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Email me at btimmermann@gmail.com

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Is six better than four?
2008-10-02 07:23
by Bob Timmermann

During the postseason (and that included Tuesday's tiebreaker game between the Twins and White Sox), Major League Baseball deploys six umpires for each game. This has been the practice since 1947. However, as John Branch of the New York Times asks umpires: does it really help?

Major league umpires spend years learning more than an encyclopedic grasp of baseball’s rules. They figure out where to best position themselves at each base, where to move if the ball is hit over here or out there, and how to instinctively find the best angle and proper distance for their eyes to make the most accurate call.

The job is endlessly rehearsed through clinics and the thankless strata of minor leagues, until the complex choreography is set to muscle memory. At the major league level, there may be no call that an umpire has not made and no angle on a play that an umpire has not seen.

Then the playoffs begin.

And, suddenly, there are two extra umpires on the field, standing along the foul lines in the outfield, maybe for the first time in their lives.

Comments
2008-10-02 07:59:05
1.   dianagramr
Sitting crosslegged on the floor ...
25 or 6 to 4 .....
2008-10-02 08:51:24
2.   Eric Stephen
1
When I saw this Griddle headline, I immediately thought of that song!

At least now I know what it was about: the struggle to get to baseball's postseason. 25 (man roster) or 6 (umpires in the postseason) to 4 (umpires in the regular season).

Thanks Chicago!

2008-10-02 09:38:25
3.   Gen3Blue
Chicago! Is that an omen?

My day began by getting Bills--thats my omen.

2008-10-02 10:04:19
4.   Bob Timmermann
For the record, the Griddle doesn't like Chicago, the band.

The Griddle likes Chicago, the city.

2008-10-02 10:58:56
5.   dianagramr
4

Not even in their "Chicago Transit Authority" days?

http://tinyurl.com/5xohlm

2008-10-02 11:00:40
6.   Bob Timmermann
5
In a word...
No
2008-10-02 11:29:31
7.   MC Safety
ROFL.

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