The topic of instant replay came up at the general manager meetings today, but conversation was apparently limited to the current system and did not touch upon expanding it past home run calls.

Instead, the stubborn general managers symbolically lined up behind commissioner Bud Selig in a stance that sees no use for making sure the game is called fairly and accurately.

I mean, it's enough to make a baseball fan run toward the nearest cement wall with his or her head lowered.   

Jimmie Lee Solomon, one of Selig's guys, said the GMs were briefed by an umpiring official on training, evaluation and structure. I would guess that means that MLB is looking to make umpires more accountable for their calls.

And after the disasters of the just-passed postseason, I suppose that's good news.

But it's not nearly good enough. Though hell hath no fury like the baseball blogosphere piling on an umpire's blown call, I still believe that no one feels worse in the aftermath than the man in blue himself. Umpires aren't going to get more calls right because they're subject to a harsher penalty; they're already putting enough pressure on themselves as it is.

And since we live in a world of 78 camera angles per game and frame-by-frame replay, there's no way for an umpire to be 100 percent accurate and escape public ridicule.

Look, the technology could easily be there to provide a safety net for the human element on the field. It came through without much lost time during A-Rod's camera home run during Game 3 of the World Series and has been streamlined in almost every other sport.

Why not let it come through in other spots that are just as crucial?

Why must this be so difficult?