Instant Replay: Yea or Nay?

The games can run a bit too long already and, to be totally honest, sometime I need a scapegoat and umpires make a great scapegoat. Replay would make me have to own up to the fact that the team I wished to win simply played like sh*t and the umps really weren’t to blame. And that’s no fun.

earlier in the year happened to the other team, I would be very angry.

(where was that? Philadelphia?)

I vote yea for HR, and possibly for other calls where the umpire is a long way away (fair/foul calls, etc.). I might also include plays at the plate, which like HR calls directly affect the score. I’m sure the Padres would have liked that to be the cast in game 163 last year.

Home runs, fair foul, and fan interference. I don’t want it to get to the point that safe/out calls on the bases or ball/strike calls can be disputed.

If it is done right, with some sort of replay official up in the booth, using replay to get a call right can actually save time. Getting a replay only takes a few seconds – having a group of umps get together to confer, then having both managers waddle out to argue… can take 10-12 minutes.

anything else takes away from the the human judgement element of the umpires. I was always against instant replay, but if they had to implement some form, just limit it to HRs.

games at times drag on a whole already. although i want the right call games need not get any longer. heres what i propose start fining and suspending umps say after 3 blown calls or something. theres always gonna be human error but i have studied these umps and many times i’m seeing laziness on their part. their not hustling to get in position and not paying attention to detail near enough. when a player/manager calls them on it they make themselves the star of the show and ring them up etc.

for a number of years now.

That call on a HR hugging the foul pole has been made incorrectly several times throughout the course of any season. I absolutely see no reason why the umps can’t take a look at it to get it right. The ball is either a HR, or foul. It does not interfere with any baserunning or “momentum” type of play. It’s a dead ball anyway.

And, this circumstance happens so infrequently, that it would not compromise overall gametime.

neigh

I would like to see out/safe calls, fair/foul calls, and fan interference calls to be reviewable. Each team should only get 1 call to challenge per game. You better think you have a legitimate case, if you challenge a call. There should be conclusive evidence to overturn a call. That means 2 calls maximum would be challenged during a game. I don’t think that’s excessive. Yes, this would require hiring an additional 5th umpire to review the calls.

...for Hr and Fair/Foul. It might become a time drag to include Out/Safe.

Meant to include- for HRs and Fair/Foul, but might be a time drag to include Out/Safe.

but only if it’s an “instant” replay that can be seen by viewing the footage within a short set time (for example, 30-45 seconds). If an official has to rock the tape back and forth a few dozen times over 2-3 minutes, then it’s inconclusive and the call on the field stands. Some calls are obvious at second glance (and in slow motion).

Obviously, the official call must be made before the next pitch, even if footage from an outside source clearly reveals otherwise minutes later.

Not that there are many, but will umpire conferences be a thing of the past with instant replay? I assume in every situation, only one umpire assumes responsibility of calling hit balls fair or foul and watches all fly balls.

In the recent Delgado HR-turned-foul-ball case, third-base umpire Mike Reilly ruled Delgado’s fly ball down the left-field line a three-run home run but was overruled by home plate umpire Bob Davidson, who called the ball foul after a brief meeting of all the umpires.

BTW, Davidson readily admitted his mistake to reporters after the game.

I am against challenges. Off the top of my head, I can see managers using bogus challenges to warm up a pitcher in the bullpen or stall the momentum of the game. Plus, what would be the penalty for lost challenges? Can’t add or subtract an out . The baseball purists would go nuts.

Formula a set of rules just like the NHL did for goals.

Instant replay was brought into Rugby a few years ago and has really hurt the game.
The burst of excitiement as you see the ref call try given has gone and has been replaced by an awful murmuring and shuffling of feet while the crowd waits for the decision,,,,,and now you still have just as many “controversial” decisions made cos the guy watching the replay has to decide from the pictures he’s been given…not always the best angle etc.
I’d support replay for home run calls but nothing else…..It would rob the game of an essential dynamic….watch the play…eyes flick to the umpire….OUT
You blind #^%$

Baseball umpires do an excellent job at their craft. The wrong call sometimes happens, but I’m a big believer in these things evening out. Add instant replay and I guarantee you alienate and piss off major league umpires. It’s not worth it. So what if a blown call happens every now and then.

I wish the Nintendo geeks would leave the fu*k alone major league baseball. This is not a game of robots and computer programs.

Lets have instant replay on all calls,balls and strikes also,and make beer two dollars a cup!

So next we let ESPN call balls and strikes with their little box? Let the AL have instant replay to go along with the DH. Baseball doesn’t need to be tweaked, it is a game played and officiated by humans. Lets leave it that way. The DH is bad enough. I doubt that Instant Replay will do anything but lengthen games anyway. Look at how it has screwed up the continuity of the NFL.

However, in this scenario, the big Holliday play-at-the-plate last year would not have been reviewed. So what do you think about this:

Reviews are available only a) on Home Runs and b) any run-scoring play taking place in the 6th (or 7th?) inning on, until the game is completed. You might also want to add a caveat to B: Replay is available only if the deficit between the competitors is 5 runs or less at the beginning of the play. (My aim there is to avoid reviewing a play at the plate in a 15-3 game that really isn’t going to make much difference to the outcome.)

Thoughts?

makes life fun, eh?