Six Blind Mice

I know that fans of the St. Louis Cardinals will disagree with me, so they can stop reading now if they choose... And no, I am not a disgruntled, sore loser Rangers fan. But as a true fan of baseball, I must say, the Rangers didn't lose the World Series.
First, the Cardinals needed a lot of help to even be in the Fall Classic. Help from the Phillies, who quit playing after clinching home-field advantage. Help from the Braves, who collapsed in epic fashion. And help from the schedule makers, who gave the Cards the hapless Astros on the season's last weekend. So, I may be bitter that my Phillies lost in the first round. But hats off to St. Louis - they were the better team in that series. And, I developed a true admiration & respect for Albert Pujols in the series against the Brewers. They beat Milwaukee, to arrive in the World Series, with home-field advantage. Not something they earned, mind you, but a gift handed to them by the American League losing the All-Star game. In any other sport, home field is determined by winning percentage.
That brings us to the greatest gift of all from the baseball Gods - blind & incompetent umpires.

The Cardinals needed this gift, and partook of it in grand fashion! If Tim McCarver, a mediocre announcer at best, can see that someone is out from 200 feet away, you'd think that the umpires on the field (chosen as the best in their profession to call the game) would be able to see that as well. Not to mention the highly inconsistent calls on balls & strikes. There can't be a different strike zone for each team! Calling a ball on the first pitch, instead of a strike, changes the game completely. A third strike pitch & runner caught stealing for an inning ending double play ends up as ball four, and 2 men on base. Simply put, the Cardinals were handed this World Series on a silver platter!

And it's not just the World Series that has me aggravated. Remember last year, when Armando Gallaraga of the Detroit Tigers had a perfect game through 8 2/3 innings, made the 3rd out at 1st base, only to have the umpire call the runner safe?
Point being, forget about all the talk about destroying the integrity of the game. It is past time for the National past-it's-time to institute instant replay, and at least have some sort of accountability for home plate umpires.

Until that happens, Jimmy Dugan may be heard yelling at Evelyn Gardner, "There's no integrity in baseball!"