MLB's Statement Regarding The Blown Home Run Call Shows They Just Don't Get It
Torre admits that the crew blew the call. But he also tries to justify the mistake by saying "perfection is an impossible standard in any endeavor."
And that is exactly why MLB still doesn't get it. Nobody expects the umpires to be perfect.
Mistakes and bad judgments will happen, and that's OK. But what can't happen is a situation in which the fans at home are better suited to make the call than the umpires on the field. When that happens, what is the point of having umpires at all?
There is technology available to get the calls right. The fans are already using it. The umps should also.
Here is Torre's full 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."