Comments on: links for 2007-10-14

By: BobS.

BobS. — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:29:08 +0000

Screw tradition.We have the technology to correct errors of judgement by umpires that television audiences have been privy to for dozens of years.Outcomes of games shouldn’t be affected by safe runners called out or foul balls called fair when there’s such a simple solution available,and I feel pretty confident writing that even the most die-hard traditionalists here wouldn’t be so sanguine if the Tigers were on the butt end of an obvious mistake in an important game.Even implemented poorly(which can also be corrected as the system develops),it’s better than having an obvious blown call determine a World Series winner.
By the way,ron,1938 called.It’s not only troubled by it’s favorite players betraying their teams by signing free agent contracts with the competition,it’s having a little problem with all the black and Latino players sharing clubhouses with white guys.
Ah,the good old days.

By: ron

ron — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 17:21:52 +0000

Do we need to use every option available? Maybe in heart surgery but not in baseball. It’s part of the ebb and flow of the game. Let’s not ruin a game played on dirt and grass with special cameras and laser lights. We have enough of that kind of stuff in our life already.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:21:57 +0000

I think the yellow line system needs to be improved. The ballparks can still be ‘quirky’, but there needs to be regulation prohibiting having fences, posts, etc. right above the line. Just a simple change like this to make it possible to tell what is/isn’t a homer would eliminate about half of the need for a replay system, and I don’t think that a simple wall with a yellow line on top of it free from other design elements is a whole lot to ask.

By: David

David — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:13:47 +0000

Good points Mike R

I think it is an inveibility, just will it come sooner (within the next five years) or later?

By: Mike R

Mike R — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 23:05:45 +0000

The Padres-Rockies play in game is all I needed to see to reaffirm that MLB needs instant replay. A missed HR, a questionable touch of home plate. It won’t take that long. Put a 1 minute clock on the ump, let the crew chief look at a monitor that is located where the grounds crew comes out from behind home plate and then let him make the call.

Lou Piniella tantrums would slow the game down longer.

And I hate that it’s “a tradition rich sport” and that the “umps almost always get it right.” Why not help them to get it right all of the time? MLB has shown they have the stones to use technology to second guess umps with the Questec, why not use it for replays on HR’s, plays at 1B?

I’d much rather wait 90 seconds and have the call be right then wait 2 minutes for an argument between manager-umpire and not have anything resolved.

By: Kyle J

Kyle J — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:22:51 +0000

It’s not the time delay part of it that would bother me. It’s the idealistic notion that baseball games happen in a bubble that extends only to the boundaries of the field. Of all the major sports, what occurs on a baseball field is still the closest to what how the sport was played 75 years ago. An umpired putting his head under a hood to watch a play from five different angles just seems like to large a break from tradition.

Of course, I think instant replay has gone too far in the other sports, too. (The microanalysis that occurs in the NFL is quite astounding at this point. Did the receiver get two feet in? At what precise moment did he gain control of the ball? Did the ball shift in his hands when he hit the ground?) So I guess I’m bound to be against it when it comes to my favorite sport.

By: Ryan S

Ryan S — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:22:29 +0000

If they go to any sort of instant replay, they’re going to need to be EXTREMELY careful how they implement it. Personally I think it ought to be reserved for things like fair/foul on HRs. Out/safe on the bases is really dicey, because what do you do about the time honored tradition on double plays of the 2B/SS just being “in the area” of the bag?

I say keep it limited and let it be initiated by the umpires, not the teams.

By: Tbone

Tbone — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 14:53:49 +0000

Please - no instant replays. I’m always amazed at how the umps almost always get the calls right. Instant replay makes the game longer and takes away some of the fun.

By: Don

Don — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 13:52:20 +0000

“I just can’t imagine a game being stopped while an umpire walks over to a TV monitor to watch the play again.”

Well, you can definitely imagine having a manager go out and yell at an umpire for five minutes while you watch the broadcasters show the replay 12 times in slow motion and see the ump got it wrong or right. Except at the end of the argument, the wrong call (almost) always stands.

I can see it happening for sure on questioned home run calls - fair or foul, whether it hit above the homerun line in some parks - as a test drive, then implemented later on calls on the basepaths. I’d say give the manager 2 challenges and if he’s wrong on the first he forfeits the second. Or make plays reviewable on an umpire’s discretion - like if he’s out there getting yelled at by a manager and another ump says, hey let’s check it out I think you made the wrong call. There’s got to be a way to make it work well.

Plus I don’t really buy the umps-blow-calls-it’s-part-of-the-tradition-of-the-game arguments. It’s not like guys in the 1890s considered whether to have instant replay and rejected the idea; this is the first time it’s been a cheap and realistic option.

By: Kyle J

Kyle J — Mon, 15 Oct 2007 12:37:40 +0000

Instant replay will never happen in baseball (thankfully). It’s the most traditionalist of the major sports–among players, managers, media, fans, etc. I just can’t imagine a game being stopped while an umpire walks over to a TV monitor to watch the play again.

Plus, the electronic ball/strike system has shown that baseball umpires are pretty darn good.