Major League Baseball Reportedly Will Test Advanced Replay During Games

Those fans hoping for a massive overhaul of Major League Baseball's replay system may finally get their wish for the 2013 season.

According to Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports, MLB owners have approved the use of two new replay systems set for a trial run next week in both Yankee Stadium and Citi Field in New York.

The systems, one radar-based and another camera-based, are reportedly "similar" to the one tennis uses to judge close calls.

With the current MLB replay system mainly used for home run calls at this point, the expanded replay systems could enable commissioner Bud Selig, who hasn't always been the biggest replay proponent, to expand into fair/foul and safe/out calls without stretching the game's length too far.

The initial testing, however, will mainly be focused on ensuring the accuracy of these systems.

Via Yahoo! Sports:

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The use of the systems will be strictly in the background and for analysis. Because the number of questionable plays during games is likely to be limited, MLB plans to do extra testing on non-game days. Before implementing the technology in its 30 ballparks, the league wants to make sure its accuracy is up to standard.

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Though many owners are skeptical about the practicality and cost of these new systems (Yahoo! reports that it will cost between $30 million and $40 million to implement), their willingness to look into the possibility is huge.

Baseball has long been a sport steeped in traditional values, and for a long time its stance on replay was no different.

Though the United States' three other major professional sports leagues (NFL, NBA, NHL) all have had replay for at least a decade, it took Major League Baseball until 2008 to adopt its first replay system.

That system has taken a beating in recent years as being archaic because it doesn't allow for judgement calls to be reviewed.

But if these new systems test well enough to justify the cost, we could be looking at a revolutionary step for Major League Baseball.

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