MLB Instant Replay: Will it Decrease Histrionic Fights Between Managers and Umps

[LedRush]

I'm watching the Yankees game and Ichiro was called out at first when he clearly beat the throw. Girardi came out slowly, waited for the signal from the dugout, challenged the call and they overturned it. The whole thing took 80 seconds. I miss the fight, but I love the result (and the extra runs).

[Ancient Ways]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

[laughedatbytime]

The replay rule will need to be tweaked (essentially a sixth inning challenge is virtually costless), but I think it's a positive thing to get the calls right. I actually like it better in baseball than football, although I think if football adopted the same method of viewing replays in a central location with dedicated staff, that would improve NFL replay by speeding things up. Edited April 5, 2014 by laughedatbytime

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

ahhh, a Senators fan. I actually saw the Senators live at Tiger Stadium while on vacation. We were in the upper deck in left field. Frank Howard looked normal size from where we were, the rest of the players, not so much.

 

Do you remember when they hired Ted Williams to manage?

 

Bob Short must be one of your villains, I'm guessing. I remember when he tried to bring back Denny McLain, I think he was 10-20 for the Senators one year.

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

ahhh, a Senators fan. I actually saw the Senators live at Tiger Stadium while on vacation. We were in the upper deck in left field. Frank Howard looked normal size from where we were, the rest of the players, not so much.

 

Do you remember when they hired Ted Williams to manage?

 

Bob Short must be one of your villains, I'm guessing. I remember when he tried to bring back Denny McLain, I think he was 10-20 for the Senators one year.

Ted Williams? Absolutely. Hard to avoid when my dad was his biggest admirer. He saw Mr. Williams play more than once at Griffith Stadium as a youth. He and my dad would have gotten along great I would have bet. Two stubborn, perfectionist peas in a pod. There was much to admire about Mr. Williams for sure. A great and brave American.... :)

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

ahhh, a Senators fan. I actually saw the Senators live at Tiger Stadium while on vacation. We were in the upper deck in left field. Frank Howard looked normal size from where we were, the rest of the players, not so much.

 

Do you remember when they hired Ted Williams to manage?

 

Bob Short must be one of your villains, I'm guessing. I remember when he tried to bring back Denny McLain, I think he was 10-20 for the Senators one year.

Ted Williams? Absolutely. Hard to avoid when my dad was his biggest admirer. He saw Mr. Williams play more than once at Griffith Stadium as a youth. He and my dad would have gotten along great I would have bet. Two stubborn, perfectionist peas in a pod. There was much to admire about Mr. Williams for sure. A great and brave American.... :)

One of my favorite cards as a kid.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XfJgSLm4oQE/TwjB-AGisdI/AAAAAAAADrE/-UzGaP5X0ug/s1600/1969%2BTed%2BWilliams%2B%2528f%2529.jpg

[laughedatbytime]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

ahhh, a Senators fan. I actually saw the Senators live at Tiger Stadium while on vacation. We were in the upper deck in left field. Frank Howard looked normal size from where we were, the rest of the players, not so much.

 

Do you remember when they hired Ted Williams to manage?

 

Bob Short must be one of your villains, I'm guessing. I remember when he tried to bring back Denny McLain, I think he was 10-20 for the Senators one year.

Ted Williams? Absolutely. Hard to avoid when my dad was his biggest admirer. He saw Mr. Williams play more than once at Griffith Stadium as a youth. He and my dad would have gotten along great I would have bet. Two stubborn, perfectionist peas in a pod. There was much to admire about Mr. Williams for sure. A great and brave American.... :)

One of my favorite cards as a kid.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XfJgSLm4oQE/TwjB-AGisdI/AAAAAAAADrE/-UzGaP5X0ug/s1600/1969%2BTed%2BWilliams%2B%2528f%2529.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pE3PVovSGXs/UZlhFCpGz5I/AAAAAAAAK3s/vEgzW1iHJBY/s1600/007+-+Copy.jpg

 

Actually, this is the one I had and was thinking of. I may have had the other one but I don't remember with absolute certainty.

[Narps]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

I am with you. The players, managers etc aren't perfect either...... :sigh: :codger:

I used to be with you but I've slowly come around to the position that if a replay system can be made to make decisions on a timely basis without disrupting the flow of the game that getting the calls right is worth it. The only system that approaches that is in hockey where the determination of goal/no goal gets it right virtually all of the time in seconds. The other sports have far to go with that though the baseball approach IMO is the best of the remaining systems (now if they could just get the number and timing of challenges down they'd be pretty close.

I can't imagine my youth watching the O's with a declawed Earl Weaver. No thanks. Me likes me entertainment.... :)

There's only one Earl.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6cmqUTPn08

Thanks for posting that. It gives me chills and almost makes me tear up to be honest. That was the game I loved in my youth. I ate, drank, read about, studied baseball all throughout my youth. I played at a pretty decent level too. Baseball was huge to my dad and thus to my family. What you posted will sadly be gone too. Part of the games personality if you will. I haven't wanted any part the game since McGwire/Sosa.... :(

well said. Hope you enjoy this too.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRQSECBxK8s

Thanks for that. Funny thing is I hated the O's but followed them religiously. Whats a boy to do when his team moves to Texas at age 11? Its such a striking memory trying to move around the rabbit ears on my little black and white t.v to try to pick up the O's games on channel 13 in Washington, DC. Any baseball was great baseball then. Try to pick up the ball through the "snowy" screen. Damn those were the days.... :)

ahhh, a Senators fan. I actually saw the Senators live at Tiger Stadium while on vacation. We were in the upper deck in left field. Frank Howard looked normal size from where we were, the rest of the players, not so much.

 

Do you remember when they hired Ted Williams to manage?

 

Bob Short must be one of your villains, I'm guessing. I remember when he tried to bring back Denny McLain, I think he was 10-20 for the Senators one year.

Ted Williams? Absolutely. Hard to avoid when my dad was his biggest admirer. He saw Mr. Williams play more than once at Griffith Stadium as a youth. He and my dad would have gotten along great I would have bet. Two stubborn, perfectionist peas in a pod. There was much to admire about Mr. Williams for sure. A great and brave American.... :)

One of my favorite cards as a kid.

 

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XfJgSLm4oQE/TwjB-AGisdI/AAAAAAAADrE/-UzGaP5X0ug/s1600/1969%2BTed%2BWilliams%2B%2528f%2529.jpg

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pE3PVovSGXs/UZlhFCpGz5I/AAAAAAAAK3s/vEgzW1iHJBY/s1600/007+-+Copy.jpg

 

Actually, this is the one I had and was thinking of. I may have had the other one but I don't remember with absolute certainty.

Epstein was a pretty good first baseman but alas everyone pales as a hitter compared to The Splendid Splinter. Thus his major downfall as a manager I believe. Had to be frustrating for him...

[laughedatbytime]

I think part of his downfall as manager was that the team lacked talent. He did win 86 as a first year manager but couldn't duplicate that success. But the talent wasn't likely 86 win talent and with a meddlesome owner that couldn't have helped.

 

But you're right, great players are rarely great managers and it's got to be frustrating because the players can't do what the manager could. Or in the case of Williams, almost certainly weren't as obsessed as he was with being the best they could be.

[Slack jaw gaze]

How did the silly WWF style arguing develop in baseball culture? Who started it?

[laughedatbytime]

I don't know exactly how it started but it probably dates back to the earliest days of baseball. I believe that the American League was founded by Ban Johnson in 1900 (first season 1901) mostly in reaction to the dirty play and castigation of the umpires, and the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s were the most egregious offenders.

 

If anything it's probably tamer now than it's ever been...

[LedRush]

I don't know exactly how it started but it probably dates back to the earliest days of baseball. I believe that the American League was founded by Ban Johnson in 1900 (first season 1901) mostly in reaction to the dirty play and castigation of the umpires, and the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s were the most egregious offenders.

 

If anything it's probably tamer now than it's ever been...

 

And it will only get tamer with instant replay.

[LedRush]

My favorite ump argument (fireworks at 2:35)

 

[Narps]

I don't know exactly how it started but it probably dates back to the earliest days of baseball. I believe that the American League was founded by Ban Johnson in 1900 (first season 1901) mostly in reaction to the dirty play and castigation of the umpires, and the Baltimore Orioles of the 1890s were the most egregious offenders.

 

If anything it's probably more boring now than it's ever been...

 

And it will only get more boring with instant replay.

both fixed.... :)

[sitboaf]

So much for boring.

My Boston Red Sox got screwed out of a couple calls this weekend against the Yankees (one of which the league admitted that they messed up) and John Farrell became the first manager to get tossed from a game for arguing a replay result .

Farrell got his money's worth on his way out, at least, telling the umpire, "shove it up your f***ing ass!"

 

I'm all for getting the calls right (if in a timely fashion) and I agree with laughedatbyme - hockey does it best.

Football is improving, at least, but I'd love to see penalties challenged, too.

 

The problem with baseball is that they're trying to enforce very, very fuzzy rules.

The phantom base-step when starting a double-play? Never more?

The "throw beat the runner so he's out stealing" play at second base? A thing of the past?

Kiss them goodbye and try to embrace a whole new set of rules that are needed to replace them.

 

Here are some of the new "truths".

Did you know that a ball isn't really "caught" if the fielder cannot pull it cleanly out of his glove? I didn't.

And, did you know that the stretching first baseman has "caught" the throw when the ball "enters the glove", not when it touches the leather? Say what?

 

To try to make EXACT decisions on things that have NEVER been judged EXACTLY is madness, and it's fundamentally changing the way the game is played.

 

Stick to fair/foul calls and homerun decisions, MLB. I don't want a very long game stopped for three minutes to see a successful base stealer being called out because, although he beat the throw, he took his foot ONE INCH off the base for A QUARTER SECOND while standing up BUT the shortstop's glove had one lace touching the runner's sleeve.

 

Please. Enough.

[LedRush]

So much for boring.

My Boston Red Sox got screwed out of a couple calls this weekend against the Yankees (one of which the league admitted that they messed up) and John Farrell became the first manager to get tossed from a game for arguing a replay result .

Farrell got his money's worth on his way out, at least, telling the umpire, "shove it up your f***ing ass!"

 

I'm all for getting the calls right (if in a timely fashion) and I agree with laughedatbyme - hockey does it best.

Football is improving, at least, but I'd love to see penalties challenged, too.

 

The problem with baseball is that they're trying to enforce very, very fuzzy rules.

The phantom base-step when starting a double-play? Never more?

The "throw beat the runner so he's out stealing" play at second base? A thing of the past?

Kiss them goodbye and try to embrace a whole new set of rules that are needed to replace them.

 

Here are some of the new "truths".

Did you know that a ball isn't really "caught" if the fielder cannot pull it cleanly out of his glove? I didn't.

And, did you know that the stretching first baseman has "caught" the throw when the ball "enters the glove", not when it touches the leather? Say what?

 

To try to make EXACT decisions on things that have NEVER been judged EXACTLY is madness, and it's fundamentally changing the way the game is played.

 

Stick to fair/foul calls and homerun decisions, MLB. I don't want a very long game stopped for three minutes to see a successful base stealer being called out because, although he beat the throw, he took his foot ONE INCH off the base for A QUARTER SECOND while standing up BUT the shortstop's glove had one lace touching the runner's sleeve.

 

Please. Enough.

 

The Red Sox got one blown call, but the safe at first call was very obviously the right one. Farrel was still mad about the previous night, and he decided he'd make a bad argument on something he was wrong about to fire up his team. There's nothing wrong with that and it often works. But let's not pretend he had a real argument.

 

As far as the rest goes, I'd rather add clarity to the rules than allow umps to make different calls on different days. Replay has worked for every major sport. The problem with this replay is that it is too timid. They need to go in and do it whole hog.

[sitboaf]

So much for boring.

My Boston Red Sox got screwed out of a couple calls this weekend against the Yankees (one of which the league admitted that they messed up) and John Farrell became the first manager to get tossed from a game for arguing a replay result .

Farrell got his money's worth on his way out, at least, telling the umpire, "shove it up your f***ing ass!"

 

I'm all for getting the calls right (if in a timely fashion) and I agree with laughedatbyme - hockey does it best.

Football is improving, at least, but I'd love to see penalties challenged, too.

 

The problem with baseball is that they're trying to enforce very, very fuzzy rules.

The phantom base-step when starting a double-play? Never more?

The "throw beat the runner so he's out stealing" play at second base? A thing of the past?

Kiss them goodbye and try to embrace a whole new set of rules that are needed to replace them.

 

Here are some of the new "truths".

Did you know that a ball isn't really "caught" if the fielder cannot pull it cleanly out of his glove? I didn't.

And, did you know that the stretching first baseman has "caught" the throw when the ball "enters the glove", not when it touches the leather? Say what?

 

To try to make EXACT decisions on things that have NEVER been judged EXACTLY is madness, and it's fundamentally changing the way the game is played.

 

Stick to fair/foul calls and homerun decisions, MLB. I don't want a very long game stopped for three minutes to see a successful base stealer being called out because, although he beat the throw, he took his foot ONE INCH off the base for A QUARTER SECOND while standing up BUT the shortstop's glove had one lace touching the runner's sleeve.

 

Please. Enough.

 

The Red Sox got one blown call, but the safe at first call was very obviously the right one. Farrel was still mad about the previous night, and he decided he'd make a bad argument on something he was wrong about to fire up his team. There's nothing wrong with that and it often works. But let's not pretend he had a real argument.

 

As far as the rest goes, I'd rather add clarity to the rules than allow umps to make different calls on different days. Replay has worked for every major sport. The problem with this replay is that it is too timid. They need to go in and do it whole hog.

I'm not ranting because the Sox got screwed. I agree with you that Farrell exploded much more due to the night before. But, the first base call could have gone either way (the ball "entered" the glove before the runner's foot [view of which was blocked by Napoli] touched the bag, which came before the ball touched the leather of the glove. Huh?). I'm just saying it should be hard to overturn something without definitive evidence - just like in football. And I think that play, after review, was far from definitive. If the original call had been "safe", I'd be OK with that. It just seemed like a hard thing to overturn.

 

So, that's my real beef: what these examples have exposed about the whole replay system.

Before the season began, our worst replay nightmares were about the baserunner who stops running halfway to third because the flare down the line was ruled a foul ball. Then replay shows it was fair. And so the runner gets… 3rd base? He scores? Has to go back to second, because that was the last base he touched? Ummmm...

 

But reality has proven to be worse. The real nightmare is, as you say, the failure to go whole hog.

This new system was not thought through enough, and now we're suddenly learning brand new definitions of "catching" and "transferring" and "touching the bag" that feel alien.

We're one-twelfth of the way through the season, and a slew of normal baseball plays have been turned into metaphysical arguments!

 

Would the owners have voted for THIS system of video replay if they knew then what they know now?

Edited April 15, 2014 by sitboaf

[troutman]

I hate all "instant" replays in any sport.

 

Same here,

 

But since it is in place I guess you get used to it. I just saw a play between the Twins and Blue Jays. A Twins player hit a ball off the wall but was thrown out at second. After the replay, at least to me. He was clearly safe. The refs. checked the replay and still concluded he was out.