We Just Solved the Umpire Crisis!*

*not actually a crisis

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Two of the most conspicuously successful pitchers of the last two decades come to baseball’s umpiring conundrum from different places and so, perhaps unsurprisingly, they’ve arrived at different suggestions for solving the problem.

In one of those moments of alchemy, they each got it half right. Which puts us in terrific shape here.

By the way: When I say “problem,” I really could substitute a word like “kerfuffle” or “discussion” or “sideshow,” since umpiring at the Major League Baseball level was, is and will continue to be practiced at a world-elite level. But for those who insist that what’s wrong with the game in 2024 is how it’s officiated, great news: We’ve got this.