Tuesday night the New York Yankees faced off against the Cleveland Indians. Dewayne Wise looked to have made an incredible Jeter-esque catch as he fell out of play and fell flat on his butt.
The ball hit off of the heel of the glove and rattled around fans' feet and a gentleman in a red shirt picked up the ball after trapping it.
The umpires were too busy looking at, not the inside of Wise's glove, but just the glove itself.
Third base ump, Mike DiMuro called the play an out, while Wise never even came close to catching the ball.
Here is the link to the video. https://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22614397&c_id=mlb.
Over in Chicago, the New York Mets were facing the Cubs.
With one out in the 7th inning, runners on first and second in a 4-3 ballgame in favor of the Cubs, Josh Thole had picked off Steve Clevenger at first base, but umpire Manny Gonzalez called him safe.
Gonzalez was right in front of the play and still managed to blow the call. Who knows what he was looking at?
You can fast forward to 1:28, where the play develops.
https://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22625835&topic_id=8879974&c_id=mlb
What does this tell us about umpires?
They are careless.
Many old time baseball followers say that umpires bring the human element into the game and they are fine with it, but with calls like this it makes baseball look pathetic.
The NBA has continued to make improvements on questionable calls and has done well with the change.
Calls like the ones made in Tuesday's game should not be a part of the game.
Ike Davis and Jack Hannahan were both thrown out of the game because they were immediately appalled by the poor judgment the umpires showed in their ruling.
DiMuro clearly messed the call up as he never even bothered to ask Wise to show him the ball. Wise, played it cool and walked off the field.
I understand that the games are already long as is and if umpires had to make reviews during a Red Sox and Yankees game, who knows how long the matchups will last.
The important point to keep in mind is that baseball is smudged by these calls. It makes the sport look inadequate and stubborn as it continues to choose human error over the technology that is available.
