{"id":475,"date":"2008-05-24T10:22:12","date_gmt":"2008-05-24T17:22:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/24\/time-to-go-to-the-videotape\/"},"modified":"2009-03-18T20:33:38","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T03:33:38","slug":"time-to-go-to-the-videotape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/05\/24\/time-to-go-to-the-videotape\/","title":{"rendered":"Time to Go to the Videotape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Based on the epidemic of missed homerun calls over the past week, is it time to find a place for instant replay in the MLB?<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I wrote \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Jason mentions that we haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen a double play from Wang tonight.\u00c2\u00a0 I counter with the fact that there haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t been many base runners.\u00c2\u00a0 As our discussion concludes, Jamie Burke walks and Yuniesky Betancourt promptly raps into a <\/em>4-6-3<\/em> double play to end the top of the fifth.\u00c2\u00a0 It is amazing how baseball consistently almost instantly provides moments that answer your basic questions and addresses your most inane thoughts.<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Well, the baseball gods have brought us something new to debate.<\/p>\n

It all started last week, when Carlos Delgado\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s homerun off the bottom corner of the leftfield foul pole was waved off by the umpires at Yankee Stadium.\u00c2\u00a0 Despite replays on ESPN and even a recorded scuff mark on said pole where it was struck by the ball, once the umpiring crew got together and concluded \u00e2\u20ac\u0153foul ball,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d there was no going back\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDelgado will now always have one homerun less in his career.\u00c2\u00a0 Since then, there has been an insane conglomeration of missed homerun calls over the past week.\u00c2\u00a0 Since Delgado\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s opposite field line drive, umpires have deprived Alex Rodriguez, Ben Francisco, and Geovany Soto of delightful jogs around the bases.\u00c2\u00a0 (I phrased it that way, because Soto still obtained an inside-the-park homerun.\u00c2\u00a0 But he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a catcher, he couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been too happy about all that running.)<\/p>\n

It is pretty clear that the baseball gods have had enough.\u00c2\u00a0 Based upon the entrails of the sheep I sacrificed this morning, the gods clearly are saying it is time for the implementation of instant replay.\u00c2\u00a0 Beyond the molasses-like movement of the baseball brass and its simple to desire to only adopt change in the most painstaking and arduous manner, the biggest impediment facing instant replay will be the umpires themselves.<\/p>\n

In my experience, there are no more stubbornly proud people in all of sports than baseball umpires.\u00c2\u00a0 From my own playing experience, these people look upon their assigned area of the field as their own personal kingdom; and woe be anyone who dares question how they might rule their fiefdom.\u00c2\u00a0 Umpires have a thankless job.\u00c2\u00a0 When they do their job well, it is expected\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey very rarely receive acclaim.\u00c2\u00a0 When they fail at their job, everyone knows.\u00c2\u00a0 As a result, many umpires through all levels of the game have developed pretty sizable chips on their shoulders.\u00c2\u00a0 Though they may do their job acceptably, they will brook no insubordination from players or coaches.<\/p>\n

There is an amazing story that travels through St. Louis about my coach in college, Ric Lessmann.\u00c2\u00a0 During a game, coach found himself diametrically opposed to the home plate ump.\u00c2\u00a0 By the fifth inning, coach had argued balls and strikes one too many times and been ejected\u00e2\u20ac\u201dat which point he decided to get his money\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s worth.\u00c2\u00a0 Lessmann sauntered out to the field and stood directly on home plate.\u00c2\u00a0 When the umpire told Lessmann that he would be thrown from the stadium if he kept it up, coach responded, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly throw me out.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m standing on the middle of the plate.\u00c2\u00a0 You haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen anything over the middle of the plate the entire day\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00e2\u20ac\u201da classic line that I look forward to utilizing some day.\u00c2\u00a0 Ultimately though, knowing that umpires deal with lose-lose situations like that on a daily basis, is there any wonder that they have become stubborn and territorial?<\/p>\n

A few years ago, Major League umpires took a huge step\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthey began yielding some of their power to other members of their blue-clad nobility.\u00c2\u00a0 In instances where uncertainty rears its ugly head, umpiring crews now meet and come to a consensus as to what is the correct call.\u00c2\u00a0 Now, baseball needs to take the next step.\u00c2\u00a0 The NFL, NBA, and NHL have all instituted instant replay.\u00c2\u00a0 The NHL reviews questionable goals, the NBA double checks buzzer beating shots, and the NFL has the challenge system, which I fully expect to be called the Jeep Cherokee challenge system within the next few years.\u00c2\u00a0 None of these systems are invasive.\u00c2\u00a0 They do not ruin the flow of the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Most importantly, they do not remove the human element of the calling games.\u00c2\u00a0 An NFL referee can still screw up holding and pass interference calls all he wants.\u00c2\u00a0 An NHL official can determine penalties, offsides, and when to step in during a fight.\u00c2\u00a0 In the NBA, referees can alter a game by calling fouls on whatever play they see fit.\u00c2\u00a0 Moreover, as we saw in the Pistons-Magic series, even the instant replay system is not without the human element.\u00c2\u00a0 Ultimately, these other leagues decided that, though they might bruise some egos, getting the call right was paramount.<\/p>\n

Now, I do not suggest instant replay having jurisdiction over ever play.\u00c2\u00a0 Umpires should be permitted to both screw up safe-out calls and to continue to call that absurd bottom-of-the-belt to bottom-of-the-thigh strike zone all they want.\u00c2\u00a0 If instant replay was available on every play, games would last full weeks, like Native American lacrosse games of old.\u00c2\u00a0 But in determining whether a ball hit a foul pole or hit an abutment beyond the outfield wall and bounced back, why not use technology and get the call right?\u00c2\u00a0 Why should I, as a viewer of ESPN or YES, know that the call was wrong before the guy who makes said call?\u00c2\u00a0 Every clubhouse in the major leagues has at least one big screen HD TV; why not use it for these types of plays?<\/p>\n

For all the critics that cite the importance of the human element in calling baseball games, I have one more firsthand experience to share.\u00c2\u00a0 In high school, I saw very few quality umpires, but one instance stands out from the others.\u00c2\u00a0 On a weak fly ball down the leftfield line, our leftfielder raced over from left-center only to have the ball pop out of his glove.\u00c2\u00a0 However, it looked like he had first touched the ball in foul territory, and it had bounced fair.\u00c2\u00a0 The umpire made no call, and by the end of the play, the batter stood on second with a double and a run had scored.\u00c2\u00a0 When our coach asked the umpire if the ball had been touched in foul territory, the umpire honestly\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand to this day, I commend him for his forthrightness\u00e2\u20ac\u201dresponded, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see that far anymore.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

That is the definition of the human element.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Based on the epidemic of missed homerun calls over the past week, is it time to find a place for instant replay in the MLB?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}