I know there will be little sympathy on this topic, but no matter what baseball team you might like, he is an ass. He always comes across as if he is an old sage of baseball knowledge, while butchering many a critique of close calls or managers' strategy.

His anti-Yankee bias has already been established beyond any doubt, and it still continues through the WS so far. Fox shows this grid of the strike zone and the placement of every close pitch. It's not very fair to the umpire, so I don't get too upset with missed calls, but McCarver constantly refers to balls as being "on the corner" against a NY batter, and calling the same pitch a ball against the opponent. Vice versa for strikes, he couldn't be any more blatent about it, no matter what the grid shows.

In the ALCS he had the audacity to criticize the umpire for calling a NY runner safe at second when the Angel SS clearly missed tagging 2nd base on a double play attempt. It was definitely worse than the typical "phantom tag". At a time when umpires are dealing with the idea of instant replay to correct missed calls, you'd think McCarver would praise them for getting a tough call right...except it was in favor of the Yankees.

After the one hopper in the late innings last night, instant replay is sorely needed. It's a joke baseball doesn't have it already.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Yeah, I'm happy that call didn't effect the outcome. That's one of the few blown calls in the field that I could cut some slack for. It was a very hard play to see, but a crucial time in an obviously huge game.

The problem with instant reply for baseball is that the umpires have to make the calls immediately. On a ground ball play like that one, the fielders and runners are affcted by what the umpire calls. The do something different depending on the initial call, so you can't go back and make everything right in that scenario. The fielder went to a different base, the runner (Matsui) walked back out of the base line...so that's a hard play to use replay for.

Home runs, fair/foul balls, single factor plays in the field like a one runner steal attempt or a close call at first could be subject to replay without consequence. The problem is prolonging an already long game. I'd like to think a crew chief could take a quick look and correct a call, but we all know a manager will come out and debate/argue every time, tacking another five mins on the game for every replay. It would get very tedious real fast.

Good point. A rather disliked ESPN Radio Talk Show Host brought up the point on game length. If you cut out that time managers take to dispute a call, and replace it with replay time, you don't really lose much. But then like you said, the key is keeping them off the field pending the replay results.

I think the goal is to use whatever means necessary to get as much right as possible without prolonging the game. I don't know how you would treat more drawn out plays. Having umpired little league, I know how one call in a bang-bang situation can really screw up everything else happening on the field, whether it's right wrong, obvious or ambiguous. To go back and try and correct a close call may well be impossible.

Take the catch/non-catch last night. If its found to be a non-catch, what do you do? Does 1b do anything differently if he knows he didn't catch it? It seemed like he thought he got it off the hop, otherwise he would have simply tagged first rather than thrown to second.

In short, I don't know, haha.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

I never cared for the guy myself. I can't stand his nonsensical quips

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"...they came down into the stands and asked if I knew how to do play by play. I said...No. But. I'll take a shot at it if you want".- Rick Jeanneret

I've had it with him. Never liked him though.

Even listening to the game on now...he said they didn't hit A-rod intentionally? WHAT? First off, the pitch was about 3 feet off the plate, not to mention that the yankee's had a runner on second with one out.

What is he smoking?

Yes, the attitude in that situation is...pitch him inside like they want to but with reckless abandon. If they hit him it's just like an intentional walk, and just maybe they get him out of rythm for his other at bats.

So yeah, clearly there was intention behind the pitch. McCarver is just too irrationally biased to say it.