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Instant Replay: What a Sham!

The Philadelphia Phillies had instant replay not work for them in their opening game against the Boston Red Sox. In the 11th inning, Greg Dobbs hit a ball that could have been a game winning homerun. The ball went over the foul poul and was ruled foul. When watching the replay on television it was not conclusive from the one angle shown whether or not the ball was fair or foul. Yet when Charlie Manuel asked for instant replay to be used, the umpire said no.

How could this umpire, Jeff Joyce, be so sure about the call when even a replay was not conclusive? What good is instant replay if the homeplate umpire, Bill Miller, vetos taking a look at a close call? The entire process is just another case of Bud Selig and major league baseball getting it wrong. If there is a doubt, use the technology. There is no reason that some arrogant umpire should make this decision by himself.

Think about it. If you are the umpire of course you think your call was right. And if you were wrong and did not call for the replay, will there be any repercussions against you? Of course not. They ought to dock Bill Miller's salary. Or even better make him get on television and apologize. His arrogance possibly cost the Phillies a win. Had the play been over turned, the Phillies would have won the game. Instead, the Phillies tired out their bullpen and had Kyle Kendrick prove that he does not belong on a big league roster. Manuel should have protested the game and yelled until he was ejected.

Bottom line. The entire process stinks. Major League Baseball screwed up again!

To Replay or Not to Replay

USA Today reports that major league baseball is considering implementing instant replay this season and could do so by August 1 to have it in place for the pennant races and playoffs. The general managers originally voted in favor of exploring instant replay during the winter meetings and it would be used for homerun calls to see whether a ball is actually over the fence or fair or foul.

I am completely against any use of instant replay in baseball. When I watch football, I can not stand when instant replay is used. It drags the game out, takes away the human element, and has changed the game forever. Now there are those putting asterisks next to games where calls were wrong before instant replay was used. Will we start talking that way in baseball? And where does it end? Do we start challenging ball and strike calls? It is a slippery slope. Who will challenge these calls? How do you make a penalty if the challenge is wrong? How do we stop every play from being challenged that is even somewhat close?

A better solution. In the past month or so, I have seen two games where an umpire has been removed because of injury. (They should be wearing full head gear but that is a topic for another post.) This leaves the umpire squad with only 3 umps and compromised. How about going to 6 umpires in every game like they do in the playoffs? An umpire with no other job but to rule on balls down the line and on homerun balls is sure to get 99.9% of the calls right. This leaves the human element while ensuring the calls are being made properly. It stops baseball from having to invent new replay rules, and stops the sport from turning people off like football has done to me and many other fans. It also gives the umpire squad extra bodies should someone not be able to call an entire game.

This makes so much sense Bud Selig will never get it!

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