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Is Bob Davidson Visually Impaired…And Insane?!

By JohnnyFiveOh on | From fishingforablog.com

In what has become known as the year of awful umpiring, Bob Davidson did his part and single handedly cost the Florida Marlins a victory last night.

In a tie game with the Philadelphia Phillies, Gaby Sanchez hit a ball that was clearly fair before it got to third base and even more clearly fair after it landed past third base. I’m not exactly sure what Davidson thought happened in between bounces, but that cost the winning run from scoring from second and giving Florida the win.

It is one thing that he cost the Marlins a very important win. It is another to still maintain that he got the call right!

Jim Joyce cost Detroit Tigers’ pitcher Armando Gallarraga a perfect game earlier this season. He let the coaches and players argue with him, took it like a man, watched the replay after the game, and admitted that he cost the kid a perfect game.

The next day, Gallarraga brought out the line up card to Joyce. Both handled the situation with the utmost of class, and everything basically went away shortly after. Joyce made a mistake, and like a man, owned up to that. Gallarraga had no intention of making Joyce out to be a villain, and everyone now has a ton of respect for both men.

That will not be the case with Davidson. I can assure you of that. How he thinks that ball was foul is still beyond me, especially since he made the call before the ball even reached the bag. I don’t know if he was checking out the pretty girl in the fourth row or what, but he totally blew that extremely important call.

Regardless, the Marlins lost the game and are falling further and further behind in the National League playoff race. Last night, however, actually hurt the Atlanta Braves as well, because the Phillies should have lost ground on them in the East.

See what one man’s mistake can do to an entire league?

Maybe umpires should be held to similar standards such as the players. When you are terrible, you get sent down to the minors for a while. Can you just imagine the likes of Davidson and Joe West umping in the minors? How great would that be to see?

Combine their horrible calls with the dramatics of minor league managers when they get tossed, and you could start charging more for admission, because you will be guaranteed to get a game and a show.

Bottom line here is that something needs to be done. I know that human error is a big part of the game, and it always will be. But with crucial calls that could be the difference in a team making or missing the playoffs and generating more money, that should not be in the hands of just one man.

Especially if that man feels that he still has not made a mistake.

- Rob Kelley