Instant replay in baseball has never seemed like a serious concern until this year. It's been discussed, sure, but never has it come so close to overruning baseball's collective consciousness. But it's there. I've yet to read a solid argument against instant replay; agreement is nearly universal. I think Malcolm Gladwell would call that a Blinking Point. MLB is wasting no time in responding. After discussing and testing instant replay in the minor leagues, the league is set to begin using replay on home run boundary calls as early as August 1. Baseball spokesmen Rich Levin says "nothing has been decided." Whether the date's right or not, the decision sounds pretty, um, decided. There will be replay in baseball.
More surprising than the conclusion here is the speed with which it's been reached. August 1? Are people that anxious to start reviewing calls? Does Bud Selig see this as that big of a deal? Because there was this thing called steroids ... it was a big problem. Pretty much ruined the integrity of the game for over a decade. Like, Congress got involved. Things got ugly. And through all that, baseball never seemed even remotely as interested as they are about the occasional incorrect home run call. Funny how that works out.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-13-2008 @ 4:36PM
Julian said...
It's about time!Taking a few minutes to decide a difficult call can make all the difference between winning and losing. While all reviews will not satisfy every fan,especially home fans,they will satisfy the majority of fans. With today's technology, most reviewed calls should be correct.
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6-14-2008 @ 12:19AM
KingGreat said...
Implementing it before (and for) the playoffs. Stop making a mountain out of a molehill, and reporting like this is monumental- my eyes can't take all the rolling.
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6-14-2008 @ 12:21AM
George B Vieto said...
It is about time that baseball left the Flinstones era. And is about to use instant replay just like the other major sports leagues.
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6-14-2008 @ 11:41AM
KidA said...
When are you going to drop the steroids thing? Bud was fighting for testing for 10 years before former players started coming out and admitting to have been taking them. That's what started the ball rolling. If there's no hope of changing something, what's the point of constantly beating your head against it?
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6-14-2008 @ 12:50PM
Rockiesfan said...
This is the dumbest thing that baseball has ever done...steroids, instant replay, sponsorship...its all stupid and should not be in the great sport of baseball...It has always been what ever the umpire calls he calls...it should never change...This is a game that should be played like they did 100 years ago...Just play the game...like little kids would in a park or like how our grandfathers would have played years ago...it should stay the same forever but with instant replay it will have ruined that.
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6-15-2008 @ 12:34AM
JGENDOESJR said...
WAS THIS THING CALLED STERIODS? SHOULD BE, STILL HAVING A PROBLEM WITH STERIODS.
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6-15-2008 @ 9:15AM
Former sailor said...
Okay, everybody - listen verrrrry closely:........NO INSTANT REPLAY FOR BASEBALL!!!!!.....GOT IT?
One of the reasons that Baseball is the most wonderful sport in the world is the Human Factor: The umps get well over 99% of the calls right, and "we don't need no stinkin' machine" to call the few that they miss. Instant Replay would be one step closer to having machines play the game, or, even worse, to having offensive and defensive teams, like football (once advocated by Howard Cosell)! It's bad enough that we use a designated hitter, depriving American League players and their fans from rejoicing over double switches and watching pitchers win their own games with their bats!
It's even worse that we stole the Wild Card from the NHL, allowing second-rate teams who happen to be on a roll to enter the post-season, and even Win It All (I'm a Red Sox fan, and I still feel that way!)! Bad calls have much more right to be in Baseball than either the DH or the WC - they're just a part of this human game! And to even suggest that umpires might occasionally make intentional bad calls just to balance out previous bad calls - I don't know where you got that idea, but......welllll.....you might be right.....but that's still part of the human element, so LEAVE IT ALONE!
What we DO need to do with the umpires is: (A.) Make them all read, until they fully understand it, the rule that defines the strike zone, then monitor them to make sure they are using it, and (B.) Make them stop being overly confrontational (as suffered by Roberto Alomar and Milton Bradley), and hand out some more suspensions to those (umpires) who think The Game revolves around them! Punish them when they overstep their bounds, but remember: they are almost ALWAYS right!
May God Bless America, and may He protect The National Pastime!
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