Baseball History Research Paper

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John Stein 8th Period English 1010 Americas NOWtime The sport of baseball has been around since the 1800’s. The dead ball era has come and gone, as well as the steroid era. Greats like Mickey Mantle, Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, and Ted Williams have lived the dream. Baseball helped break the color barrier while it was still a heated topic. During the 9/11 crisis, baseball helped take Americans minds off of the disaster and give them something to celebrate about. Baseball has done so much for its country, and it’s about time we do something in return. Umpires are far from perfect, like other professional officials, and they make mistakes. But, unlike basketball and football, baseball rarely uses today’s technology to its advantage. The implementation…show more content…
Each umpire has his own unique strike zone, sometimes being beneficial, and other times being detrimental to the pitcher and hitter. Players have come to accept this and, at times, use this to their advantage. But, differing strike zones aren’t the only problem baseball has. The game moves so fast that umpires are required to make split second calls. A close play at first can come down inches of difference between the ball hitting the glove and the runner’s foot hitting the bag. the angle the umpires take to look at the play should help them make the call more easily. But, sometimes they take the wrong angle. This year Todd Helton, a first baseman, made a stretch to catch a ball in the dirt that was thrown by the second baseman. The umpire called the runner out, but it was one of the worst calls ever made. Helton was a good three feet off of the bag. His foot wasn’t even close to being on the bag. Unfortunately for the runner, from the umpire’s angle, Helton appeared to have a foot on the bag. Without replay, the call on the field stood, and the runner was out. At times, a play happens so fast that umpires are forced to rely on sound to make a call. They listen to the sound of the ball hitting the glove and see if it beats the sound of the foot hitting the bag. This method isn’t reliable at all, and has cost a team not only the game, but a pitchers date with history.…show more content…
And, if they win them both, they receive a third. When blatant fouls are missed by the officials, coaches can require them to review the play in slow motion multiple times until they feel they have made the right call. These slow motion reviews can decide the fate of the game. Baseball needs to do the same thing. Coaches should be allowed to challenge plays they feel the officials got wrong. It would make the game fairer to the players that go out every day and compete each
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