The OSARU - Official Scorer and Replay Umpire

The OSARU - Official Scorer And Replay Umpire

First and foremost the Commissioner should use the "FOR THE GOOD OF THE GAME" clause to reverse the Umpire's call, void the hit, erase the 28th batters out, and award Armando Galaraga a perfect game. While this is unprecedented it makes sense as fans all over the world are now seriously questioning the abilities of Major League Umpires. :

Official scoring of games has also been controversial. Official scorers are employees of the home team and often use instant replay and game tapes to reverse hit / error calls every day. However there is not a governing body for the official scorer position and the individuals who fill that role can be influenced by players, managers, and the press to reverse decisions to help a players average, or erroless streak. Former Tiger second baseman Placido Polanco benefited from an error reversal when his errorless streak continued for over a year.

With the current debate raging after the Armando Galaraga "Not Quite Perfect Game" it is an excellent time to kill two birds with one stone and ensure that such a debacle does not occur again.

OSARU Job Description:

(1) The positions would be employees of MLB, under the auspices of the Commissioner, but members of the Umpire's Union. This will create at minimum 16 NEW umpire positions, 32 if backup positions are created.

(2) The new position would allow WOMEN to apply and become a part of the MLB structure for the first time. Also existing umpires who have served at minimum 10 years would be allowed to apply for the new jobs.

(3) The OSARU would not travel with an umpires crew, they would travel alone (perhaps with a backup which would create double the jobs) so to prevent fraternization.

(4) The OSARU  would rotate and spend more than 10 days in a row at one team stadium.

(5) The OSARU would be allowed to change their  hit / error decision up until the start of the next game

(6) The OSARU would have absolute and total control over which plays are reviewed. The decision to review would be his/hers alone and it would be FINAL

(7) The OSARU could STOP the game immediately upon recognizing a potential error by an umpire and review the play for no more than 5 minutes.

(8) The OSARU could review as many plays as needed - NO LIMIT.

(9)  IF a MLB Umpire has more than 10 replays (missed calls) in one season he would immediately be assigned to a Minor League Umpiring Crew. The demoted umpire would spend no more than 21 days in the minors and would receive full pay, service time and MLB benefits while on his retraining schedule.

(10) If a MLB Umpire is sent to minors three times during a season he would be terminated upon his 31st review.

(11) The OSARU rotates spending no more than 3 team series at one assignment. The OSARU crew would never be with the team immediately before or immediately AFTER an assignment with a team.

(12) A player or manager that argues a call AFTER the replay decision is made will be ejected.

(13) Three ejections from arguing an OSARU decision will result in the manager, player or coach being suspended for 3 games.

(14) The OSARU activities and decisions would be constantly monitored and reviewed by The Commissioner's Office. Metrics would be established to measure success / failure of OSARU. The Commissioner would have authority to terminate an OSARU after a series of preestablished conditions.

(15) Decisions of OSARU would be final regarding statistics for official MLB game.

(16) Balls and strike calls and check swing calls are prohibbited from being reviewed. There can be many other exclusions but that is a good place to start.

The creation of the OSARU position solves several problems facing MLB. With the advancements of technology instant replay has improved to the point that errors and miscalls are readily apparent. For the good of the game there needs to be a system in place to ensure events like the Brandon Inge hit by pitch in game 163 last season, the Joe Maure home run that was miscalled, and most importantly the Detroit Tiger's TEAM Perfect Game that will forever be scarred. The creation of the OSARU position will restore the integrity of the game and give umpires like Jim Joyce a chance to have their human errors corrected. The OSARU will need tremendous structure, training, and review, but the position would certainly solve many of the issues with umpiring today.

This is also a terrific time to eliminate the rather silly way MLB handles official scoring, by taking the official scorer position away from individual teams and have scorers who will be trained as OSARU's become employees of MLB.

Finally, an MLB position like OSARU allows new individuals previously excluded from on field jobs to take part in an official way with America's game. I believe I have a good start on the solution. Feel Free to critique and add or make changes. I'd love to see Bless You Boys readers, fans and authors come up with an actual proposal we could send to Mr. Selig.

Whadda Ya All think?

Jim

Jmbunn214@aol.com