Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

Umpiring errors reached comic proportions in the recently completed World Series, highlighting the fact that people regularly make decisional errors. There are many reasons for this and a variety of dispute resolution processes that can be tailored to fit the specific fuss in a cost-effective way.

Umpiring errors were a bigger story in the recently completed World Series than the New York Yankees’ record-setting 27th pennant. Decision errors reached comic proportion in game four of the American League playoffs in Anaheim. In what ESPN dubbed “the worst umpiring performance at an Angels game since Leslie Nielsen in The Naked Gun,”1 third-base umpire Tim McClelland called Yankee Nick Swisher safe when he was out, out when he was safe, and “blew an obvious call on what should have been a double play at third base.” McClelland could not even explain why he missed what seemed obvious with the benefit of instant replay.