Umps out of control

Fans attend games or watch on television to see the players, not the officiating crew. We're tired of seeing umpires create needless controversy during games. We're sick of seeing their mugs on SportsCenter. And we've had our fill of reading about them in the news.

Case in point: St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa says ump Jerry Crawford has a vendetta against the Cardinals. He supposedly pushed and crowded Mike Matheny as the catcher tried to ready himself to take pitches. Then Crawford throws out Matheny, when he argues for a little personal space.

What is going on? Whatever happened to professionalism? Today's umpires are way too thin-skinned. Argue balls and strikes, and you're thrown out almost immediately. Dispute a call and say a few words to the ump, and you're forced to hit the showers. If you haven't seen a game lately, watch sometime soon. You'll notice how the umps are not shy about getting in a player or manager's face during an argument.

I know everyone makes mistakes. But if you're an umpire, be a man and admit your mistake. Don't get defensive just because you and everyone else know that you boned a call. No, it's not fun to have a player or manager scream at you in front of 50,000 fans. Be a man. Walk away. Don't get sucked into useless arguments.

Baseball's umpires should watch a college or professional football game sometime. And they should take some notes down. Football officials stay calm and collected. They actually talk to each other. Football officials don't have big egos that prevent them from asking colleagues for help on calls.

This season, Major League Baseball introduced us to QuesTec, which keeps its own tally of balls and strikes. This is an attempt at checks and balances; in other words, MLB is trying for an objective measure to see how well or poorly the umpires are doing behind the plate. Umpires hate QuesTec. Why? It tells what most people have known all along: umpires are doing a poor and inconsistent job.

Not every stadium has QuesTec. MLB rolled it out at a few parks, including Yankee Stadium and BankOne Ballpark. I think every stadium should have it. No more big strike zone, small strike zone. Let's give all teams a level playing field.