The most obvious argument, and indeed the most oft-made argument, against instant replay in baseball is that it would slow down a game that is already too slow.
And this is very much true. The average Major League Baseball game lasts right around three hours, and we're talking about a very slow three hours. Baseball is a sport that takes its time, going about its business in no real hurry. Commissioner Selig has said in numerous occasions that he wants to speed the game up, which will be very hard to do as more and more calls become subject to video review.
There are still things we can do to get the average to Home run reviews tack a few extra minutes onto the length of a game when they happen. If trapped balls, fair-or-foul calls and the like also become subject to review, it stands to reason that a given game could contain multiple replay reviews, thus slowing things down dramatically.
And indeed, one shudders to think how long a typical Yankees vs. Red Sox game would last if umpires were to stop and review more than one play. There's really no argument against the notion that expanded replay would slow the game down. It would, plain and simple. However, I will say this: Who exactly is MLB worried about alienating by slowing the game down even more? All baseball fans know the sport is slow-moving.
The fact that a lot of them keep coming back throughout the course of a game season signifies that baseball fans don't really care. This is because, well, baseball fans like baseball. They always have. It's the ones who don't like baseball who think the game moves too slow. So by slowing the game down even further by expanding replay, MLB will be alienating an audience that it doesn't already have. If the league thinks that speeding the game up is going to attract this audience, it is sorely mistaken.
Some baseball fans will cry foul when MLB expands replay, but I think most will be fine with it. An awful lot of hardcore baseball fans out there realize that MLB needs to get with the times. The fact that expanded replay would slow down an already slow game is without a doubt the easiest and most sensible argument to make. The other argument those who aren't in favor of expanded replay love to make is the one that says that bad calls are a part of the game, and always have been.
They're going to get some wrong. That's just part of it. Nobody is perfect at the end of the day. Well said. To boot, McKendry said this right after he and the Pirates got hosed on a call at home plate that resulted in a 19th-inning loss. If that doesn't ring a bell, the above link has the video. The argument that bad calls are a part of the game is essentially an attempt to perpetuate a longstanding tradition of umpires screwing up, thus screwing over one team and making themselves look bad in the process.
Let's face it, nobody wins when there are bad calls. Except the team that was lucky enough to benefit from the bad call, of course. This is not fair. And fairness is something that baseball should be hoping to achieve.
By accepting that bad calls are part of the game, baseball is effectively shunning absolute fairness. It's worth it to slow the game down to make sure fair calls are made. MLB put itself on the right track by instituting replay for home runs in , but there are still way too many unfair calls taking place in the game. The league needs to eliminate as many of those as possible. The one problem with the notion that expanded replay will lead to fair calls is that instant replay does have its limits.
Every NFL fan under the sun knows that football's instant replay system has not eliminated controversy from the sport. More often than not, replay reviews lead to the right call, and nobody is in a position to complain. But every once in a while, video replays create problems instead of solving them. Take, for example, one of the most controversial plays in the history of the NFL.
They are not only part of the game, they're of the game. You can't say that about an NFL back judge. Even though he was on the wrong end of several botched umpiring decisions Thursday evening, La Russa would rather eat green flies than endorse instant replay. For starters, it would slow a sometimes-ponderous game down to a crawl. Can you imagine how long it would have taken the replay booth to sort out Wednesday night's mess at the ALCS? And anyway, he said, the umpires generally do a wonderful job.
Seconding the motion is Garner. I can get upset with the umpires as anybody, but on balance, they do a terrific job.
Something will happen in this series -- and the one between the White Sox and Los Angeles Angels -- to test that faith. A strike will be missed. A tag will go unseen. But baseball needs instant replay like it needs another Congressional hearing. Managers screw up. Ballplayers screw up. And, on occasion, so do umpires -- even when you have a crew of six working a postseason series.
But TiVo is meant to overturn a fumble call or record Rome , not reverse a Not now. Not ever. You can contact him at gene. Skip to main content Skip to navigation. Wojciechowski: Upon further review Houston Astros. Tua helps Dolphins to win after Brissett injured. Miami Dolphins. Four players ejected after Gobert, Turner tussle.
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Galarraga was robbed of his perfect game, while Joyce was robbed of his reputation. As of , baseball had no provision for this call to be reviewed under instant replay. In the sports world, instant replay can have serious implications: It can alter the course of sports history forever.
Now take a look at the flip side. Gore, a speedster with only one hit in 16 career at-bats , was at the plate when Rockies pitcher Scott Oberg fired a fastball high and inside past his left shoulder. Gore flinched, and, after a pause, ran to first base as if he was hit by the pitch. To the naked eye, it was imperceptible whether or not the ball hit Gore. After a short delay, replay review revealed that the pitch did not hit Gore.
He was sent back to the plate and subsequently struck out, stalling any chance of a Chicago rally, and eventually ending their season. However, just a short five years ago, this bad call would never have been rectified.
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