Does MLB need instant replay?

2009-03-20T01:04:09-04:00

2008-05-28T12:12:40-04:00

2008-09-10T06:39:49-04:00

2008-06-03T19:41:58-04:00

jayboy66

Valencia 351146

Interesting BoSox_Purist - That is the extreme reaction that people tend toward. They haven't used it in other parts in other games because they know there are certain areas you don't cross. Basketball - Is only used to make sure right amount of time is on the clock. Did the shot get off before the lights go off? Foot on 3 point line, never in or out. Football - Never used to overturn a penalty, and will not overturn a quick whistle on the field - that always stands. Hockey - Did the puck cross the line? Did the nets come off the mooring before the puck crossed the line? Did the puck cross the line before time ran out? Never used to see if someone is in the crease when the goal is scored - never to be touched. So why can't baseball limit it only to issues with the home run fence. They can and they should. 1897213

2008-05-29T17:54:49-04:00

BoSox_Purist

Rancho Palos Verdes 434248

Jayboy66 - Are you kidding me? What world do you live in that you think you will be able to use replay for one part of the game and not another? Sooner or later the "perfectionists" who have to always have the absolute right answer will come back and ask for it to be used for calls on the bases as well. There is a purity to the game that exists with live umpires just as it does with the players on the field making errors. Sure we wish it didn't happen, but it does. It is an imperfect world. This is the same line of thinking that will kill college football. They don't need a playoff system to crown a king. This discussion has been the best possible marketing they could ever have, but if they actually put in a playoff, this game will become less than what it is today. I really hope yu are just a fan and not really an umpire looking for someone else to help you do your job. Personally, watching a baseball game is slow enough without an "every-inning" stretch due to waiting around for a replay... 1862201

2008-05-29T11:00:20-04:00

Mike Jarman

Blairs 434107

We need the instant replay. Games should not be decided by errant calls, players should not be judged by records when the call was missed. Replay will reduce arguments and ejections. By all means, let's get it right. 1857148

2008-05-29T10:43:54-04:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/191/078/thumb/avatar.jpg 94 MN

zeiss

Saint Paul 191378

here is the only reason i can think of for not implementing this, or at least doing a trial run for the logistics - will this become like football where the umps call every HR "in play" just in case they are wrong? like a whistle in football, if you call a HR, the play is over. so will umps keep the play alive, knowing that a live play can be overturned, but a dead play can't? what happens when an ump signals HR, the baserunners all casually jog, and then replay determines the ball never cleared the line? do players need to sprint out every signaled HR, just in case it gets overturned later? the author claims this will be speedy and "real-time" but even immediately-after-the-play is still too late. the runners need a final decision, *while the play is alive*. otherwise, i'm all for it. 1856815

2008-05-29T09:58:49-04:00

gvaught78

Indianapolis 434087

Part of what makes baseball a fun game to watch is being able to argue with your tv over bulls**t calls. Replay would just taint the game further (thanks PEDs!) and put off casual fans who think the game is too slow. Can you imagine what replay would do to the pace of the game? If they do it, they have to make it specific to HR calls. Balls and strikes need to be called by an ump. Check swings need to be called by an ump. Bad calls are part of the tradition along with crackerjack and pitchers doctoring the ball. Focus on getting the steroids out and put this replay arguement down. 1856204

2008-05-29T09:58:22-04:00

gvaught78

Indianapolis 434087

2008-05-29T09:49:41-04:00

olo567

Phoenixville 419767

"Officals (umpires in this case) will find their postseason opportunities reduced or eliminated for poor performance - they will be "deginated for assignment" back to the minors if they continue to make bad calls. So what if a player gets screwed out of a homer - are you worried about his incentives? If one blown call ends a team's playoff chances, they didn't deserve a playoff appearance anyhow" As a referee yourself, you're obviously seeing this from your angle. We're not doing this for the benefit of umpires, but for the game that teams are playing. Umpires are present to preside over the game and determine what is occurring, and should never themselves be deciding factors. If the human element is simply the styling of strike zones, then fine, because pitchers and hitters can pick that up as a game progresses and play a fair game because of it. However, saying that blowing fair/foul calls is part of the game is ridiculous. The argument that teams shouldn't complain because they don't deserve to be in the playoffs if they are on the brink is also stupid. Division and Wild Card races happen every year, and it's not always the 'dominant' teams that advance. 1856071

2008-05-29T09:23:34-04:00

VermontScot

Burlington 433713

I can't come up with a single rational reason NOT to use instant replay to clarify tough boundary calls and tough calls at a base or home plate. I would not want to see it used to question home plate umpires calling of balls and strikes though. 1855754

2008-05-28T22:51:09-04:00

franjgarciar189

No City 191057

I strongly disagree with the use of instant replay, this game is perfect as it is, and like some people said you win one and lose the other, sweet. 1854477

2008-05-28T21:54:34-04:00

somark37

North Providence 433875

Yes, a "fifth umpire" in the press box with the power to immediately overturn foul/fair and home runs. As for the four umpires on the field, I've always held that you could get any four people from the grandstands who could do at least as good a job. Sorry if I hurt anybody's feelings, but these guys are wrong a lot and getting it right is never as important to them as protecting each other. And then you have the McClellans of the world who have somehow come to the conclusion that I've PAID TO WATCH THEM. 1854382

Tom Verducci weighs in on the instant replay debate in baseball and says there is one clear answer: <blockquote>It was a bad week for umpires, a bad week for tradition and a bad week for this increasingly strange affinity in some corners that getting a call wrong -- and not a judgment call, but a nuts-and-bolts call -- is somehow part of the mystique of baseball that ought to be preserved. In a six-day span in three ballparks, umpires ruled four times that a home run was not a home run, even though the rest of us, with the benefit of a second look, knew quickly and certainly that they were legit dingers. How exactly is this good for baseball? (<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/tom_verducci/05/28/verducci.replay/index.html">FULL STORY</a>)</blockquote>Do you agree that Major League Baseball needs replay for controversial home run calls?  2201

The SI Staff

New York City 21244