Nothing mind-blowing here, but it's nice to see someone at the Gray Lady beating the drum in favor if increasing the use of instant replay (though he doesn't touch on balls and strikes). Excerpt:

"There is an inherent accountability gap between players and managers on one hand and umpires on the other.

When the St. Louis Cardinals’ Matt Holliday dropped a fly ball with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 2 of their National League division series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, there were swift consequences: the Cardinals lost the game, and Holliday had to face the news media to talk about his gaffe.

Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon made a mistake with a pitch against the Angels’ Vladimir Guerrero in Game 3 of their American League division series, and Guerrero smashed a game-winning hit that eliminated the Red Sox. Papelbon was held accountable, too.

But when Umpire Phil Cuzzi made a blunder in the Twins-Yankees series, calling a fair ball foul and potentially costing Minnesota Game 2, the crew chief apologized, and that was it. There was no redress for the Twins."