It's ridiculous that baseball can't overturn 'ridiculous' calls

BOSTON -- Jim Leyland wants umpires to be held accountable.

I just want them to get the call right.

"Write that it was a ridiculous call," Leyland said Monday afternoon.

Fine, I'll write it.

It was a ridiculous call.

Now what did that accomplish?

Tigers catcher Gerald Laird clearly caught the Mike Aviles foul tip with two out and two strikes in what was still a scoreless second inning Monday. The umpires ruled no catch, the Red Sox went on to score three runs in the inning -- and went on to beat the Tigers by that exact three-run margin, 7-4.

"There shouldn't have been a second-inning rally," Leyland said. "There were three outs. You guys need to hold people accountable."

Fine, I held them accountable. I went to talk to them, told them I know they got the call wrong.

And they agreed.

"It's conclusive that he caught it cleanly," crew chief Tim Tschida said after watching the replay.

Great. Now what did that accomplish?

There's only one way to solve this, and we all know what it is. I've been a late convert on the replay debate, and I'm still not sure how to make it work right.

But it's absolutely ridiculous that all of us knew that home-plate umpire Jeff Nelson and first-base ump Bill Welke blew a big call -- and they only knew it two hours later, when they finally were allowed to check the replay.

"What looked crystal clear [on video] didn't look crystal clear from the first-base line," Welke said.

Baseball has allowed replay only on balls that are or could be home runs. The new basic agreement allows for limited expansion of replay, but so far baseball hasn't moved to expand it.

Leyland said again Monday he doesn't favor it.

"I don't want to turn it into a Nintendo game," he said.

I've had umpires tell me privately that they favor expanded replay because they hate the feeling that comes with finding out you blew a big call only after it's too late to do anything about it.

The umpires Monday deferred comment on the replay issue.

"That's for other people to decide," Welke said.

Managers and players talk about accountability. Fans want umpires fired if they blow calls, but if you want to see who would replace them, go watch a few minor-league games.

Accountability is great. Changing calls that we all can agree were wrong is better.

"You saw what you saw," Leyland said. "You clearly saw what you saw. I just saw it for the 10th time."

I didn't need to see it 10 times. I watched the replay once, and I knew.

Any umpire sitting next to me in the press box would have known the same thing. And if anyone had been allowed to tell Bill Welke what the replay showed, he would have known, too.

The idea, they always tell us, is to get the call right.

There has to be a better way.