2019 MLB postseason thread

Nats homer here. Your explanation is spot on.

We write concrete objective - not subjective - rules. Unfortunately this was an edge case. But by the rules, Turner was out.

 

Then change that rule fucking tomorrow.

The Astros were rewarded for their shitty handling of a ground ball

 

And how exactly would you change the rule?

 

Make it a judgement call.

"If, in the judgement of the umpire, the runner was not at fault, blah blah blah....., then the runner will not be called out."

This isn't rocket science.

 

I kind of get this, but also, can't you argue that the ground ball was handled shitty because the first baseman was worried the guy was going to run into him? It's kind of a weird angle on the throw to begin with, and then 3B looks up and sees the runner potentially colliding with 1B. If Turner is just running where he's supposed to be, it's probably just an out.

 

The runner WAS at fault. He ran in fair territory the entire way.

Not difficult at all.

 

No.

 

So you call out every runner that runs in fair territory, is that correct?

 

It isn't possible to catch every drunk driver and the legal system doesn't handle that perfectly, either. Let's just stop trying.

 

Who interferes with the attempt to field a throw, yes.

This really wasn't that tough of a call. Black letter out.

 

Sports is unique. That isn't always a bad thing.

There are great arguments to be made against replay, but claiming that fairness doesn't matter is not one of them. It's a terrible argument. Fairness, or at least the objective of fairness, is crucial to the appeal of sports. Everybody wants to feel like their team or their favorite athlete has a fair shot to win. Every competitor at least wants a fair shot to win. Take that away, and the sport loses some of its appeal.

If the process is flawed, fix it. Throwing your hands up and saying we can never get there is just lazy.