I am at home watching the Yankees beat up on the Angels - 7-1 at this point, which isn't too good but at least I think I am going to stay awake to watch it till the final out - which I can't say about last night's Phillies comeback or the Yankees win in Game 2 or... you get the idea.

The lopsided score will likely overshadow some questionable calls by the umpiring crew, but the bad umpiring continues to simmer below the surface and could explode under the right circumstances. I'm not sure where to start... the number of different calls that have been blown is pretty stunning. So I may as well start with the neighbourhood non-call from last Saturday.

I tend to agree with the argument that the call was correct - the whole point of the neighbourhood play is that there is fluid motion involved the creates the illusion that the play was made properly. Erick Aybar was not moving fluidly - he just chose not to stand anywhere near the bag.

On the other hand, I also get the argument that the umpire should have just called the runner out, as everyone expected him to. There would have been no fuss or argument - and it was a really bad time to try to enforce a principle that isn't written down and almost no one understands.

A common reaction has been that umpires should just call the rules as written and stop calling the neighbourhood play. An alternate take is that MLB should follow the NBA's lead, and simply change the rulebook to reflect what the umpires are calling.

I agree with the latter; it seems to me that the neighbourhood play is good for baseball. Fans, and especially media, luv players who slide hard into second base to break up the double play. Supposedly this reflects good hustle or hardnosed play, though I'm not sure when 'hustle' became a euphemism for 'dangerous, illegal slides'.

Baseball, and its umpires, have gotten around the problem with the neighbourhood play. The runner can still slide hard into the bag, fielders can still turn the double play while saving their shins from being smashed to pieces - the whole thing is actually quite dazzling when done correctly. Everyone wins, except on those rare occasions when the call doesn't go as expected.

So, write a rule. It can't be that hard - let's say, the fielder must touch the bag, and must catch the ball within one step of the bag. Or two steps. Or whatever works.

(the game mercifully ends with a 10-1 New York victory. Alex Rodriguez has now pushed his career postseason batting average up to .299 - a sobering reminder that, if you play in enough playoff games, you're gonna have your good days and bad days. But we're selective about what we choose to remember)