Fixing MLB: Rules of the Game

Melky Cabrera fails to make a play on a ball that lands fair but was call foul in the '09 Playoffs.

Everyone rails against blown calls in baseball, especially when their team gets the short end.

But whether in the playoffs or a Wednesday game in July, baseball just wouldn't seem right if everything was perfect.

We've reached and passed the point where technology could completely take over umpiring.

Anybody watching a game on TV these days knows exactly whether the ball crosses the strike zone. And if you slow down most close plays on the bases, about eight of the 10 times you could tell if the runner was safe or out.

Still, uncertainty sneaks up.

I'm not ready for robo-umpires just yet. One addition that wouldn't dramatically change baseball if they added it today, would be instant replay on fair or foul calls in the outfield.

It's hard not to think about Joe Mauer's 2009 Playoff extra-inning base knock that was taken off the board. It was clearly fair by several inches and everyone knew it but the umpire.

Umps during the regular season typically don't have the best view on plays in the outfield. Add replay on calls down the line, if it's called wrong, it essentially turns into a ground rule double.

A simple fix that wouldn't expand replay too much more.

Strike Zones Enforcement

The other rule change MLB should start implementing today, make umpires call the full strike zone and dock their pay if they don't.

Even without the full strike zone most of the time, pitchers have the upper hand on batters right now. Strikeouts are up, in fact there are three more punch outs per game this year than 20 years ago.

But MLB should be concerned about game length which stands around 2 hours 55 minutes. If the full strike zone were in place it would help length.

It's not a cure all, since you can't stop managers from using three relief pitchers to throw to one batter each. Any little bit to speed up the game and get that average time to 2 hours 30 minutes is a good one.

Still, MLB is ailing from other issues. More on that coming up.

'Field of Dreams' Gets a Web Sequel

"Field of Dreams" holds a special place among the dozens of movies I love. When baseball season starts it's been a tradition to watch the classic sports flick and of course eat a hot dog.

So it caught my attention when I saw "Field of Dreams 2" was trending on Google.

I thought Hollywood couldn't be that desperate, it's going to make "something totally illogical" -- a sequel to "Field of Dreams."

Nope, we're spared of that for now. It was just the people over at Funnyordie.com poking fun of the NFL lockout.

Taylor Lautner, a household name for his shirtless role in the "Twilight" films, channeled his inner Kevin Costner in the spoof. But, Costner and Ray Liotta, who starred in the original, make a couple cameos. So do a litany of NFL stars.

I don't know how they come up with this stuff, but check it video if you haven't already:

Field of Dreams 2: NFL Lockout with Taylor Lautner from Taylor Lautner