Sez Me ...
Baseball is, by a whopping margin, the most sacred of America's team games. It can't slip out of hallowed shoes, which have become too tight for its big feet.
Patriots quarterback Tom Brady breaks passing records. Have you ever heard anyone – even the cynics in my profession – say he was juiced? Hell, no. I'd be the last person to think Brady was doing something funny, but NFL fans accept things.
They've bastardized the Olympic creed. “Bigger, stronger, faster” is OK by them.
The NBA? If a player scores more than 100 points in a game, will anyone demand a urinalysis?
But just let something fishy happen in baseball. Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron's career home run record and suddenly he's cheated more than the most philandering husband since the Roman Empire.
For the longest time, baseball has resisted instant replay, which has been adopted in so many other sports, including tennis. It's because of baseball's heritage, built around failure. Even if they were wrong, the umpires were always right.
The thinking has been, there are 162 games. So what if the umps blow one, maybe two calls? There are 161 other games. The NFL plays but 16. A bad call can cost a season.
But, with all the money now involved in baseball – especially with all the cash being given to the power guys – baseball is rethinking its thinking. There's a chance, sometime soon, that replay will be used to look at disputed home run calls.
“Replay is coming,” Rick Rieker, the liaison between Major League Baseball and the umpires, wrote in a Houston Chronicle Web chat. “If done properly, we have the opportunity to set the gold standard in replay, learning from pros and cons from other sports. But we must do so in a fashion that will not delay the game further.”
If there is replay in baseball, this is the only way it should be used. They certainly can't question balls and strikes. It seems every umpire has a different idea on the strike zone.
I can live with this – if done properly, with a replay official upstairs making the decision. The umps on the field can't be involved in replay.
One of the worries is that replay will prolong games, and MLB is trying to shrink them. But it shouldn't matter much. The arguing that ensues after one of these calls probably lasts longer than it would take for a replay official to make a decision.
Umpires botched more than one home run call this past month, so the cry for replay is growing louder.
They may try replay in this year's Arizona Fall League, which would be an ideal place to start.
General managers voted 25-5 last year for replay to be used on home run calls. They sent it to Commissioner Bud Selig.
Nothing's happened. Shocking. Maybe Bud's waiting for Congress to call him on it. . . .
I can remember when the National League West – how long ago was it, April? – was the best division in baseball. At this rate, .500 may win it, so hang in there, Padres fans, wherever you are. . . .
What's with all this sudden power out of second basemen? Just asking. . . .
Note to Kevin Kouzmanoff: Hit the ball just a bit harder. . . .
The Padres hit 15 home runs on their 10-game homestand. CEO Sandy Alderson is thinking of pushing back the fences. . . .
With all these confusing, newfangled hitting stats in baseball, it's good to know the Pads are proficient in SM – swing and miss. . . .
People keep asking if I think Bud Black is doing a good job. My answer: With what? . . .
Think Phil Jackson would have taken the Heat to the NBA Finals this year? . . .
Black says newly acquired pitcher Cha Seung Baek could start, that the right-hander has a four-pitch mix. Maybe Baek should make it three. His career ERA is 5.19. . . .
As far as Elias Sports Bureau can tell, Cha is the only baseball player in history whose first name is half the title of a Latin American dance step. . . .
Derek Fisher fouled Brent Barry at the end of Lakers-Spurs Game 4, and I don't care how much time remained. . . .
Tank Johnson is pleading with NFL Commish Roger Goodell to allow Pacman Jones to play in Dallas. Now there's an endorsement. That's like John Dillinger becoming a character witness for Ma Barker. . . .
FIFA now will allow international soccer matches at high-altitude sites. Seems players, faking injury, fall down faster in rarefied air, so games don't last as long. . . .
Speaking of flops, see where the NBA is going to start fining players next season for flopping? Guess that eliminates Dick Fosbury from ever turning pro. . . .
Barbaric mixed martial arts is coming to network TV. Next up: Christians vs. lions. . . .
So the Broncos' Jay Cutler – a quarterback, not an offensive tackle – lost 35 pounds during the 2007 season. And no one noticed? Come to find out he has Type I diabetes.
But we can forgive Denver. Physical exams historically have come late to prairie towns. Who'd they call in, Doc Holliday?
Nick Canepa: (619) 293-1397; nick.canepa@uniontrib.com
