FanNation - The Republic of Sport

With all the events that occurred in the game of baseball this week, three stand out and have struck up the debate of Instant Replay in Major League Baseball.  These three began on Sunday Night with Carlos Delgado's  home run that was ruled a foul ball, followed up on Monday when Geovany Soto's home run was ruled a live ball and closed out on Wednesday when Alex Rodriguez's home run was ruled a live ball. Thank goodness that none of these plays actually effected the outcome of the game, as all three were won handily by the wronged team, but it does raise the question of instant replay, if we have the technology why not use it?

This got me thinking as to the pros and cons of instant replay and how it would effect the game. 

For one thing the baseball traditionalist is going to say that this is how the game is played, human error has been a part of it for 130+ years, be it from the players or the umpires.  That is a reasonable argument, but in the case of Carlos Delgado's home run it was originally ruled a home run by the third base umpire who was then overruled by the home plate umpire, perhaps if they could had a dispute they could have consulted a replay official.

Another argument against instant replay is by the casual fan, and that is that baseball games are too long already.  This is a legitimate gripe and games have continued to lengthen throughout the years and the average baseball game now lasts some three hours.  The argument simply implies that we need to find an unobtrusive way of getting a quick replay decision that doesn't slow the game down.

An argument for instant replay includes the possibility that what if one of these plays is involved in deciding the game, or better yet a play-off game?  Well then I think that both sides would want the call to be correct.  Not just for the team that benefits, but also so that the other team would not be questioned on into history.

People also seem to be arguing that if we have the technology to get the calls right, why doesn't baseball come into the 21st century and get it done.  Although ideal this isn't the most practical route as we would need to review almost every pitch to insure perfection and this would lengthen the game into an all day cricket-type affair. 

Also baseball's umpires are one of the most strong headed groups of officiating in the sports world.  This may be because of the decades of arguing with managers and players that they feel if they are questioned they must stick to their guns.  Therefore they would probably be against instant replay as it allows them to be questioned and if wrong, might make them look bad or give a manager some artillery for their next run in.

After considering all this I believe that baseball should implement instant replay on a limited basis.  We can't review every pitch as it would take forever and basically make the umpire simply a guy in the playing field without much to do.    I tend to agree with the traditionalists that human error, including by the umpires, is part of the game to a point.  Sometimes they will make the wrong call on a close play on the base path, but that's okay, that's how the game is played.  But when deciding if a ball did indeed clear the fences, then I think that replay should be allowed.

So in order to hopefully please everyone a little and not take too much from the game, I propose that instant replay be implemented, for now, only in the reviewing of home runs.  Was it fair, was it foul, did it go over the fence or didn't it?  All other things being left to the call on the field.