Umpire Tom Hallion's Inconsistent, Flip-A-Coin Strike Zone

Tom Hallion was the home plate umpire for Monday's Cleveland/Red Sox game. He worked in the National League from 1985-99. He was one of 22 umpires who resigned in 1999 in a failed union bargaining strategy, but was rehired in 2005.

Hallion has been in the center of numerous arguments because of questionable or blown calls, but that's likely true of every umpire who has worked for more than a few years. In 2013, Hallion was fined by MLB for both swearing at Tampa Bay pitcher David Price and for his postgame language. (He denied swearing at Price.)

Hallion's problem behind the plate on Monday night was that he was very inconsistent. For pitches in a few locations, it appeared as though allion mentally flipped a coin before calling a ball or a strike, because pitches in the exact same location received different calls.

In the top of the second inning, Hallion called Red Sox starter Doug Fister's fourth pitch to Bradley Zimmer a ball.

Two batters later, Fister's second pitch to Roberto Perez, pretty much in the exact same spot, was called a strike.

Hallion also had trouble with low pitches. Fister's second pitch to Jose Ramirez (still in the second inning, sadly) was called a ball.

When Mitch Moreland led off the bottom of the second, Cleveland pitcher Trevor Bauer's second offering - nearly identical to the low pitch Fister had thrown to Ramirez - was now considered a strike.

In the bottom of the seventh, Bauer faced Christian Vazquez. His first two pitches were nearly identical. The first one (which was actually slightly further away from the strike zone) was a strike and the second one was a ball.

In the bottom of the ninth, Vazquez batted again and looked at Joe Smith's first two pitches. Once again, Hallion was faced with two consecutive pitches in the exact same location - and he called the first one a ball and the second one a strike.

After Vazquez grounded out, Smith threw his first pitch to Jackie Bradley. Based on the prior calls on Vazquez, this one obviously could go either way. Hallion decided to call it a ball.

You often hear players say that all they want from the home plate umpire is consistency. If the umpire is calling a more horizontal zone or perhaps a wide zone, it should be the same for both teams. Consistency is good, yes, but this statement is also total bullshit. These players (and announcers do it, too) are saying that if the umpire decides (for whatever reason) to change the rules of the game - in the first inning, in the middle innings, or maybe only in extra innings - that is completely fine. He should make sure, however, that he makes the same mistakes all night long!

But as Hallion showed Monday night, it is impossible for an umpire to call pitches consistently throughout a game (or even an inning). The only way to get true consistency - which is supposedly what players, announcers, sportswriters, and fans have said for decades they all want - is by using an electronic strike zone.

So bring on the robots, and we'll all be happy.