I just love it when Ken Rosenthal gets all frothy:

The commissioner is 76. The average age of the 14 committee members is 63. I don’t want to be disrespectful. But that committee is seriously old-school.

Here’s what kills me: Baseball is at the cutting edge of technology in so many other areas. [...] Yet, when it comes to expanded replay – and bringing the actual on-field product up to date – baseball is still in dial-up mode.

We can debate how far to go. We can debate whether to award challenges to managers, place a fifth umpire in a replay booth and whatever else might work. Pace of game is a legitimate concern. So is placement of runners after calls are reversed. But no obstacle is insurmountable.

[...]

I shudder to think: What will it take for baseball to finally wake up?

Couldn’t agree more. My belief is that placing a fifth umpire in the booth with the ability to wirelessly contact the on-field umpiring crew would absolutely work. I do not like the red flag/challenge system. Strategy should not have a place in getting the play right. Forcing managers to consider withholding their challenge because it’s early in the game is silly. Get the calls right.

Have the fifth umpire buzz the on-field crew chief. The crew meets on the field, discusses and shares info with the fifth umpire. The fifth umpire reviews and relays results (and runner positioning to the field). The on-field crew never leaves the field and this can be achieved in mere minutes, at best. Will not be any longer than a protracted argument with the players and managers. Will also keep players from getting themselves tossed due to arguing calls that could be and should be reversed.

The placement of runners is also very tough, no debating this. Again, getting the call right supercedes everything else.

And because I know someone will say it: Not balls and strikes. I don’t think we’re quite ready to install an automated system like the one in tennis.

If you only read one article today, I recommend this post about the debate over statistics by Drew Silva at Hardball Talk. A few points I’d like to emphasize:

• As one of the commenters notes, while we typically view this in terms of “pro-stats vs. anti-stats,” when it’s really an argument over which stats we should use to evaluate player performance.
• On that note, where Drew wishes everyone in the BBWAA was familiar with advanced stats, I’d settle for familiarity with basic statistics. To put it bluntly, anyone who thinks you can use numbers that are based heavily on the actions of others like RBI and pitcher wins to evaluate individual performance is just ignoring basic rules about using statistics. It ought to be humiliating, really.
• Ultimately, I’m not sure this even matters. No matter who wins the Cy Young this year, I think the old-guard ultimately lost the war by even having this debate.

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A loss by the Tampa Bay Rays gave the Yankees a chance to retake first in the AL East, but another miserable start by Javier Vazquez put the Yankees in a big hole early.  They fought back, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Jays made Cito Gaston a winner in his final game at the Rogers Centre with an 8-4 victory.

The Blue Jays got on the board early, as Travis Snider hit a lead off homer in the bottom of the first for a 1-0 lead.  Vazquez continued to struggle in the second, getting two quick outs before giving up another solo shot, this time to John Buck.  John McDonald followed with a double to left.  He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Snider’s single, giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead.

The Jays continued to pour it on in the fourth.  Aaron Hill worked a walk and moved to third on Adam Lind’s single to center.  A grounder to short by McDonald brought Hill home before Vazquez got out of the inning.  It would be the fifth inning, however, that may have officially sealed Vazquez’s playoff fate.

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