UMPIRES MAKE A SERIES OF BAD CALLS; WILL THEY BREAK TRADITION AND ASK FOR HELP?

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

``I didn't make the right call. It appreared to me as though he got him.''

- Umpire Tim Tschida on Sunday's blown call.

They do it in football, basketball and hockey.

Officials huddle to get the calls right, or in the case of football and hockey, can use instant replay.

But not in baseball, as millions of fans are being reminded this week.

In baseball, the oft-hated umpires are islands who stand alone after controversial calls. It's rare that they huddle to discuss a call. And they are forbidden to use instant replay.

No help and no replay - though that could change in the future as Major League Baseball tries to get greater control over umpires.

But not yet, although baseball officiating is a hot-and-heavy topic because of bad calls in the first five games of the American League Championship Series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox.

Twice the Red Sox had runners called out on plays umpires, upon viewing replays following the game, admitted were wrong. Both came in games the Red Sox trailed by a run late and went on to lose.

The latest was Sunday's blown call by second base umpire Tim Tschida that sparked a near riot at Fenway Park. John Valentin grounded to second baseman Chuck Knoblauch, who fielded the grounder and tried to tag Jose Offerman before throwing to first base.

Tschida said Knoblauch tagged Offerman, though replays clearly showed otherwise, before completing the double play. The rabid mood of the fans boiled over in the ninth when a close call at first went against the Red Sox. Instant replay seemed to show that call was wrong, too. Fans littered the field with debris, forcing the game to be delayed.

In the first game of the series, Offerman was called out on a force play at second by Tim Reed, though replays showed Knoblauch never had possession of the ball. Reed admitted after the game he blew the call.

Blown call or not, an umpire usually doesn't ask for help.

``If you ask for help, where do you stop?'' said Terry Tata, a veteran umpire who lost his job in September when his resignation was accepted in a labor dispute between baseball and its officials. ``Do you ask for help on steals or trapped balls in the outfield? Where does it stop? With that play (tag on Offerman), that's the only position (Tschida) could have maintained.''

Tata, who worked seven League Championship Series, four Division Series and four World Series, said the only other umpire possibly in position to make the call was Reed. But Reed was more than 100 feet away on the right field line, meaning he didn't have the best vantage point, either.

``There are no real guidelines on that,'' said Jim Wolf, an El Camino Real High grad and umpire in the Pacific Coast League who's filled in for vacationing major-league umpires. ``Maybe you huddle on fair or foul home runs, maybe when there's different ground rules.

``Say (Tschida) does get help and they reverse the call. Then any close call when a manager comes out, he's going to say to the umpire, ask for help. Get help. It's never going to stop.''

Also, forget about replay.

Baseball reiterated that directive in June after crew chief Frank Pulli used television replay in a game between the Florida Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals. Florida's Cliff Floyd hit a ball off the top of the wall. It was initially ruled a double, changed to a home run, then changed back to a double after Pulli watched replays on a television camera in the Marlins dugout.

While admitting Pulli got the call right, Major League Baseball said it's inappropriate for umpires to consult replays in regard to plays.

``It's clearly defined,'' Tata said. ``We did receive a bulletin from (the late) Commissioner Bart Giamatti that not under any condition do we look at a replay for any decision.''

Umpires say huddling is rare because their assignments are different: They need only worry about one base.

The unwritten rule in baseball is umpires will gather and discuss a call only when the umpire who made the call asks for help.

That could be changing.

Major League Baseball wants more control of umpires. Several baseball officials said reform is coming, and instant replay could be part of it.

``I think what you may see in the future is baseball using replays to determine home runs, and whether a ball is fair or foul,'' one baseball official said. ``They may use it for balls that hit on top of the fence, or a back wall behind the fence, and to determine if a ball is fair or foul. I think that's one of the things they talked about once they get control of the umpires.''

But for now, teams will have to rely on umpires getting all calls right the first time.

``Players make mistakes,'' Wolf said. ``We're going to make mistakes. The last time I checked, we were all mortal.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Umpire Tim Tschida ruled New York's Chuck Knoblauch tagged Jose Offerman out Sunday.

Barton Silverman/New York Times

Bix: Men in blue have Boston seeing red

Associated Press