So far, it's an October of mistakes

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Hideki Matsui's pop fly fell safely in Game 1 of the ALDS when neither shortstop Erick Aybar (fielding) nor third baseman Chone Figgins (not pictured) called for the ball. Nick Laham/Getty Images Jon Heyman's Mailbag Got a question or comment for Jon? Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND Follow Jon Heyman on Twitter

NEW YORK -- Well, at least the umpires have to be feeling a tiny bit better today. Turns out they aren't the only ones who are human in this mistake-filled October.

The Angels did their best Minnesota Twins impersonation in Game 1 of their Division Series matchup with the Yankees. The team that allegedly doesn't beat itself did just that (though they clearly had help from CC Sabathia, who was terrific one more time in the 4-1 Yankees victory).

Meanwhile, the Phillies wasted Pedro Martinez's magical effort with their own mistakes in Game 2 of the NLCS. When Phillies star Chase Utley threw one into the dugout for an error in Game 1, pitcher Cole Hamels threw up his hands. Then Utley did the very same thing in Game 2. It was such a similar play it looked like a replay of the first one. But this time Phillies pitcher Chan Ho Park did not have a similar outward reaction as Hamels. So while the performance didn't necessarily improve, at least the decorum did. (Hamels later apologized for his demonstrative demeanor but, really, it's hard for anyone to believe what's going on in some of these games.)

To be fair, there is no reason to single out Utley, as he is far from alone. Whether it is the players or umpires, this has been the October of the miscue.

The umpires actually have taken most of the heat, and it's true that as a group in the Division Series they were dreadful. C.B. Bucknor missed two calls at first base in the Angels-Red Sox series, and Phil Cuzzi missed what appeared to be easy ones down the left-field line in Yankees-Twins. What's more, ball-strike calls seemed little better than guesses at times, as the TV pitch tracker often seemed little more than a way to count mistakes. MLB executive Mike Port, who's in charge of umpires, cautioned that the TV gimmick shouldn't be taken too seriously, saying, "They are meant for spur-of-the-moment entertainment purposes.''

Port also pointed out that there were probably only "six to eight'' missed calls that caused all the negative attention. But Port also acknowledged that this wasn't the umpires' finest hour. "We can do better,'' Port said. "It's not to the standard any of us desires. However, misses though they were, one has to realize how many opinions are made on replay as opposed to live action, as umpires have to handle them.''

The live action has lacked something at times, as well. Respected baseball writer Ed Price from AOL Fanhouse started listing all the misplays already in this postseason while watching the Yankees-Angels game, and his list seemed to take about half the game. "Nine primary goats,'' is how Price summarized what we've all seen so far.

Even if I give a pass to the trio of closers who blew games (maybe good hitting had something to do with all those blowups), there were plenty of problems. The ousted Twins are always a scrappy and tough bunch, but they didn't play too smart, running themselves out of the derby with glaring baserunning mistakes by Carlos Gomez and Nick Punto. The Twins' gaffes were so noticeable that one Angel suggested to me midway through the series that that the Twins had no chance against the stacked, $200 million Yankees and were about to be done.

Turns out the Angel player was right but his own team was no better in Game 1 of the Division Series. The night was frigid, their play less than lukewarm, as well.

The Angels, famous for forcing the opposition into mistakes, made two huge ones of their own, sealing their fate early. The Angels dug themselves a 2-0 hole when left fielder Juan Rivera made such a bad throw to second base he allowed Johnny Damon to take second on his single, then three batters later shortstop Erick Aybar and third baseman Chone Figgins let a high popup by Hideki Matsui fall between them when each apparently through the other was catching it. "We haven't seen our guys crack the door open for a team like we did tonight in a long time,'' Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "The Yankees are going to take advantage of that, and they did. But, it was a poor defensive night.''

The NLCS Game 2 had its moments, too, and that game was decided when Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ walked Andre Ethier to force home the winning run on a low pitch just outside the strike zone (the pitch tracker confirmed that call). If nothing else, now we know it's not only the umps.

Ump selection process hurt by lack of selectivity

They tell us that umpires are picked on "merit'' for the postseason. But the reality is that because of umpiring attrition (six crew chiefs are on the umpiring disabled list), rules that hamstring the selectors and what seems to be too much selectivity (and maybe a little favoritism), the merit system has been sabotaged.

Based on what we've seen so far, Major League Baseball may want to take a look at how the umpires are selected for the postseason. There's nothing that can be done about the injuries. But office politics needs to be removed from the process altogether. Joe Girardi isn't making out his lineup based on which players he likes best but who'll help him win. Umpiring is a skill, and some umpires are better than others.

Port said that there is some "subjectivity'' to the selection process, and that doesn't sound too bad on the surface. But subjectivity is only one step away from favoritism and two from office politics. Baseball needs a serious scoring system, and it needs to stick to it.

MLB does use data to rate umpires. But apparently they have so little faith in their own numbers they wind up sitting around and picking up the umpires. Maybe it's time to just line them up, one through 36, for the postseason.

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Another issue is that the umpiring supervisors, who were all once umpires themselves (and who Port says have 200 years of umpiring experience between them), may have their own favorites and may not necessarily be the greatest graders. But why compound that issue by taking their subjectivity and adding some more subjectivity.

So, how is the overall grade looking after the Division Series?

Most players and serious fans could tell you, without looking at any paperwork, that certain umpires aren't among the best in baseball. And they'd probably be close to right about that. As Port conceded, "There's got to be some merit to perception.'' But Port also noted that there are a variety of skills (11, actually) that the umpires are graded on, that some are better on some things than others and they needed to form cxrews that highlighted the best of their skills. That may be so. But that shouldn't change the fact that they need to use the best umps, and there's considerable question as to whether they are doing that. Is it possible that Bucknor, Joe West, Angel Hernandez and Chuck Meriweather all rank in the top 36? Highly questionable.

With 36 umpires used in the postseason out of 68 major league umpires, even if the top 36 are identified a few who are deemed slightly below average would make the postseason crews. Then there are baseball's rules that move the line lower. Umpires are disallowed by regulation from working consecutives series or consecutive World Series. The last thing that killed them this year is that six crew chiefs suffered injuries and were unavailable this postseason.

While even the worst umpire in major league baseball is still presumably one of the best 68 in the world at what he does, the result of all these issues and problems is that several below average major league umpires are working this postseason. And it's showing so far.