Instant Replay? Some say it will ruin the integrity of Major League umpires, therefore ruing the integrity of the game and some say it will ruin the pace of the game but in today’s world maybe we need it. All we need to mention are names like Tim Donaghy and Pete Rose to bring up just a few Professional Sports controversies. The only issue isn’t integrity but even more so human error.
How many times have we seen controversial plays ruin people’s lives? 1985 “I-70 Showdown” World Series anyone? That poor umpire received death threats to himself andhis family. How many umpires require corrective vision and get away without using it because they ‘think’ they don’t really need it.
As the old saying goes maybe that is why ‘they need glasses’. With that being said, maybe this is what we love about baseball? This is why there are “Umpire Ejection Fantasy Leagues”. This is what brings excitement and entertainment to baseball. The ‘bang bang’ play shouldn’t be underestimated.
What manager or player is going to get bent out of shape over a call that they know can be figured out totally correctly via replay? Can you imagine baseball without Lou Pinella, Ozzie Guillen, and Bobby Cox’s continual rants which are often followed by ejections?
While Instant Replay may get the ‘accurate’ call, it may sacrifice something else. Who doesn’t love to see the other teams all-star get thrown out? With all that being said we already have umpire “conferences” in the middle of innings so why not get some information that could actually help them get it right.
After all, we see the right call at home anyways. If Major League Baseball goes beyond home run reviews baseball will miss out on what makes baseball Baseball. Baseball doesn’t have offensive and defensive lines hiding fumbles and ball placement.
Baseball prides itself on having umpires who are in position to make the correct calls. Hopefully we won’t take this job out of their hands, ever. Now, my question is “why did they wait so long?”
1 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Steven Resnick 10 months ago
The integrity of the game has been lost for years with boneheaded calls by umpires. In fact MLB needs to do it for more then just homeruns. They need it at close plays at any base and of course fair or foul. In fact tonight there were two blown calls in the Angels vs Rays game. Both had Chone Figgins in the middle of the play. First one was clearly missed by Crew Chief Darling and it was almost like payback for Maddon coming out and calling him out for his missed call the day before for backing up Meals when it was clear that BJ Upton never made a turn for second base. Chone Figgins hit a hard grounderd in the hole and short stop Jason Bartlett made a heck of a play to get the ball and throw a strike to first on a bounce. The ball clearly was in Carlos Pena's glove before Figgins stepped on first he should have been out.
The second call which I admit was much more of a bang bang play because of how Willie Aybar put the tag on Figgins. Vlad Guerrero is up and with one out there's runners on first and second. It's the first pitch of the at bat and both runners take off to steal 3rd and 2nd. The throw from the Rays catcher Riggans beats Figgins to the base but Aybar instead of making the tag low went a higher up on Figgins leg, but before Figgings could get his foot in Aybar made the tag but by the view the 3rd base umpire had he called Figgins safe. The first blown call didn't cost the Rays a run, but the second blown call cost the Rays the game.
If replay was avaliable the calls would have been overturned and both plays would have been called correctly. There needs to be replay in baseball and it should be a whole lot more.
Edit Comment Cancel
Leave a Comment
You must register to post a comment.