PCP Sports

by Ethan Greenberg

Every day now it seems MLB is getting closer towards the start of instant replay, to be used on questionable home run calls. I’m ok with instant replay if it starts in April next year, but changing the rules during the season is not a good call by MLB and Bud ‘My Main Man’ Selig. In hearing what media people have to say about this, many people are in favor of the idea, but do not necessarily favor starting it either in August or September this year. One could argue that baseball has been slow to react, because many other major sports leagues have instant replay, in order to avoid making as many correct calls as possible.

If you watched Bob Costas’ most recent HBO special that aired the night after the all star game, Andy Van Slyke was asked what he thinks about instant replay. His point really caught my attention, which was him saying that it takes away from the human element, and this will eventually leading to instant replay being used for more and more types of calls. Maybe not balls and strikes, but maybe calls along the base paths or on diving catches when it’s hard to tell if the ball was caught on a hop or not. Van Slyke’s concerns are valid in more ways that one, because part of what makes baseball great is the arguments themselves, and the emotion you get from players and managers over disagreements on close calls. Who doesn’t want to see Lou Piniella throw first base, or throw a bucket of balls onto the field? It does sort of annoy some people in the stands, but most fans like to see emotion that arises from game calls, not matter how close the game is or how close the call is. So it would be nice if there were maybe some kind of contract signed, to be sure that instant replay will only be used for home run calls and never anything else. That way, Van Slyke and others who believe in the preserving of old rules will not be so hesitant and doubtful about what good will come out of instant replay.

It will be good to know that there will not longer be any incorrect calls, when a ball is hit on the foul side of the foul pole and it’s almost impossible for the umpires to judge by themselves what the correct call is. In recent years, it has been good to see more umpires discussing calls, as opposed to letting one umpire having his way without discussing it with the 3 other umpires. However, it seems like one umpire always sees it a different way than another one. If the umpires have a discussion, it should be the guy who has the best view, or if not, the guy with the most seniority who makes the call. It boggles my mind when I see a 3rd base umpire who claims to know what the right call is at first base, yet his view was just as good, if not worst than the cameraman in the third base dugout. During the playoffs, it doesn’t matter if you have 6 umpires or 16, instant replay is needed to ensure that a ball down the line is correctly called, or a ball that hits above that yellow line is above it and not below it.

So big Bud or big Alan, whatever your real name is, try to make the right call here and make it clear that it will only be for home run calls. Pretty soon the only thing an umpire will be good for is mowing my lawn and determining the correct boundary between my yard and my neighbor’s yard. Umpires are there for a reason- don’t let a machine do everything for them.