This column isn’t stupid enough to second-guess the astronomical umpires at the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service, but the decision by that agency to stretch Tuesday by one second — a leap second, if you will — commands some of our famously unscientific scrutiny.
For one thing, if we’re going to get an extra second, why can’t it be added to a Friday night?
An extra second of Tuesday is strictly punitive. It’s mean-spirited.
For another, if you’re going to cite a gradual slowing of the earth’s rotation as the impetus for putting a second back on the clock, you should at least name the thing that is causing a gradual slowing of the earth’s rotation, which, as we all know, is replay in baseball.