Accountability

If the President commits a crime, he’s held accountable by Congress, through the impeachment process.

If I’m stocking shelves as a grocery store and I put in a pint of vanilla ice cream with the tomatoes, I have to be accountable for my mistake.

If things go wrong, a leader has to be accountable for what happened. Accountability exists everywhere. Everyone has to be accountable for their decisions. If a person screws up, it’s there responsibility and they have to own up to it. Sports are no exception.

Everyone in every sports organization has accountability. The peanut vendor has to sell his peanuts. The assistant to the traveling secretary has to book hotels on road trips. The grounds crew has to take care of the field every day. Most importantly, to the fans anyway, the players have to play. The players have to do their job.

When an athlete is drafted and pushed through the minor leagues (if applicable), and gets playing time, he’s expected to play his sport competently. Goalies have to stop the puck. Power forwards need to rebound. Catchers need to block home plate (wait, what?) Quarterbacks need to throw touchdowns.

“For who? For what?”

This immortal quote in Eagles history from Ricky Watters embodies the athlete that doesn’t feel accountable for his actions. Watters ended up having a good career for the Eagles, but he’ll be more known for short arming a pass in his first game. There are plenty of guys like him that don’t for responsible for wrongdoings. Rod Barajas couldn’t care less that he can’t block the plate, as long as he gets his paycheck at the end of the week.

On the other hand, there are the leaders. The guys that put it all on the line every game, and if something doesn’t go their way, they take the blame. No shrugging it off or pointing fingers. These are the Donovan McNabb’s, The Jamie Moyer’s. Hell, even Jon Lieber owns up when he makes a bad start, in which the defense and bats completely fail around him. Teams should strive to get more of these players.

Teams can practice accountability too. The Phillies do a little bit, and Pat Gillick is certainly better than Ed Wade with accountability. Gone are the days of Mike Williams getting opportunity after opportunity and doing poorly in each one. Gone are the days of Doug Glanville batting leadoff.

In are the days of Ryan Franklin getting cut. In are the days of Alex Gonzalez being forced into retirement. In are the days of Rod Barajas being… well, Pat’s almost there.

The Devil Rays are a team learning accountability. Last year, guys like Travis Lee, Tomas Perez and Travis Harper had multiple chances to prove they aren’t major league players, but it took until the end of the season for Tampa to finally say, “You know what? We can’t have this.” That was the end of Lee’s career.

In 2007, more changes are being made. Jae Seo and Casey Fossum were kicked out of the rotation. Ben Zobrist was optioned because he couldn’t draw a walk. Before, these performances would’ve gone largely unnoticed and ignored. Now, these guys are getting the playing time at the level of baseball they deserve.

That’s a concept in the same vein of accountability: a player gets what they deserve. This was something Ed Wade failed on. It didn’t matter how many doubles Chase Utley hit or how many homers Ryan Howard smashed. These guys were going to have their hands held through the system, and it ended up costing both of these stars a year or two in their careers. Hell, Phillies fans are lucky Howard’s even on the team.

Teams can improve the atmosphere of their ballclub by practicing these. Fans are appreciative when a hot prospect is called up or when a struggling player loses playing time or gets optioned. Not that teams should be letting the fans make the decisions, but it makes everyone that much more excited and interested in the team. Teams win more games when they use this balls to the wall style and don’t wait too long to cut their losses.

So we’ve gone over accountability in sports and the real world. However, something’s missing…

… Where is it for MLB umpires?

I can’t say that all sports officials aren’t accountable for their jobs, because David Stern disciplined an out of line official when he challenged Tim Duncan to a fight. I applaud Stern for what he did. Joey Crawford was an instigator that Sunday afternoon, and he has been his whole officiating career. He wants to make himself a part of the game, when he should merely make sure the game moves along smoothly and fairly.

Bud Selig needs to take a page from Stern’s book. Just this page, though. We don’t need Selig to try and change the way baseballs are made or institute a dress code policy. What he does need to do is sit down with his umpires and say, “Guys, you gotta do a better job. You have to bear down, focus and make the right calls, or there are going to be consequences.”

In the past month, the Phillies have had two incidents that stand out among others. Against the Tigers, Phillies starter Adam Eaton and a host of relievers were absolutely squeezed, but the Tigers’ staff had a strike zone as big as Joey Eischen. I’m going to keep the bellyaching to a minimum, but the strike zone was simply not consistent. The walks weren’t there, but in constant 2-0, 3-1 counts, a pitcher can’t throw the pitches he wants to. The Phillies ended up losing, with Catcher Carlos Ruiz, Charlie Manuel and Steve Smith getting ejected along the way.

In the 8^th inning, one inning after the bullpen exploded, Carlos Ruiz loses his cool. He starts a discussion with umpire Bill Welke, has a few choice words for him and gets ejected. Charlie Manuel predictably (and correctly) comes out to stand up for his player. Steve Smith, in the smartest thing he’s done all year, has seen what’s been taking place, and he has some words for the crew as well.

The point is umpires have to do their damn job! I don’t care if the strike zone is big or small, but it has to be the same thing for both teams. If a pitch six inches off the plate is a strike for Justin Verlander, then it better be for Yoel Hernandez. If a pitch down the middle is a ball for Cole Hamels, then it better be for Todd Jones.

Carlos Ruiz was suspended a game, Steve Smith three. That’s completely unfair. These guys hung in there for 7 innings against a great starter and a great team, and after taking another punch in the face, they couldn’t take it anymore.

I can’t say if the Phillies would’ve won the game if Welke was a better umpire, but take a look at this one:

On Tuesday night, the Phillies nursed a one run lead. It’s impressive they were leading this game in the first place, after walking batter after batter and showing an inability to get guys out. In the 9^th with one out, Carlos Lee was batting against Antonio Alfonseca with the bases loaded. Ground ball to short. Rollins flips to Utley and that’s one. Throw to Howard and that’ll end the ball… wait, no. He was safe?

Howard clearly caught the ball a step before Carlos Lee crossed the bag. However, for whatever reason, Lance Barksdale, the first base umpire, called him safe. This isn’t a judgement call. It’s not like the strike zone, which I guess can be open to interpretation. This is black and white! He was out, or he was safe! You can’t mess that up, it’s inexcusable!

The Phillies ended up losing the game. You can say that maybe they shouldn’t have put so many guys on base, or you could point to other opportunities the Phillies didn’t capitalize on earlier, but the fact is, Lance Barksdale blew the game. He flat out messed up. I can conclusively say that he cost us the game. The last out was recorded. It doesn’t get any clearer than that. The Phillies had a win. He took it away.

What does Barksdale do? He apologizes. He talks to Charlie Manuel, and says he’s sorry for making the wrong call. Well, you can stuff your sorrys in a sack, mister. That doesn’t do us any good. That’s not going to give us the win back. We can’t go back and allow the Phillies to slap hands in the middle of the diamond to congratulate each other on the victory.

Where’s the discipline? Nowhere to be seen. Both guys were back on the field the very next day. For those scoring at home, they displayed gross incompetence at their job, and they were allowed to continue with no punishment.

If I make a mistake on the job, I get in trouble. If Dhani Jones misses too many tackles, he gets cut. If MLB Umpires blow a call, they get a pat on the back. Something isn’t right. Sorry, but the world could stand to lose the second coming of Don Derkinger umpiring first base.

And by the way, thanks for the kind words left on an earlier entry. I’m glad to see someone’s reading.