The More Things Change ...

The seasoned old umpire just turned and walked away from the protesting ballplayer as he softly murmured to himself, "I'm almost certain Herman tagged him." Then it came to him, and he almost wept. For the first time in his long and stellar career, he only 'thought' a man was tagged! The 'Old Arbitrator', William J. Klem, dean of major league baseball umpires retired that afternoon ... Klem would often insist that he had never called one wrong, though in later years he would solemnly place his hand over his heart and add, "from here." ...

Klem worked a record 18 World Series Games, for a total of 104, including five straight from 1911 to 1915. His first World Series Game was 1908 (Cubs-Tigers) and his last 1940 (Reds-Tigers). Klem also umpired the first All-Star Game in 1933. During his 36 year career, he was behind the dish for five no-hitters, the last being Paul Dean's over Brooklyn (9/21/34). He also officiated a race around the diamond between Hans Lobert and a horse in 1914 at Oxnard, California ... Klem declared the horse to be the winner by a nose! ...

Among the many memorable games that Klem umpired was Opening Day at the Polo Grounds in 1907. A winter storm had left piles of dirty snow around the field. In the eighth inning, with New York leading the Phillies 3-0, unruly spectators began hurling snowballs at the visiting Phillies, umpires and each other. Klem promptly forfeited the game to Philadelphia because responsibility to keep order was up to the home team. Among other great Hall of Fame umpires such as Al Barlick, Nestor Chylak, Jocko Conlon, Tommy Connolly, Billy Evans, Cal Hubbard, and Bill McGowan -- Bill Klem was regarded as the greatest umpire in the game's history ... Klem umpired exclusively behind the plate his first 16 years because of his acknowledged superiority in calling balls and strikes ... Early in his career, Giants manager John McGraw threatened to have him fired. Klem politely replied: "Mr. Manager, if it's possible for you to take my job away from me, I don't want it." Klem's integrity helped secure the reputation of umpires as impartial and honest, bringing dignity to the game, along with pride and competence ...

Over the years, professional baseball has become less of 'America's Pastime', and more about corporate bottom line ... the emphasis has become less on the sport of baseball, and more toward alternative forms of entertainment and flashy gimmicks all designed for the purpose of generating enormous profits ... America's grand ol' game has become Corporate America's grand ol' gain! ... nevertheless, one of the constants in baseball has been it's umpires ... little has changed since the days of Hall of Fame umpire William J. Klem ... and although change in MLB usually comes about at the pace of an aged tortoise, unfortunately, due to a recent rash of 'blown calls', that could soon change at the blinding speed of a panic-struck jackrabbit ... Major League Baseball has announced that it is now earnestly pushing to put instant replay in use by August '08 ... in time to 'fine-tune' the system by the playoffs ...

Players, managers and umpires have mixed opinions as to whether or not instant replay is needed in our beloved game of baseball, but Major League Baseball and the umpire's union will have to reach an agreement before replay can be tried, and both sides are now talking. However, when all is said and done, Commissioner Bud Selig will ultimately decide when MLB wants to put replay in place. Selig has been a staunch opponent of instant replay in the past, but a spate of missed boundary calls last month -- fair or foul, over the fence or not -- left Selig leaning toward it's limited use. Veteran umpire John Hirschbeck, president of the World Umpires Association, said their organization would be willing to listen to whatever proposals MLB have ...

An unnamed person briefed on Major League Baseball's preliminary plan told The Associated Press that baseball wants to create an NHL-style "war room" in New York where video feeds would be reviewed by a supervisor. The umpire crew chief would not see replays -- instead, the supervisor would describe what he saw, but leave it up to the umpire to make the final call. It was unclear whether managers, umpires or the video supervisor would request a replay ...

Notwithstanding his apparent shortcomings, Bud Selig has always been one of the game's traditionalists, preferring the human element in baseball, which meant tolerating an occasional wrong call by an umpire. He has also been concerned about bogging down a sport which has been criticized for it's slow pace ... I tend to agree with Commissioner Selig's sentiments ... The NFL, NBA, NHL, some NCAA sports and major tennis tournaments all employ replay in various forms ... Major League Baseball does not need instant replay! ... many times I have watched video replays of close plays over and over again, in slow motion, without being able to make a definitive determination, while the majority of the time the umpire had made the correct call in real time ... their proficiency is indeed extremely impressive ... I believe instant replay would merely serve to add more confusion and length of time to the game ... if MLB decides to use instant replay, I hope it's in a very limited fashion, such as to determine whether or not a ball was a home run, that's all ... the umpires are also adamant that they do not want replay used to review close plays on the bases or ball-and-strike calls ... I reckon I'm just old school, but I prefer the human element when it comes to just about everything ... especially the game of baseball ... and along with the human element comes human error ... which is also part of the game ... it's always been that way ...

It started with QuesTech ... now it's instant replay ... I say no to both! ... and I would imagine that if Hall of Fame umpire William J. Klem were alive and umpiring today, he would wholeheartedly concur ... and as he wipes beads of sweat from his furrowed brow and warm tears from his gleaming eyes ... amid the chorus of the cheering crowd ... the 'Old Arbitrator' would most likely proclaim without hesitation to instant replay -- "You're outta here!" ...


"It is not up to the umpire, under the rules,
to point out a player's failure to touch a base.
The team on defense must spot that lapse.
That's why I allowed the tally (game 5 of the
1911 World Series)." - Bill Klem (1874-1951)

--sja