A Defense of Umpires

With a number of obviously bad calls coming to the forefront in this year’s postseason via instant replays, many fans are calling for the replacement of umpires with a more objectively accurate form of officiating. However, I think that these alternatives are a bad idea for Major League Baseball. In fact, at the moment I am writing this article, there has been yet another terrible call in which a first base umpire determined that Ryan Howard caught a line drive on a fly when in fact the ball short-hopped into his glove. Now, if a baseball fan argues that the sole purpose of officiating in the game is to perfectly regulate the game so that the competition between the two teams is paramount, then there is little I can say. I could argue, as most pro-umpire fans do, that human umpiring is the way it’s always been done, and therefore rely on a conservative argument based on the importance of tradition.
However, I think that this is a weak approach to the defense of human umpiring. Rather, I think that baseball is a rare (perhaps the only) sport in which the purpose of the umpires is not necessarily simply to make sure that the right calls are made, but to in fact be a part of the game. A baseball game may not be just a display to see who is the better team, but a form of entertainment- one in which the umpires figure dramatically. For one, human umpires have contributed to games by in fact nullifying the rules of the game. Umpires have customarily made the definition of the strike zone their own, giving the benefit of an inch or so off the corners to the pitcher. It is umpires who have determined that a check swing is a strike if the batter crosses the plane of the plate (it is not specified in the rules). And it is umpires who have established the neighborhood call at second base on double plays. Similarly, part of the entertainment of a baseball game involves the occasional face-to-face argument between coaches and umpires. Isn’t Lou Piniella kicking dirt on home plate as notorious an event as a cycle or a stolen base? It certainly gets as much airtime on the highlights. Finally, the bad calls are as much a form of baseball lore as the good ones. I’m sure I’ve seen George Brett’s pine tar incident as often as I have Joe Carter’s home run.
It is my opinion that baseball is not just a game; it is a work of art. The purpose of baseball is not solely to see who is best, but to create the entertainment that has justified it as a primary focal point of our culture. Umpires clarify our rules, and defend their calls in entertaining disputes. Even in their worst moments, they have created controversy by inspiring water-cooler conversation, as they have since the birth of our game. If you think the sole objective of the game is to see which team is best, then I have little argument. But if you think, as I do, that baseball is a collective form of entertainment, then umpires are a necessary aspect of the practice that has become our national pastime.