Instant Replay?

[love_that_reefer]

Everyone keeps talking about instant replay and I think it is bullshit. Would it have helped last night? Absolutely but who cares? What the hell is the point in having six umpires in a playoff game anyway. Each one of those umpires blew it yesterday by not calling Heddings on his shit. Eddings clearly punched him out and the umpires try to back up his faulty call instead of getting right. Umpires this year have done a good job throughout the year with conversing with umpires to get the call right. There are four umpires in the regular season and they do a very good job. Yes mistakes are made but most of the big calls they converse and get it right more times than not. If plays like this happen more often, we just need better umpires and not instant replay.

[HuskerFan2002]

It's next to impossible to find the right umpire for a game. I said this on last night's game thread that the umpire should have been more clear with his calls, but the catcher should have thrown the ball to first just to be sure he was out.

I think the reason behind having an umpire in left and right field is if a homerun is foul or not.

Baseball doesn't need instant replay. I think it'll dampen the atmosphere in a way. I wouldn't use it for calling balls and strikes otherwise every manager would be using it every inning.

[General]

Instant Replay in football is bad enough. In baseball, it'd be awful.

[DirtyKash]

Instant replay isn't really needed; just get some competent umps. And what's the point of having a left and right field umpire? The first and third base umps can handle that. For the playoffs, you should have a first base ump, a "between first and second base" ump, a shortstop ump, a third base ump, and two guys behind home plate with one checking the other from 6 feet back. There's your six-man crew.

[rockin500]

the only thing i can see with instant replay is if a home run is fair or foul or above/below the yellow line. Lots of parks nowadays have a tough time telling if its above or not.

[Hmark6]

I just wouldn't want to open Pandora's Box on that one. It may start as checking if a ball was fair or foul, but then it might end up with if a ball was a strike or a ball someday.

But just considering it hypothetically, if it were in place, then close plays like fair/foul would have to be allowed to continue as though it were a live ball with the prospect of getting reviewed afterward. For example, a line shot over third lands slightly foul. When the umpire calls foul, the play is dead and the baserunners and fielders stop moving. This is obiously not reviewable, unless the benefit of the doubt is to call the ball fair and allow play to continue. The same applies for a ball that hits near the yellow line in left center at Fenway (for example). The ball would have to be assumed not a homerun so as to allow the play to develop all the way before a review could take place. This makes me sick just thinking about, and past generations of ball players roll in their graves.

[Kingdom]

Hate to have a game decided by human error. Granted, technology can be fallable, but anytime the game is actually important, hate to see an ump or official or ref or whatever the hell you want to call the guy/gal in whatever sport decide the outcome. That's why I like instant replay in football and what not, I don't care if it makes the game longer, a real fan doesn't give a shit about 5-10 minutes.

[love_that_reefer]

In football it's a whole different story. They have to watch for so many things and a lot more players to try and figure out what the hell is going on. This is the first year I saw umpires getting together and getting the the calls right on plays you wouldn't usually see it. There have only been a handful of games in the past where the umpire blew a big play. Last night was a good one, Jeffry Mayer's catch against the 96 Yanks and the call in the 85 series going against the Cards. Shit happens but it should not happen in playoff atmosphere. Umpires have got to do a better job especially in the playoffs with six umpires. There is no excuse for a missed call.

[Kingdom]

I'd still rather have instant replay. The other night, the play was ambiguous, however, the ump was ambiguously gay. Sure, a better crew of umps could have made the right call. But it's not always going to be like that, and it's happened before. I'd rather have instant replay in the event that something controversial happens, and that way, a game doesn't go the way-side of bad officiating. Imagine if that play with ARod last year wasn't called? Or Ausmus' homerun against the braves was ruled not a homer. What ifs. Better to be safe than sorry.

[HuskerFan2002]

I love instant replay in football but I wouldn't support it in baseball. Think about it-how long does a MLB game last: 2-2.5 hours? Add replay to baseball and you'll get at least 3-3.5 hours pending extra innings.

[HollywoodLeo]

I love instant replay in football but I wouldn't support it in baseball. Think about it-how long does a MLB game last: 2-2.5 hours? Add replay to baseball and you'll get at least 3-3.5 hours pending extra innings.

Nah, they slow the game down arguing the calls anyways, so getting the right call via IR instead of umpires getting together trying to recollect what they saw wouldn't slow the game down anymore anyways.

[browntown653]

In football it's a whole different story. They have to watch for so many things and a lot more players to try and figure out what the hell is going on. This is the first year I saw umpires getting together and getting the the calls right on plays you wouldn't usually see it. There have only been a handful of games in the past where the umpire blew a big play. Last night was a good one, Jeffry Mayer's catch against the 96 Yanks and the call in the 85 series going against the Cards. Shit happens but it should not happen in playoff atmosphere. Umpires have got to do a better job especially in the playoffs with six umpires. There is no excuse for a missed call.

Those "handful" of games directly impacted teams that went deep into the playoffs or won championships. I find it hysterical how many people are against this. You're basically saying you don't want to be 100% sure if an important call is right. I wouldn't advocate it for balls and strikes but for everything else it can be fair game.

[Fishercat]

I never got the opposition for this, especially in baseball where you have an isolated event with little obstruction and easy decisions.

Even if each coach had and used two challenges, what does it add? 15 minutes? Or have someone upstairs watching for questionable plays and make it a booth or umpire decision to look.

I'd rather get it right than get it quick. For fair/foul (only on fair balls, kind of like the blown whistle), safe/out, run scoring play. Balls and strikes are too picky.

[HollywoodLeo]

the only thing i can see with instant replay is if a home run is fair or foul or above/below the yellow line. Lots of parks nowadays have a tough time telling if its above or not.

There's plenty of other things where I call for IR.

Is the ball fair or not? (did it hit the chalk?)

Was it a catch or a trap?

Is he safe or out at the plate/bag?

And 9 times out of 10 if you watch the play in slow motion it's very obvious what the correct call was.

It's understandable for a human being to miss a close call while he's watching it from a distance in real time, so you can't blame the umps for not always making the right call. It's human nature.

But why not allow us the ability to ensure that the correct call is made by watching it in slow motion, and then even the umpire who made the incorrect call can see, plain as day, what the right one is?

"It'd slow the game down" is the only argument ever made against instant replay that makes any iota of sense (I have never liked that "it'd take the human element out of it " garbage some like to say) but the game is slowed down in these situations anyways when the manager on the bad end of the call comes out to argue, then the umpires all huddle and try to remember what they saw, and then heaven forbid they reverse the decision...because now the other manager's going to come out and argue.

We're wasting time anyways, why not waste it trying to get the right call that nobody can argue?

[love_that_reefer]

Instead of arguments you want 10 reviews a game? Makes sense