MLB Instant Replay: Is it time?

[Thump]

After seeing the high profile umpiring errors this post season, do you baseball fans out there think it's time to implement some type of instant replay in baseball?

I'm straddling the fence on this one, I see both sides of the issue, I'm a baseball purist who thinks human error is part of the game and it usually evens out but I also see where if we have the opportunity to get it right then we owe it to the players and fans.

I'm really anxious to hear JonathanXC's view on this being he's an accomplished umpire.

Would umps feel that they are being shown up if a replay proves them wrong?

I do have to say, and maybe JonathanXC disagrees, but it seems as if some of the umpires as of late enjoy baiting managers and players into arguments almost as if they want to be the center of attention.

I know there were past umps like Ron Luciano that were the same way but it seems as if it's getting more prevalent but maybe that's just due to the increased media coverage of baseball in the past 15 years.

Anxious to hear some opinions on this.

 

[Bucktastic]

I would have to say, maybe.....but only for certain plays (foul pole issues, maybe hit batsman).....but definately not for balls and strikes. That "crapzone" thing they have behind some homeplates are ridiculous, IMO.

Tough call though.

 

[LoKyBuckeye]

MLB needs to speed up the game... adding replay would slow it down even more. Just because the technology is there doesn't mean it has to be used... IMHO.

 

[BB73]

Holy Don Denkinger, Batman!

I agree that replay would slow down baseball too much. If they ever do it, it should be only for plays that don't involve the batter, and it should be done from the booth, not allowing any managers to initiate it.

But can you imagine if Jeffrey Maier has caught that ball with 2 outs in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the World Series?

 

[Brutus1]

Yes. For plays at the plate, foul pole issues and plays at the bases.

 

[Golferdow01]

It's a good idea, but I don't think there are enough questionable calls in the MLB that warrant the use. It could start getting way overused as well with called strikes and balls and such. I also agree the game is slow enough that integrating that could make it painful.

 

[JXC]

My question is...if you used replay? How and when would you use it? Would it be before the next pitch? Also...like today's call, that was called a Home Run by Angel Hernandez, but replay showed it was not a homerun...what do you do? The ball should have been ruled in play, but it was ruled a home run? There is no way to tell what base the runner would have ended up on had the umpire not ruled home run. Would this cause umpires to rule that the ball is still in play, and then rely on replay more often. I am of course against all forms of baseball replay. I'm agianst replay in football too, because it is manipulated. Teams call time outs, while other teams hurry up and spike the ball. That's BS. Also, some things are reviewable and some aren't. That's not really that fair. What if one mistake is overturned and helps team A, yet another mistake that unfairly hurt team B, can't be overturned, so team A again benefits. Whereas if there was no replay at all. the errors would have evened themselves out. Baseball is fair as it is right now. I don't see a big problem. Baseball is fine the way it is.

 

[Sloopy45]

I don't think replay is an option in baseball. I do think baseball can improve the umpiring in two ways:

1. Run continuous evaluations & can the guys who fail. For example, Joe West is an ump with a reputation for carrying vendettas to the field. He absolutely butchered the Yanks-Angels series (not making excuses for the Yanks, we would've lost anyway), and most of it stemmed from a grudge against Robinson Cano. He had two complete b.s. calls against Robbie, and there's no place for that, especially in the Playoffs.

2. Umpire calls should be a group decision at some times, and they defer too much to the ump who originally made the call, even though he might have been out of position. Back to the Joe West/Robbie Cano example: West called Robbie out in a crucial Inning for supposedly running out of the baseline going down to 1B. West couldn't even see the play. He was essentially in the on deck circle. Looking at the replay, you could see that Robbie was straddling the line, and it was the 1B Erstad who was out of position, failing to be at the 2B side of 1st to catch the throw. No one stepped up to overrule West on a b.s. call. Overrulings of incorrect calls should be encouraged.

 

[AmeriBuck007]

My question is...if you used replay? How and when would you use it? Would it be before the next pitch? Also...like today's call, that was called a Home Run by Angel Hernandez, but replay showed it was not a homerun...what do you do? The ball should have been ruled in play, but it was ruled a home run? There is no way to tell what base the runner would have ended up on had the umpire not ruled home run. Would this cause umpires to rule that the ball is still in play, and then rely on replay more often. I am of course against all forms of baseball replay. I'm agianst replay in football too, because it is manipulated. Teams call time outs, while other teams hurry up and spike the ball. That's BS. Also, some things are reviewable and some aren't. That's not really that fair. What if one mistake is overturned and helps team A, yet another mistake that unfairly hurt team B, can't be overturned, so team A again benefits. Whereas if there was no replay at all. the errors would have evened themselves out. Baseball is fair as it is right now. I don't see a big problem. Baseball is fine the way it is.

Good point didn't think of it like that. When in reality there are very few games that are decided on poor calls, I dont think it needs to be implemented. But I think somewhere 10 years or so down the road we will see it.

 

[WoodyWorshiper]

NO NO NO Replay in Baseball EVER!!!!!

And BTW BB73, that little pecker-head Maier didn't "catch" the ball.
He muffed it like the little bitch that he was,

 

[Oh8ch]

Slow down baseball? Great idea. I can hardly keep up.

On the other hand, if that little overaly that Fox has showing the strike zone is accurate let's call balls and strikes electronically.

 

[BuckeyeNation27]

I'm all for MLB replay. Let's replay this whole season again next year

 

[Jake]

Just saw another example of why it still isn't used enough. The Braves got a double play based on a catch that was in no way a catch. The ball bounced out of McLouth's glove, skipped on the ground twice, then he picked it up. None of the umpires saw the ball on the ground, and after a conference they called it a catch.

I don't want to hear about speed of the game, either. They could've got this call right quicker than they got it wrong. Every fan in the outfield and watching on TV knows it wasn't a catch. The umps are pretty much the only ones who couldn't see it.

 

[Jake]

Just saw another example of why it still isn't used enough. The Braves got a double play based on a catch that was in no way a catch. The ball bounced out of McLouth's glove, skipped on the ground twice, then he picked it up. None of the umpires saw the ball on the ground, and after a conference they called it a catch.

I don't want to hear about speed of the game, either. They could've got this call right quicker than they got it wrong. Every fan in the outfield and watching on TV knows it wasn't a catch. The umps are pretty much the only ones who couldn't see it.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqx-xZoGJhQ]YouTube - Chicago Cubs at Atlanta Braves 4/5/2010 Umpires Make Terrible Blown Call Opening Day MLB 2010[/ame]

 

[TheRob8801]

Just saw another example of why it still isn't used enough. The Braves got a double play based on a catch that was in no way a catch. The ball bounced out of McLouth's glove, skipped on the ground twice, then he picked it up. None of the umpires saw the ball on the ground, and after a conference they called it a catch.

I don't want to hear about speed of the game, either. They could've got this call right quicker than they got it wrong. Every fan in the outfield and watching on TV knows it wasn't a catch. The umps are pretty much the only ones who couldn't see it.

To be entirely fair, I don't think most people saw the drop until the replay was shown...on the fly, in real time, it looked like a diving catch...but that's the point. If the umps had a crew in a booth somewhere, just like football, to review that play, they would've had it right in a matter of seconds, rather than the 6-8 minutes it took them to huddle up and talk it over and get it wrong.

If the league got together to set some ground rules on what can and can't be reviewed (just like football) then I see no reason why it couldn't AND shouldn't be implemented.

I don't think the vast majority of fans would be against it. I also don't see anyone complaining that things like balls & strikes aren't reviewed, because we know that those are judgement calls based upon a vague rule...but things like outs, catches, fair/foul, home-runs...those are things that are very black/white that I would assume most fans would agree they'd like to see gotten right every possible time.