In Open Letter to Bud Selig, Nader Calls For Fan Input on Expansion of Instant Replay Debate
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
Commissioner of Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY, 10167
Dear Mr. Selig:
On June 1, 2012 Johan Santana pitched a great game for the Mets against the Cardinals. But it was not a no-hitter as you and your top MLB officials know. It was an erroneous umpire no-hitter.
The camera replay went contrary to the umpire’s call on one play. Here is the New York Times’ report:
“He [Santana] got an assist from the third base umpire, Adrian Johnson, in the sixth inning. The former Met Carlos Beltran scorched a liner over third base, and replays showed that the ball kicked up a bit of white chalk on the outer edge of the baseline. But Johnson called it foul, and Beltran grounded out.”
Coming off your refusal to accord Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga his valid perfect game, ruined by a wrong call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce (who had the grace to admit his error following the camera replay), it was encouraging to read, at long last, that MLB officials are “actively discussing the use of instant replay in games” for reviewing fair/foul and catch/trap calls. The news report noted that “both the umpires’ and players’ unions must approve any expansion of replay.”
We suggest that the fans be polled on this long overdue matter as well. What is your view on including the people who make your salary possible?
Sincerely,
Ralph Nader
Ken Reed
Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
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Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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