for a reversal or re-do. Everyone is in favor of justice.

But how does baseball decide when to do a reversal?

Is it just when there's an internet outcry?

Is it just for ninth-inning calls, like this one? Or is it the eighth inning too? Or even earlier than that?

Is it just home runs?

Is it just calls that were reviewed and still missed?

It becomes a slippery slope that never ends.

If MLB was ever going to reverse a call it should have been the Armando Galarraga perfect game. That one robbed Galarraga of history and happened on what should have been the last play of the game.

That one was at least a special circumstance.

But MLB didn't reverse that one. So of course there's no shot it will reverse this one. Nor should it."

[Udog]

NHL
Short Sheet

Thursday, May 9

Quarterfinals, Game Five (Ottawa Leads, 3-1)
Ottawa at Montreal, 7:05 ET CNBC
Ottawa: 8-0 Under after winning 5 or 6 of their last 7 games
Montreal: 17-6 SU off a road loss by 1 goal

Quarterfinals, Game Five (Series Tied, 2-2)
NY Islanders at Pittsburgh, 7:05 ET NBCSN
NY Islanders: 0-6 SU off 3+ games scoring 3+ goals
Pittsburgh: 10-1 SU after losing 2 of their last 3 games

Quarterfinals, Game Five (Chicago Leads, 3-1)
Minnesota at Chicago, 9:35 ET NBCSN
Minnesota: 0-7 SU off a shutout home loss
Chicago: 16-2 SU off a road win

[Udog]

MLB
Short Sheet

Thursday, May 9

National League

Pittsburgh at NY Mets, 7:10 ET
Locke: Pittsburgh 36-17 Under off BB Unders
Gee: Mets 10-19 SU at home off BB games scoring 3 runs or less

Philadelphia at Arizona, 9:40 ET
Hamels: 30-7 TSR in May
Corbin: Arizona 15-25 SU off BB games allowing 3 runs or less

Atlanta at San Francisco, 10:15 ET MLB
Teheran: Atlanta 20-7 SU away off a win by 4+ runs
Vogelsong: 15-6 Over as a favorite


American League

Oakland at Cleveland, 12:05 ET
Colon: 0-10 TSR after allowing 2+ home runs last start
Kazmir: Cleveland 24-12 SU at home in May

Kansas City at Baltimore, 7:05 ET
Guthrie: Kansas Ciyt 5-20 SU away off BB games where bullpen allowing 0 runs
Garcia: Baltimore 16-8 SU vs right-handed starters

Minnesota at Boston, 7:10 ET
Correia: Minnesota 9-2 SU after having 6+ extra-base hits
Lackey: Boston 9-18 SU revenging BB home losses

Toronto at Tampa Bay, 7:10 ET
Dickey: 19-10 TSR as an underdog of +150 or less
Price: 5-10 TSR at home pitching off a team win

LA Angels at Houston, 8:10 ET
Vargas: Angels 2-9 SU as a favorite of -125 to -175
Harrell: Houston 9-1 Over off an Under


Interleague

NY Yankees at Colorado, 3:10 ET
Sabathia: 42-19 TSR away pitching on 5 or 6 days rest
Francis: Colorado 4-16 SU in interleague games

Detroit at Washington, 4:05 ET
Fister: Detroit 10-1 Over off a loss
Haren: 2-9 TSR at home with a total of 7.5 runs or less