DOWN THE LINE

Hit or error? The question is resolved by the official scorer, who sits in the press box, reviews the television replay and makes the call. The whole thing takes maybe a minute.

Home run or not? That question ought to be resolved the same way. Umpires would ask for help, and the official scorer would make the call. The fear that instant replay on home runs would significantly prolong games is silly.

If the umpires aren’t sure whether a ball hit above or below a boundary line on the outfield fence, or if a ball passed inside or outside the foul pole, they could get the benefit of instant replay and make the correct call.

It’s outta here . . . or maybe not

Instant replay became a hot topic again last week, after several incorrect calls on national television, and baseball officials indicated they might try a pilot replay program in the Arizona Fall League.

Why wait? The official scorers already are employed by the commissioner’s office, and the TV monitors already are installed in the press box. Let’s get this replay started.

He wouldn’t trust the official scorer

Turns out Orlando Cabrera has two jobs: shortstop, and Gold Glove campaign manager.

Cabrera shot back at his boss last week, after Chicago White Sox Manager Ozzie Guillen criticized him for twice calling the official scorer during a game to complain about being charged with an error.

“If it happens again, I will call again,” Cabrera told the Chicago Tribune. “I don’t have to do it with other teams because they always had my back.”

Cabrera won a Gold Glove with the Angels last season, so he must have been happy in Anaheim, right? Well, no.

He told the Riverside Press-Enterprise in 2006 that Angels coaches often called the official scorer on his behalf, although spokesman Tim Mead said the press box got nothing more than an occasional call.

Perhaps the Angels coaches just humored Cabrera. After all, when he told the Press-Enterprise that Angel Stadium had “the dumbest scorekeepers in the American League,” he had as many errors on the road as he did at home.

A win-win situation for two budding stars

If the good trades are the ones that work out for both teams, this one from last winter might be one of the best trades of all time.

To the Texas Rangers: Outfielder Josh Hamilton, who leads the majors with 61 runs batted in. He’s batting hitting .326 with 14 home runs, tied for the AL lead.

To the Cincinnati Reds: Pitcher Edinson Volquez, who leads the majors with a 1.46 ERA. The Reds are 9-2 in his starts, 18-27 in all other games.

Hamilton is 27. Volquez is 24. They could be good to go, and go, and go.

The last time players traded for each other each appeared in the next All-Star game, according to STATS LLC: Carlos Lee of the Milwaukee Brewers and Scott Podsednik of the Chicago White Sox, in 2005.

Rays of hope, daze of delays

The Rays have the best record in the AL, and there’s another arm on the way: David Price, the top pick in last year’s draft, beat Pedro Martinez in a Class-A start last week. The left-handed Price could help the Rays this season. . . . The commissioner’s office can speed up the game a bit by telling umpires to keep pitchers atop the mound and batters in the box, but Bud Selig might be powerless to tell the Boston Red Sox how to hit. The Seattle Mariners shut out the Sox on two hits last week -- and needed 138 pitches to do it. Of the 34 Boston batters, 27 did not swing at the first pitch, including the first 11.

-- Bill Shaikin