MLB: It's time for instant replay!

Umpires are human beings. Yes, they make mistakes (lots of them in some cases.)

Now that the San Diego Padres have concluded a 10-game homestand punctuated by missed calls, it has become more than obvious that instant replay is needed in MLB.

Take just a few instances of the past week, and it’s hard not to conclude that it’s time for instant replay:

Tony Gwynn was called out for a batted ball hitting him on the basepaths. Problem is, the ball clearly missed him.

Chase Headley made a great sliding catch to end an inning. However, the umpire wrongly said Headley trapped the ball.

Headley was again the victim on a play at the plate. He was called out, yet replays showed he was unquestionably safe.

Everth Cabrera was ruled safe on a stolen base attempt of third. He was unmistakably out.

However, that one more than evened out. Cabrera was ruled out for missing home plate on a sliding attempt; replays showed his hand clearly touched the plate.

Kyle Blanks was ruled safe at home on a tying run in the ninth inning vs. the New York Mets. Replays showed he was definitely tagged out by catch Brian Schneider.

Ok, this was only the Padres. On a scale of MLB, there seems to be an attitude of “Who cares what happens west of the Mississippi?”

Let’s hope the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox have this many blown calls on a homestand. Then, MLB will do something about adding instant replay.

'Name That Padre:' What a joke!

Now for the newest joke of a game show in town, we have “Name That Padre.”

This is a game that Florida Marlins television announcers Rich Waltz and Tommy Hutton were playing during Tuesday’s night’s Marlins-San Diego Padres game.

“It was one of Bob Barker’s earlier shows,” Hutton said with a laugh in between emails on the “Late Night with the Fish” telecast.

Yes, it’s even come to that now. Visiting announcers are laughing at the Padres … and rightfully so. What else are you supposed to do with a team that has lost 17 of its last 20 games and is 13-36 since a 10-game winning streak in May?

Waltz and Hutton were justifiably amused by some of the names that Padres had on their roster during their “Name That Padre” running commentary.

Everth Cabrera? Joe Thatcher? Mike Ekstrom? Luis Perdomo? Jose Lobaton?

Sorry, those were among the group of characters on the Padres roster that were amusing to the Marlins’ broadcasters … and the Florida team on the field that swept three straight games in San Diego.

And now we hear that the Padres have laid off 13 front-office employees.

Too bad they can’t lay off at least a similar numbers of players at this point.