Instant replay in Major League Baseball...what are your thoughts?

[TheItallianStallion]

Any arguments for or against? What will happen if replay stays the same? What will happen in Selig decides to use it more (plays at the plate, fair/foul/, balls/strikes etc..) How will it change the job of an umpire? Will it be better for the game of baseball or will it wreck the moral fabric of the sport?

Go crazy...write whatever you want i need to show both sides of the argument...if i can get views of the issue from people other than an ESPN analyst, it would be great because it seems like all i'm getting now are biased opinions

 

[Leafer]

In this day and age...there's a separation between the business of sport and romantic notion of the variables of a bunch of men playing a boy's game...with all the money in "the game" it's a consumer-driven machine that relies every bit as much on the fan as it does the player..or the umpire...and for the money we shell out as fans...we collectively have a right to expect them to "get it right".

And...to the chagrin of the above poster- I will bring up Armando Gallaraga's perfect game as an example...these things aren't anomalies..rather a symptom of a culture in pro baseball that hasn't evolved in the last century."Pro Baseball" (as an entity) has - frequently in a rather defiant manner at times snubbed it's nose at everyone from top to bottom...from the courts to the fans.In the Chicago Black Sox scandal in 1919 that saw Shoeless Joe Jackson (and others)banned for life,while one can find articles online that speaks to the guilt one way or the other of the individuals involved,baseball commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis banned the eight players implicated for life,in spite of them being absolved of wrongdoing in a court of law(try and pull that one today).With this,baseball elevated itself in essence to being "above the law"-internally having this "God-like" power .

So yeah-you're thinking "WTF's this got to do with instant replay......bear with me...

The obvious conclusion is the culture in pro baseball is "I'm always right" that trickles down to the umpires as part of a bigger picture.MLB's resistance to letting "outside forces" (including fan pressure) has been shaken in the past...The investigations into collusion by the owners in the 80's over free agency was probably the first...then in this decade came the steroid scandal- MLB was approached by government about drug use-they essentially did what they've traditionally done; put their hands over their ears and went "NANANANA -- I can't hear youuuuuuu"- well...that didn't float...and the subsequent investigation and Mitchell report put a black mark on baseball history that will never be erased.

In the wake of Gallaraga's "non" perfect game a lot of baseball media types (including those at ESPN as I recall) said Bud Selig did the right thing by not overturning the call stating that "It was most important to protect the integrity of the game"..ummmmmm O.K -I'm not a language professor by any means-but I was always under the impression that having integrity meant having the balls to stand up and right wrongs,to be able to admit you were wrong,and to have the guts to make it right in the end.Even after the steroid scandal baseball hasn't gotten there yet.

The problem is a lot of fans buy into the romantic notion - that any questioning of anything decided in the moment would lead to the total meltdown of the game,it's history and it's future.Baseball can afford to replay certain calls beyond "fair or foul" home runs.The bottom line is the umps aren't getting it right-remember Roys Halladay's non bunt in the NLCS that was called fair?Or the ball that clearly hit Nick Swisher and went between Benji Molina's legs allowing A-Rod to score easily.I don't think "faking a hit by pitch" ala Jeter is part of the game as the poster above states...In the NHL you get a penalty for diving for faking a trip.(kudos to them for that)

I would never advocate replay for balls and strikes-different umpires have different strike zones-good pitchers adapt...however close plays around the bases could be reviewed...and some plays on the infield-a team could be grated the right to question 1 or 2 calls a game...I'm not a fan of the game being held up either-as it is the fair/foul calls take way to long...The NHL has a "war room" in Toronto that monitors every game with experienced officials and they have a feed from every camera angle,,,the minute they see a call that could be controversial they start reviewing it - and usually by the time the referees ask them for help they know the answer...The idea of the umpires running off the field to a concourse to look at the play over is stupid,needless and a waste of time.I'm sure MLB has the money and resources to implement a similar system.

 

[mmimmtmimmm]

What will happen if replay stays the same?

Much of the same that we're having now. Missed calls that could easily be made correctly with the addition of instant replay.



What will happen is Selig decides to use it more?

More correct calls will be made. Easy as that. Sure, people will argue human element, but I'd prefer to have the correct calls. As far as balls and strikes go, I'd personally like to see pitchtrax used. People tell me "well, then there's no point in having a home plate umpire."
Wrong. Use pitch trax for the close calls and your brain for the more obvious ones. Or something. You have the technology to get the calls right, why not use it? Hunter Wendelstedt missed 31 ball/strike calls in a game. That's just ridiculous.

I think if this is to be done, they need to have another umpire somewhere reviewing everything. That way, if a call is to be "challenged", it won't take very long.

 

[Heather1]

I think there should be a limit to what they can watch on an instant replay. Stealing bases, whether a fly ball or line drive was caught, or being hit by a pitch shouldn't be reviewed. on the other hand, if a homerun may been foul or fair then yes review it, or if your an umpire and u screw up a call to mess up someones perfect game (armando galarraga, detroit tigers) then that also should be reviewed. in a nut shell, if a bad call is going to drastically change the outcome of a game, review it. if not then leave it alone. the umpires are human and will make mistakes, they don't need every call to be reviewed by instant replay. it will make the game even longer than it already is.

 

[EvilMonkey]

i was against it at first, but after seeing how many blown calls their were per game its time to take the human error element out. i've heard " i saw what i saw" enough, now its time for them to go look at a monitor and see that that they clearly got it wrong. Ive also grown tired of each ump having their own strike zone

 

[Heather1]

I think there should be a limit to what they can watch on an instant replay. Stealing bases, whether a fly ball or line drive was caught, or being hit by a pitch shouldn't be reviewed. on the other hand, if a homerun may been foul or fair then yes review it, or if your an umpire and u screw up a call to mess up someones perfect game (armando galarraga, detroit tigers) then that also should be reviewed. in a nut shell, if a bad call is going to drastically change the outcome of a game, review it. if not then leave it alone. the umpires are human and will make mistakes, they don't need every call to be reviewed by instant replay. it will make the game even longer than it already is.

 

[Jess]

I'm for it
For more than just looking at homeruns... the more the umpires do it the quicker the whole procedure will become and then the game will be more accurate
and players who are lying about catching a ball or bring safe or getting hit by a pitch wont be able to get away with it

 

[Warrholm]

Too much emphasis is placed on "getting it right". When the players are perfect, then you can expect the umps to be perfect. It's a complex game, and part of the beauty of the sport are playing around the grey edges. (faking HBP, stealing pitches 1/2 inch outside the zone, etc. . .)

For all the hoopla - there hasn't been a single call that I can remember which actually "cost" the game. There were always subsequent events and opportunities for both sides to overcome the bad call. Grow up, get over it and play the game. It's what I tell the kids I coach, it's what I expect from grown men playing a game.

And don't pull out the Gallaraga "perfect game" - perfect games are a statistical anomaly, and has no significance other than personal pride.

 

[Budde#22]

if you really look at all the calls an umpire must make in a game, they make over 95% of the calls correct. baseball is awesome because the players are great and so is the history of the game. the players like Cobb and Babe Ruth hit all their hits regardless of the umpires possibly taking away one or two hits a season because of human error. Pujols will lose credit if he gets 2 homers a season saved by replay. i know it seems dumb, but people will still complain.

 

[sarrafzedehkhoee]

Stupid idea. Even the cameras can't tell for sure quite a few times. Why is it important that a human activity is judged by technology? It makes some sense in the NFL where 8 officials have to watch 22 guys all at once, and see how little they use it. If technology is the ump, why not the players, too, then? No more $20M tantrums, no more injuries, cheaper games, and terribly accurate accounting. For all that it is worth.