Brewers GM calls for review of scoring system

MILWAUKEE – One day after CC Sabathia pitched a controversial one-hitter against Pittsburgh, Milwaukee’s general manager said he may lobby to have changes made to the way official scoring decisions are made.

Doug Melvin said he thought there should be a committee to decide scoring decisions like the one that may have cost Sabathia a no-hitter in the Brewers’ 7-0 victory over the Pirates on Sunday. One official scorer is used in all games until the World Series, where there is a three-person panel.

“There could be possible reviews to see if there’s a better way of doing it where there’s not all the pressure put on one individual,” Melvin said.

Melvin said representatives of both teams put a lot of pressure on scorers when controversial calls are made.

“A questionable call gets a lot of people involved and a lot of peoples’ hair on end,” he said. “There may be a better way to try to avoid that.”

He suggested a three-person panel consisting of an official scorer and two writers.

“I thought of it before this play,” he said. “It’s not just because of this. There’s becoming too many changes and too many people involved.

“You’ve got to get the writers involved, obviously, and see what their thoughts are on it,” he said.

Sabathia tried to make a barehanded pickup of Andy LaRoche’s softly hit grounder, but the Brewers ace dropped it. Official scorer Bob Webb immediately ruled it a hit.

About the only person not making a big deal of the play was Sabathia.

“If I put the glove down and make the play, it wouldn’t be a big deal,” he said. “… We still won the game.”