This week's official scoring abomination costing pitcher C.C. Sabathia a no hitter just adds to the examples showing why umpires should be the official scorers. It is not a new idea, but that still doesn't mean it shouldn't be reconsidered.

In years past we heard from the umps how physically demanding their jobs are. They are out on the field all nine innings, and in the summer time that can be brutal. So instead of a four man crew, let's make it five.
The rotation would include a game upstairs in the press box making the official scoring calls.

In this case the official scorer Bob Webb is a 20 year veteran and in his judgment the little dribbler Sabathia didn't pick up was in infield hit not an error. The problem is that it's his judgment. While I am sure he knows the game, I'm sure his paycheck is not nearly as big as the guys who decide who is out and who is safe without he benefit of review.

Originally, official scorers were sportswriters. But that became a problem when many major dailies banned their writers from scoring games which they were reporting on. In effect the writers became part of the game, and in the clubhouse a player might complain to the writer why he made a scoring decision. In 1980 Major League Baseball began hiring scorers, but it is the home town clubs who usually find the guys who work the booth.

This of course leads to a local bias, which has become a custom of the game. It's not uncommon when a hit is ruled an error, or vice versa someone will say "home town scorer." Usually it's of little consequence, but then again when a situation like Sabathia happens there's an outrage.

As for having a committee to review the call, that wasn't a good idea either. Once in the books, the ruling should stand. I remember in the NBA, the Rockets tried to change a scoring decision which would have given Hakeem Olajuwon a "Quad Double," double digit numbers in four statistical categories. Apparently an official scorer missed a rebound, or an assist. The league wisely said no to change.

As I said the idea of a fifth umpire is not a new. When the umpires had a very strong union and were asking for time off during the season, the idea was first floated. Some say it was dropped because of the cost of adding a fifth umpire to all the crews is too much, while others say the umps don't really want the job because they have to listen to players gripes the following day. The former doesn't hold water because Major League Baseball is fiscally sound. The latter doesn't because the umpires turn a deaf ear on the players daily.

Since statistics are used to justify the big money contracts, Major League Baseball needs to let the pros make the scoring decisions, not guys who do it as a side job.

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