The call for MLB replay intensifies

Maybe you missed it, but Tim Lincecum pitched a 14 strikeout, two-hit gem for the San Francisco last night. It started the Giants off on the right track for what they hope will be a meaningful October run.

Using Bill James' Game Score formula, Sports Illustrated's Joe Posnanski says Lincecum's performance was better than Philadelphia pitcher Roy Halladay's no-hitter, just the second postseason no-hitter ever.

But maybe you did miss it, because most of what people have been talking and writing about today are the blown calls by umpires. It's becoming an October sport in its own right.

In the Giants game, catcher Buster Posey was clearly out on replay trying to steal second base in the fourth inning. He ended up scoring the game's only run for San Fran.

In Tampa, first base umpire Jerry Meals missed a check-swing call which gave Texas Ranger Michael Young a chance to keep hitting, which he did. Instead of a strike out, Young smashed a three-run homer to give Texas a commanding five run lead. Rays fans started chanting "replay".

Maybe it would have had an impact, maybe not. We'll never know, since Tampa Bay seems to have forgotten how to hit with just eight in two games in postseason.

And in Minnesota, the Twins had misgivings about balls and strikes too. Same song different verse as New York's Lance Berkman should've been called out on a third strike, and instead struck on the scoreboard with a go-ahead double. Yahoo Sports Jeff Passan wrote home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt's strike zone would've been bad for a Little League game.

Calls this year for more instant replay in baseball have been loud ever since June, when Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga got robbed of a perfect game. In the postseason, so far people seem more focused on bad calls then the great performances.

Call me old school, but I still haven't warmed to the idea of more instant replay.

Back in August, ESPN's Outside the Lines reviewed every call, with the exception of balls and strikes, for two weeks. Of the plays they deemed "close" 20.4 percent were found to be incorrect, 65.7 percent were confirmed as correct and 13.9 percent were too close to call.

That shows even with replay umpires are still needed.

If Major League Baseball decides to expand replay, and unfortunately I think they will, they need to go all in. A lot of the critics calling for more replay argue the objective is to get the call right. The technology exists for electronic balls and strike calls and they should do it, along with fair or foul calls and close plays on the bases.

I think any additions to replay will take the humanity out of the game. Maybe the humanity is already gone, if all people are interested in is their favorite pastime, complaining about the umps.

A Midsummer blunder

There's no rhyme or reason when it comes to picking MLB's All-Stars, as seen by the selections announced Sunday.

Just consider this blind test... Who's a more deserving All-Star?

Player A: 99.2 IP, 9 Wins, 91 Ks, 2.62 ERA, 0.96 WHIP
Player B: 109.2 IP, 8 Wins, 121 Ks, 3.28 ERA, 1.30 WHIP

It's a tough call.

Mat Latos is Player A, the ace of San Diego's 1st place pitching staff and is not an All-Star. Player B is Tim Lincecum ace of the 4th place San Francisco Giants and is an All-Star.

This exercise just proves that All-Star selections are largely arbitrary. And saying that Player X got snubbed, is rather futile.

Now if I were making the selections I would have found a spot for Reds 1B Joey Votto, Nats phenom Stephen Strasburg and a few more Angels since the game is being played in Orange County. But, I just want to see the best players and watch entertaining baseball. The managers who made this year's reserve All-Star selections must play to win.

And there's the disconnect.

As a fan I don't have a say in the 162 games my team plays, nor in the postseason should they make it. But here comes the Midsummer Classic, which determines a big advantage in the World Series, and suddenly the fans gets a say.

If Bug Selig and MLB want the All-Star game to truly matter, fans shouldn't get a vote at all. The entire roster should be selected by the managers and the league office. And if that were the case, it would make complete sense for Braves utility man Omar Infante to be an All-Star.

But this is one game that shouldn't matter.

All-Stars are meant to be fun exhibitions, where the fan experience matters most. Where we the fans get to vote on everything from the starting lineup to that last player on the roster and even who pitches in the 5th inning of the game.

It's a pipe dream, but one I hope is realized.

The renaissance of Matt Cain

San Francisco Giants pitcher Matt Cain has come out of the shadows this year and it's an overdue surprise.

Over the past two seasons Cain has been the cover boy for hard luck pitchers. Just look at the numbers, in '07 his 3.65 ERA earned him a 7-16 record (and a MLB Best-Worst FPS runner-up award). Last year, he posted a 3.76 ERA with 186 strikeouts but only went 8-14, while his teammate Tim Lincecum went 18-5 with a 2.62 ERA and won the NL Cy Young Award.

It's stunning, same team, same sour offense, completely different results.

This year things are turning around for Cain. Like Lincecum, he's got double-digit wins (10) and his ERA is a stellar 2.38 is a hair above his cohort's 2.33.

Watching Cain pitch a couple times on TV this year, it has felt like deja vu, when he got no discernible offensive support. But what is different is Cain's confidence on the mound. He's firing more strikes, has command of the zone and looks less sullen than ever before.

In 2007 and 2008, you could visible see that Cain felt the pressure to be perfect. When things weren't going his way, he would walk from the mound and sit in the dugout with his head buried in a towel. That's not happening anymore. Like Lincecum, Cain is staying loose and winning more.

It's been a renaissance of sorts.

Hopefully Cain's pre-All-Star injury, taking a line drive off his pitching arm, won't set him back at all. Because it's been fun to watch baseball's best young pitching tandem keep the Giants playoff hopes alive.