Yo, Bud: Instant Replay Works! Yanks And A-Rod Benefit

PHILADELPHIA -- This is why sports has instant replay, Bud Selig: to get the call right, to make sure history isn't tainted by blown decisions, to remove the human element when the human being is conspicuously wrong. I'm not sure the Yankees would have won Game 3 of the World Series if Major League Baseball didn't review home-run calls.

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Now that we've seen the concept work in a monumental moment, with quick efficiency, it would be nice if Selig grasped that his sport needs replay on an expanded basis.

How funny, when so many baseball policies are determined by TV, that a baseball hitting a TV camera played a powerful role in turning around a game Saturday night. And how perfect that the controversy would involve the lightning rod himself, Alex Rodriguez, whose long-awaited first hit of his first Fall Classic won't be forgotten soon.

In the fourth inning, A-Rod lifted a long drive to right field that appeared to strike the top of the fence before bouncing onto the field. It was ruled a double by the umpires, leaving the Yankees with runners on third and second. But when millions of viewers saw what right-field ump Jeff Nelson and the others did not -- the ball struck the rain cover of a Fox TV camera positioned in the front row of the seats, a few feet on the fair side of the foul pole -- well, let's just say it's good that Selig finally is allowing replay for home-run situations.

Or else we'd have yet another stinking lousy call infecting one of the best postseasons in years. Instead, the umpires gathered in the infield, discussed matters, then retreated down the steps to a replay machine by the visitors' dugout. Not a minute later, they returned with the absolute right call: Rodriguez was awarded a homer, a two-run shot that cut the Phillies' lead to 3-2, opened the floodgates for a six-run Yankees surge in the middle three innings and chased Phillies starter Cole Hamels, who is becoming quite the bum after dominating the postseason last autumn and needs to develop a better curveball to augment his fastball and changeup. In the end, the Yankees won 8-5 and handed a 2-1 Series lead tonight to ace CC Sabathia, who will work on three days' rest while the Phillies -- oops! -- are choosing not to employ the same strategy with their ace, the nearly unhittable Cliff Lee.

Afterward, someone mentioned to Rodriguez that controversy seems to follow him. "It's only fitting, right?" he said, smiling. "But I don't know if that's controversy. With the replay, there is no controversy. They had a chance to see it, and I'm glad we got a good ruling. It was a big hit and it woke up our offense a little. It's a little weird to have the first home run as the first replay and the whole nine yards."

Said Yankees manager Joe Girardi: "I wasn't 100 percent sure. My eyes aren't great, so it's hard for me to see it. With replay, you're gonna go out there and ask for it, and that's what we did. It was a big hit for us because he really got it going. Alex has been a great player for a long time, and he has stayed in his game plan and stayed patient. It was huge for us."

Crew chief Gerry Davis wasn't offended that a replay episode showed up the umps. Like the rest of us, he just wants to get the call right. "I think (replay) is an assistance. Our objective is to get every play correct," he said. "On boundary calls, there's no question it helps."

"In this particular play, the ball hit something hard, solid, and in my judgment, it was the top of the fence," Nelson said. "Joe (Girardi) came out and said, `We think it might have hit a fan.' I said, no, it hit something hard, so we decided to use the replay."

That simple, Bud.

It was the first time video technology was used in a postseason game. And it should be a firm reminder to Selig, the 75-year-old commissioner, that expanded replay would help clean up so many of the umps' messes. Something is terribly wrong when the fans at home know more than the umpires themselves. These poor men need help, and with technology more advanced than ever, MLB should be taking advantage of every video tool available. Unfortunately, in chatting with the media at the Series, Selig continues to be stubborn about the subject, even after bad umpiring reared its ugly head again near the end of Game 2.

"Life is changing and I understand that," he said. "But I do like the human element, and I think the human element for the last 130 years has worked pretty well for us. There have been controversies, but there are controversies in every sport."

Yes, but those sports work proactively to correct officiating errors. Foolishly, baseball clings to the past. "The more baseball people I talk to, there is a lot of trepidation about it and I think their trepidation is fair," Selig said. "I've spent a lot of time (on this) over the past month and will spend a lot of time in the ensuing months as well. But I don't want to overreact. You can make light of that, but when you start to think you're going to have more intrusions -- and even if they're good intrusions -- it's something that you have to be very careful about. Affecting the game on the field is not something I really want to do."

Affecting the game on the field is your job, Bud. You should want the deserving team to win, particularly in your showcase championship event.

Selig seems concerned that too many replays would slow down the pace of the game. Yet the same man doesn't care about pace when TV dictates Game 7 to be played Nov. 5, the latest date in Series history. Nor does he care when a postseason team, the Angels, is pushed into a 22-game span to play a mere nine games. What baseball should do is shorten the regular season from 162 games to 154, which never will happen, of course, when you're asking owners to give back eight games of gate and concessions receipts. The next-best solution would be more doubleheaders in the regular season while demanding the TV networks, Fox and TBS, be flexible in their postseason schedules instead of forcing teams to take awkward off-days. "People ask, `Do you hate playing into November?' Of course I do," said Selig, whose Halloween Night special was delayed an hour and 20 minutes by heavy rain, was played in a steady downpour and didn't end until 12:42 a.m. in the East. "Nobody worries about bad weather more than I do. All I'm saying is, it's more complicated than you think. That's all I'm trying to tell you. Am I sensitive to it? Yes, I am."

Nothing is complicated about improving the umpiring. Expand replay, dummy.

"Nobody is perfect out there. There are not enough eyes to see every play that takes place. We all know that," said Girardi, a strong replay proponent. "If it was expanded, I would like to see an umpire in the booth that could make a call within 30 seconds, which a lot of times would be quicker than a manager running out there."

Before his overturned home run, Rodriguez was bidding to become a bigger goat. All you needed to know about the Yankees earlier in Game 3 was the ball that was rolling in front of home plate, courtesy of a Hamels bunt. Three of them converged quickly and stared at it: a struggling Andy Pettitte, the winningest pitcher in baseball's long postseason history; catcher Jorge Posada, the cool veteran playing in his fifth World Series; and third baseman Rodriguez, the highest-paid athlete in American team sports.

But none of them picked it up.

Rather than make an easy toss to first base for the second out, they looked like three lost and uncommunicative Little Leaguers. The mishap loaded the bases for the Phillies, who turned the second inning into a three-run affair, including a run-forcing walk by the usually unflappable Pettitte. Such horrors don't play well in the Grapefruit League, much less in the World Series. But Rodriguez, who had been 0-for-9 with six strikeouts in the Series, recovered by jumpstarting the offense with his sixth homer this postseason. I hear Kate Hudson, who had been thinking about losing A-Rod in 10 days because of his slump, is happy with him again. "It's been a good experience so far," Rodriguez said of the Series, which culminates a tumultuous year that began with his steroids revelation. "Going back to spring training, I thought I'd hit rock bottom. I decided I had nothing to lose, so I should just go out and do the best I can all season. This was a big night."

Before you knew it, everyone was involved: Johnny Damon with a two-run double, rebounding Nick Swisher with a solo homer, Posada with an RBI single, a pinch-hit solo homer by Hideki Matsui, even Pettitte with a run-scoring single. By the eighth, as Mariano Rivera warmed up in the bullpen, the bitter Philly fans were chanting, "Yankees (bleep)! Yankees (bleep)!" in an emptying ballpark -- prompting Swisher to flash thumbs-down gestures at them from right field. "Obviously, with that hostile crowd, it's good to get that one," said Swisher, who also had a double.

The loss puts pressure on the Phillies to win tonight. Much as manager Charlie Manuel's hillbilly charm has grown on us this postseason, I highly question his decision not to come back with Lee in Game 4. It could end up costing the Phillies their second straight Series championship. Sure, Lee never has pitched on three days' rest, but he has been so stunningly dominating this month -- 3-0, an all-time-low 0.54 ERA -- that I'd gamble anyway in hopes that he also could start in a Game 7. But Manuel thought otherwise, opting for journeyman Joe Blanton in Game 4 and Lee in Game 5.

"I don't think he's ready for it on three days' rest," Manuel said bluntly. "I think you're taking a chance on really pushing him. Definitely, we don't want to hurt him."

They are weighing the long term because Lee has one year remaning on his contract before becoming a very wealthy free agent. The Phillies would love to lock him up this winter, but first things first, Charlie. You're talking about history, a chance to be the first National League team to repeat in 33 years. Are you really risking Lee's health by starting him a day in advance perhaps one time? Look in the other dugout. Girardi, accused throughout the playoffs of overmanaging and thinking himself into knots, didn't hesitate Saturday to announce this no-brainer: Sabathia will start on three days' rest in Game 4, making him the choice for a Game 7. He's also leaning toward starting A.J. Burnett and Pettitte on short rest in Games 5 and 6, while Manuel will have Lee and, most likely, Pedro Martinez in those games. And lest you think Lee trumps Burnett, his fellow Arkansasan, consider Burnett's career numbers on three days' rest: 4-0, 2.33 ERA. As for Sabathia vs. Hamels in a Game 7? Gigantic advantage, Yankees.

"I don't think he's ready for it on three days' rest. I think you're taking a chance on really pushing him. Definitely, we don't want to hurt him."
-- Charlie Manuel Same with Sabathia vs. Blanton tonight. Carsten Charles is 3-1 with a 1.52 ERA this postseason. Blanton is 0-3 with a 8.18 ERA in a meaty sampling of four career starts against the Yankees. In 22 innings, he has allowed 22 hits, given up five homers and 12 walks. Teixiera punishes him to the tune of 9-for-27 with three homers. Rodriguez is 4-for-7 off him with two homers. Yo, Charlie. Do you realize the last six winners of Game 4 have gone on to win the Series? "I thought about it and talked a little about with (pitching coach Rich Dubee), but not really because of where he's at," Manuel said. "Two years ago, he came off an injury and last year when he won the Cy Young he was just getting back. Plus, he has (265) innings and used a whole lot of energy. Plus, he's never done it before. If he had, it might have been a little different, but he never did it before. That makes a huge difference, believe me."

"Charlie is the one who makes those decisions," said Lee, who threw 122 pitches in the opener. "I'm ready to pitch whenever they let me."

Sabathia is thrilled to be the workhorse, claiming he isn't the least bit tired. "I can throw 113 or 133 or 140 (pitches). It's all the same once you get up past a certain number," he said. "I've had enough rest the past two months to feel comfortable enough to go out and pitch on three days' rest. I told Joe (Girardi) at the beginning of the playoffs, I'm available whenever you need me."

And no fatigue factor? "When I'm out there, I don't feel anything," Sabathia said. "I could throw 100, I could throw 140, and feel the same. It feels good for the team to have confidence in you, especially in these situations. It gives you confidence when the guys want you out there and everybody is asking, `Are you pitching today?' That definitely feels good."

Said Girardi: "I mean, this is the World Series. There is no baseball after the World Series for four or five months, so there will be plenty of time to rest. I think the important thing on short rest is you have to know how your pitcher is feeling physically. It's not necessarily something that you want to do a lot during the course of a long season, but we're not in a long season anymore."

Way back when, there were no such debates about rest and pitch counts. Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax and Mickey Lolich were asked in the 1960s to start in Game 7s on TWO DAYS' REST. All three won. In the 1905 World Series, Christy Mathewson of the New York Giants pitched three shutouts in six days. What's a start on three days' rest? "The guys who have done it and had success with it, it seems as if they were inclined to do it," Manuel said. "If a guy tries it and he hasn't done it it's like a mental thing for him. I don't see any advantage in using him."

He might feel differently late tonight. And to think the tidal wave of pinstriped momentum started with video technology done right.