Dear Jim Joyce:
You seem like a nice man.
You have been a MLB umpire for more than 20 years and you are apologizing for one lousy call.
Yeah, it seemed lousy.
But it was your call.
You weren't pals with Mr. Rothstein.
Were you?
Who cares if it cost a young pitcher a perfect game?
Were you supposed to think about that before you made the call?
To me, the bullying by the national spokesperson for smoking in America,craggy faced Jim Leyland, was as inappropriate as all of the hubbub created by this non event.
Maybe, baseball will be better for instant replay.
Maybe.
But that wasn't an option for you in Detroit.
You made the call.
Your call.
And that is what umpires have been doing since this great game began and the first umpire yelled:
PLAY BALL!
If there is a need for an apology.
I think there should be one to you.
So as a fan of baseball, I apologize to you sir, for all the idiots who don't know any better.
We need more umpires like you.
Keep calling them as you see them.
That's all that any real fan can expect.
Steve Tarde
Author of GIFT TO MY DAD (now available at amazon.com)
A Baseball Fantasy about Sons, Dads and Life
1 comment:
I agree, Steve! These guys are accustomed to making calls on plays that are separated by only a fraction of a second, but I certainly couldn't do it as well as them. All the armchair coaches have the advantage of the replay which makes that fraction of a second appear to be more than obvious, but try doing this job perfectly every time ... in front of millions who are ready to judge your every call!
It's a tough job and we are thankful that there are those who are man enough to do such a great job of it, take the criticism such a position exposes one to, and admit to an error when one is made. Who can ask for anything more??
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