A gross exaggeration and mischaracterization of the game of baseball. I'm going to go out on a ruler sized limb here and say that you haven't watched much baseball recently since you don't own a TV. More accurately stated, baseball is sometimes a game of inches and minutes but is frequently a game of centimeters and tenths of seconds (for example, the difference between a successful or unsuccessful steal attempt is in the .05-.2 second range). Just like racing is sometimes a game of yards and seconds but is frequently a game of millimeters and thousandths of seconds. Even more important, even if we accept Eben's characterization of the game, even the "best" umpires routinely botch these inches and minutes--just ask Brian Gorman.

I think the point here, which is obscured by Eben's comment, is that baseball is an extremely conservative institution that concocts reasons to resist change and preserve inaccuracies or idiotic statistics. Everytime the Baseball Writers give the Cy Young to the league leader in wins (but less deserving pitcher) or Derek Jeter wins a gold glove I cringe. But, I would also argue that accuracy is not the ultimate goal of baseball--selling seats and keeping a strong fan base is. The fact is that people have come to know and love baseball as it is now and have a strong status quo bias. Handing the game over to machines would certainly hurt MLB's bottom line.

I agree that in some areas and systems we should aspire to minimize human error and bias--I'm just not sure baseball is one of those systems. Baseball is not about fairness or efficiency--it is just a game trying to produce enjoyment (not accurate criminal justice). Getting calls wrong and seeing Lou Pinella ejected is part of the enjoyment. In some institutions, inefficiencies, inaccuracies, and waste persist because they produce greater human happiness than their rational utility maximizing opposites simply because humans aren't rational maximizers to begin with.

Actually, every time I tune into Sportscenter it looks like the social environments of the criminal justice system and sports are converging. Jokes aside, I find myself wanting after this comment. The two are indeed different, as any two institutions will inevitably be, but, fundamentally different? Maybe I'm being obtuse here but I need more explanation (time permitting). In what ways are the two social environments fundamentally different that are relevant to the point this paper is trying to make? -- MatthewZorn - 13 Apr 2010

As I was taught