No Errors: World Series Umpires Perfect Through Game 2

Perfect game? How about two. The World Series umpires have officiated a total of six close calls (non-balls/strikes) through the first home-field portion of the Fall Classic and have come out with an accuracy of 1.000, a Pablo Sandoval in Game 1 performance times two, if you will.

Umpires Dan Iassogna and Gerry Davis flawlessly judged the two close calls from Game 1—a safe/out banger at first base and a chopper-turned-double play in front of home plate—while Iassogna, Fieldin Culbreth and Brian O'Nora combined to correctly arbitrate four more eyelid batters.

The elite artistry displayed by the men in black Thursday evening drew several instances of praise from FOX broadcasters Joe Buck and Tim McCarver—and another post-game from Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who said, "[Iassogna] made an absolute terrific call in a big, tough situation, a tough call and he made a great call."

Yet where does that leave the populace roaring for expanded replay? After all, this is the same media that railed Jim Joyce after a miss at first in the NLDS, Jeff Nelson after his postseason ejection and Bill Miller after a tag play in the NLCS, not to mention the garbage flinging, umpire bashing event known as Infield Fly-Gate.

Game 3 kicks off Saturday with Joe West—ranked as one of the best and one of the worst umpires in baseball simultaneously (huh?) and who himself is statistically the most consistent umpire in baseball—at third base, which has left some main stream journalists feeling absolutely giddy: "It's like they're just daring Cowboy Joe West to get involved somehow, no?" I suppose if a play is made at third, then yes?

Then again, this is the same fanatical world that worked itself into a frenzy when it realized that NL Wild Card umpire Sam Holbrook—he still got the call right—would be working the ALCS. How's the golf, Hawk?

Related Opinion: World Series: After Video Review, Umpire Crew Perfect in San Francisco Games [b/r]