MLB replay system fails...no wait, just the Umps

So I have this friend who has agreed to watch Brewers games with me this season. She has never watched baseball before, and has very little interest in sports in general. Her favorite player is Prince Fielder, because he is a vegetarian and looks funny when he is running the bases.

In fact, it occurs to me as I am writing this that she is a pretty amazing friend for putting up with almost nightly games, but that’s not the point of this post.

Safe to say, her knowledge of baseball is fairly limited. Such as, “what does a 2-1 count mean again?” limited.

But even this girl, with her whole one month of experience, can understand how the MLB’s replay system should work — something the ump crew at the Brewers-Tigers game failed to grasp Friday.

Here is the scene: The Tigers had a man (speedster Josh Anderson) on first. Back up catcher Dusty Ryan puts a charge into a ball towards the left field foul pole. When it gets to the fence it caroms off the top of the wall and comes back to Ryan Braun who relays it to J.J. Hardy, who throws home for a potential play at the plate.

Except, as Hardy was throwing home, the third base umpire had already ruled the ball a home run, effectively ending the play.

To be clear about a couple of things; one, even a perfect throw from Hardy probably doesn’t get Anderson out. Two, they eventually overturned the play, giving Ryan an RBI double which was the correct call.

But as my rookie viewing partner correctly called, why the hell would they call it a homer when it was too close to call from 200 feet away and there is going to be movement on the base paths? Why wouldn’t you let it play out every single time and decide if it is a home run afterwards, instead of trying to guess where the runners should be positioned? Isn’t that what the replay is there for?

Now, I realize the blown call didn’t affect how the play turned out. The Brewers certainly weren’t losing 7-4 because of the umps (sigh, Braden Looper).

But if a girl who has only watched baseball for one month can immediately spot the error, why can’t a professional making at least $100,000 a year understand what judgment the situation calls for?