A Grip on Sports: Nationals’ win shows the world how good baseball can be still – and how it can get even better

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There is something about the World Series that brings the little boy and/or girl in all of us, isn’t there? At least it happened again last night.

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• For the Series opener last night, we wanted the atmosphere to be perfect. There was one problem, however. We couldn’t find Cracker Jacks anywhere.

Hot dogs, sure. Peanuts, easy. Cheap American beer like my dad used to drink, OK. But Cracker Jacks? Nope. Have they gone the way of the three-hour game and sacrifice bunt?

We tried a couple spots yesterday and then gave up. Too much to do before Game One.

And what a Game One it was. Two great pitchers, one with his best stuff, the other named Max Scherzer. Guess who won? Yep, the guy with two different colored eyes, supported by an offense which features the most flamboyant 20-year-old since, well, ever.

Juan Soto hit a home run and doubled in two more to support Scherzer and the maligned Nats’ bullpen in the 5-4 victory, but there was more to the game than that. Much more.

We are going to focus on one aspect, a small one that needs to be fixed over the offseason: baseball’s insane instant-replay rules.

As in, why are they so hit-and-miss?

Once the sport opened the door to using remote umpires watching in New York with more video equipment than the NSA, it has been reticent to use it. Instead of embracing a technology that allows its umpire to “get it right,” as the mantra goes, it handcuffs everyone. It’s the worst of both worlds – replay slows the game and doesn’t fix all the problems.

Two plays occurred last night that highlighted the issue. The first was hard to discern what the right call was, the other obvious. Neither were reviewed because, well, baseball is still a 19th-Century sport is some regards. Instead of allow managers a certain amount of challenges to any play (except balls and strikes, but we will get to that in a second), there is a limited number of things that can be looked at. Fair or foul, out or safe, hit or not, that kind of stuff.

But if a third base coach reaches out and assists a baserunner, a play none of the seven umpires seemed to be watching – to be fair, they have more important things to look at – that’s not reviewable. It should be.

Or if the batter swings and hits the catcher’s glove – a play that awards a base – that’s not reviewable. It should be.

Each is a play the viewer sees at home. Each is a play that could decide the game – and the championship. But the goal doesn’t seem to be to get it right. When both occurred last night, there was a stoppage of play as the umpires got together to talk – as they have done for more than 100 years.

The first one might have taken a long time to decide via video. Did Gary Pettis reach out and touch the baserunner, assisting him in the decision to get back? It’s hard to know. But when Josh Reddick hit Kurt Suzuki’s glove in the fourth inning, that was so obvious it should have been caught by the crew. It wasn’t. It would have taken 30 seconds to fix. The Astros would have had two on, one out and George Springer at the plate. Instead, two pitches later it was two out and Springer couldn’t deliver.

Why not allow managers a couple challenges, like most sports, for just about anything? If they are right, they keep their two. If they are wrong, the lose one until they are out. Simple. Easy. Obvious.

• What was also obvious, at home, was how the game changed in the first inning when plate umpire Alan Porter missed a 3-2 pitch on Springer. The pitch was in the strike zone. The electronic system Fox uses, the same one MLB uses to grade umpires, showed it was. But Porter called it ball four. Two outs later, the Astros scored two runs – and made Scherzer throw about a dozen more pitches than he should have.

The one missed call had a huge hand in how the game developed from there.

Look, baseball is experimenting with electronic balls and strikes these days in the minor leagues. If it is working, and all reports seems to be it is, it’s time to enforce uniformity in the strike zone. No more strike zones based on the guy behind the plate’s health status or the catcher’s framing issues or the strength of the wind. Allow every pitcher and hitter to walk to the plate every at bat knowing each pitch will be called the same way every time.

The technology is available. Use it.

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WSU: The Cougars have been using their speed more recently on defense. That’s the change they’ve made and Theo Lawson is here to document it. … What Theo didn’t document in his picks this week is how well he did last week. I’m guessing, with some certainty, he was undefeated. Or something like that. … The Cougars will honor their basketball past with George Raveling and build their future with a commitment from an Australian player. Theo has both stories while the Raveling news was noticed elsewhere as well. … Theo also passes along the news Deone Bucannon has a new NFL home. … Klay Thompson may not play at all this season. … Elsewhere in the Pac-12, Oregon’s penchant for hiring former WSU assistants is known even in Eugene. The Ducks will be without one of their better receivers this week – and from now on. … Oregon State will have a senior back next season. … We don’t know who will be playing quarterback for Utah. … Colorado knows it has some things to fix. … There were some bad injuries for USC last weekend and they will carry over for a while. … Stanford has injuries at one key position. … UCLA has been playing better lately. … Arizona State doesn’t have a lot of running back depth anymore. … Arizona wants to put a whole game together defensively. … Don’t forget the bowl picture. … There is basketball news from Washington, Colorado and Oregon State.

EWU: The Eagles have a make-or-break game this Saturday at Montana. Ryan Collingwood has the first in what I’m sure will be a series of stories previewing the matchup with Montana. … Larry Weir spoke with his Eastern broadcast partner Paul Sorensen about the Eagles and WSU in the latest Press Box pod. … Around the Big Sky,

Idaho: The Vandals began their basketball season with an exhibition game with Central Washington. As Peter Harriman relays, it didn’t go all that well for UI. Division II Central won, 88-81.

Seahawks: The trade deadline is nearing. John Schneider isn’t waiting. He picked up Detroit’s starting safety, Quandre Diggs, yesterday. Whether he’ll be ready to play against Atlanta on Sunday is unknown. … D.J. Fluker will be back.

Sounders: Jordan Morris had a good season. It was good enough to earn him the Comeback Player of the Year award. … Up next for the Sounders is an intriguing semifinal matchup with Real Salt Lake.

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• I was thinking of having my editor insert my tweets from last night into the column. It’s a cool thing I see everywhere and they were relevant to today’s thoughts. Sneak previews if you will. However, I realized this morning I don’t have an editor. And I don’t know how to do that. Another great idea foiled by reality. Until later …