Does Baseball Need Umpires?

Recent Bad Calls Have Critics Howling for Better Umps, But Maybe It's a Job for Machines

(By JONAH KERI, The Wall Street Journal) - During Friday's playoff game at Yankee Stadium, Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins hit an 11th-inning fly ball down the left-field line that landed clearly fair, a foot inside the line. As millions looked on, umpire Phil Cuzzi, who was standing just 10 feet away, fixed his eyes on the spot and gave his signal: Foul.

This blown call wasn't the only reason the Twins lost the game. They were eventually swept by the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. But all anyone could talk about was Mr. Cuzzi's gaffe.

Once again in baseball's postseason, a spate of bad calls has turned the focus away from the excitement of October to the competence of the umpires. And like always, the debate has turned to why the men in blue might be prone to making such big mistakes (Are they blind?) and whether there's anything that can be done.