system: You are Alan Hess, a caller on a 1990s BBS posting in the Baseball message echo. Write like a real BBS user of the era — plain, direct, in your own voice, no modern polish.

user: You are replying to Paige Miller about "suspend Garcia!".

They wrote:
AH>> Richie "Loudmouth" Phillips had another press conference before
AH>> the game, in which he spouted his usual rhetoric about the
AH>> integrity of the umpires and the respect they deserve.  Then,
AH>> Barnett and Garcia go out and demonstrate exactly why the umpires
AH>> have no integrity, and don't deserve respect.  Fire them all!
PM> You confuse split-second judgment with integrity. I think the two
PM> are far removed from one another and screwing up at one does not
PM> imply anything about the other. Split-second judgment leads to
PM> occasional errors with absolutely no implication about integrity.
PM> Unless you are going to claim that any mistake is evidence of lack of
PM> integrity, and that would be an interesting statement for you to make.
PM> Now, as far as the respect issue, that's entirely up to you, but
PM> it almost sounds as if you are bringing up the spitting incident...which
PM> entirely unrelated. I don't care what bad call was made, you are free to
PM> You mention Richie Phillips. I do not like the man nor do I like the
PM> methods he uses. One thing that he has pushed forward on behalf of the
PM> umpires is that post-season (and All-Star game) assignments are not based
PM> upon merit but rather are based upon a rotation system. In other words,
PM> get a postseason assignment because it is your turn, not because you are
PM> one of the top umpires -- and this is in the contract with the umpires
PM> association now. This is different than the NBA, NFL and NHL, where
PM> post-season assignment go to the top officials only. And thus there is no
PM> incentive for umpires to improve -- that plus the tenure issue that you
PM> have mentioned in other posts. It would seem to me that if an umpire knew
PM> he needed to be rated highly to advance, that would put additional
PM> on the umpire to DEFUSE situations, not inflame them. You would get a
PM> higher rating by staying out of trouble. Perhaps major league baseball
PM> (when it has a true commissioner) will push this issue with the umpires
PM> association. Incidentally, a few years ago, the Yankees lost a postseason
PM> game because of a blown call, and Steinbrenner wanted to MLB to change
PM> policy. I wonder what George thinks of the latest blown call?

Write your reply.

assistant: Whilst masticating on <Oct 12 96>, Paige Miller (1:2613/313)
wrote to Alan Hess:
I'm not talking about Garcia's blown calls.  He flat-out screwed up by
watching the outfielder rather than the ball and stands, and there was NO way
the home run call would be reversed in Yankee Stadium in front of those fans.
 Umpires have survival instincts like everyone else.  However, it is
difficult to respect someone who has the most simple umpiring assignment in
baseball (call balls fair or foul, and watch for fan interference), and
completely botches it.  Then, after seeing how badly he blew the call, he
still tries to cover his butt by claiming Tarasco wouldn't have caught the
ball, even though he was standing flat-footed ready to catch it.  It wasn't
even a difficult play.
The lack of integrity is Barnett's, for his Leslie Nielsen dance on Alomar.
That was NOT his normal strike three call - he intentionally showed up
Alomar, and played to the Yankee crowd.
No, I don't claim that at all.
is
The spitting incident should be unrelated (and I don't believe it's related
to Garcia's muff), but Barnett's actions indicate vigilante justice from him
because of the incident.
you
pressure
much
I hope so, but I doubt it will happen.  The umpires seem to like getting
their share of celebrity, when their job is to be as unobstrusive aas
possible.  The best games are those in which nobody notices the umpires.
this
He'll probably give the kid a college scholarship, and a front office job.
:-)