A long time ago in a book, I good-naturedly mocked the idea of Joe Torre as some sort of wise sage, just full of indispensable wisdom.
Since he's started working for Major League Baseball, though, I've come to believe he really might be something of a sage.
Wednesday afternoon, Torre was on MLB Network, talking about the latest "clarification" to Rule 7.13. As it happened, the "clarification" was tested on the field within a few hours of its issuance. Anyway, here's the first thing Torre said on TV: "Well, you know, it's one thing umpiring and it's another thing looking at the replay. We're trying to make a very tough rule to write a little clearer. Now, does that mean it's going to lack controversy? Heck no. It's still going to come down to judgment in a lot of areas."
Here's the play from last night:
My personal opinion? MLB blew this one. Hanigan was blocking the plate without the ball and he did not wind up with the ball in his possession more than a quarter-second or something before the runner arrived. In fact, as any number of people have pointed out in the wake of the decision, the runner's best option was probably to plow straight into Ryan Hanigan ... which is exactly what Rule 7.13 is supposed to limit.
Discussing this play in particular, Torre said, "I don't think I could've faulted the call on either side of this play, because it was such a bang-bang play."
That's the thing, though, right? The ball did not beat the runner by a lot, and thus the clarification isn't supposed to apply. Hanigan left plenty of room -- look at all that space between his legs! -- until the runner got close, and then he dropped his right knee and blocked off the plate ... before he'd caught the ball.
So they blew this one. Calls will continue to be blown. Calls will always continue to be be blown. That's what "judgment call" means. And the notion that a clarification now or a clarification in December will preclude more controversies in October or in 2015 is just pie-in-the-sky fantastical thinking.
