Two Guys Sports
Bruce Bostwicktime for instant replay
May 26th 2008 06:21
The continuing trend of bad calls in Major League Baseball has made the sport take a closer look at utilizing instant replay. Rightfully so. The simple fact is that instant reply in baseball will be a reality. It’s no longer a question of if, it’s a question of when.
There are some legitimate concerns with the use of instant replay in baseball, the main one being what the scope will be. In other words, will everything in baseball be reviewable? Home run or foul ball? Safe or out at first? Ball or strike? Obviously, there has to be a line drawn at some point and that will be the most negotiated issue when replay is finally put into play. I think it’s best to use replay mainly to double check home runs or potential home runs at first, and possibly double check to see if a catch was actually made or the ball trapped.
Other issues would definitely need to be handled carefully. For example, if you have a situation where there are runners on first and second with two out and the batter singles to center. Runner on second comes around and goes for home. Right fielder throws the ball in and nails the runner at the plate for the third out. Only problem is, replay showed he didn’t. That’s fine, score the run. But what about the other two runners? Where were they? Was the catcher ready to make a play on one of them if the lead runner is safe? If you send the runners to first and second is that fair to them if they were on the way to the next base? If you award them the next base id that fair to the defensive team who assumed they were out of the inning?
But how about the bigger picture here. Recent events may have called for instant replay, but how can there be so many blown calls in such a short span? The bigger issue is that baseball needs to stop treating umpires like sacred cows. These guys seemingly have better job security than the supreme court justices. Once you make it, you’re set. Why?
Granted, most of these guys are the superb and they will get a heck of a lot more calls right than they will wrong. Let’s face it even on the home run issue, remember an umpire is making that call on a small ball from about 150 feet away or more. A football referee gets to stand right under the goal post (one on each side even) to determine if a larger ball goes through the uprights or not for a field goal. But still they get some wrong. Every year the best umpires are supposedly rewarded with playoff games. What about the worst? They still keep their jobs.
I seriously think it’s time the umpires were put on a sort of system similar to the European relegation soccer system. Succeed, you stay or move up. Don’t and you drop. Have a certain number (say the bottom 10-15) who move down to Triple A and any others who fall below a certain spot on a grading scale. If the umpires are doing their job, they have nothing to fear with this system, or instant replay.
There are some legitimate concerns with the use of instant replay in baseball, the main one being what the scope will be. In other words, will everything in baseball be reviewable? Home run or foul ball? Safe or out at first? Ball or strike? Obviously, there has to be a line drawn at some point and that will be the most negotiated issue when replay is finally put into play. I think it’s best to use replay mainly to double check home runs or potential home runs at first, and possibly double check to see if a catch was actually made or the ball trapped.
Maybe instant replay in baseball wouldn't be an issue if the umpires had to be more accountable and did their jobs better
Granted, most of these guys are the superb and they will get a heck of a lot more calls right than they will wrong. Let’s face it even on the home run issue, remember an umpire is making that call on a small ball from about 150 feet away or more. A football referee gets to stand right under the goal post (one on each side even) to determine if a larger ball goes through the uprights or not for a field goal. But still they get some wrong. Every year the best umpires are supposedly rewarded with playoff games. What about the worst? They still keep their jobs.
I seriously think it’s time the umpires were put on a sort of system similar to the European relegation soccer system. Succeed, you stay or move up. Don’t and you drop. Have a certain number (say the bottom 10-15) who move down to Triple A and any others who fall below a certain spot on a grading scale. If the umpires are doing their job, they have nothing to fear with this system, or instant replay.
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