Posted in The Soapbox
3 comments
01/12 2011

Soapbox: Major League Baseball & Instant Replay, Upon Further Review

Posted by Dash Treyhorn.

[Ed Note: Dash Treyhorn was a regular contributor at The Fightins (RIP). Follow him on Twitter]

Imagine, for a moment, that it’s the final weekend of the baseball season, and two teams atop the same division, both with the same record, are playing for one final playoff spot. It’s late in the game, and the game is knotted at four runs apiece. In the bottom of the ninth, with the go-ahead runner on second, the batter smashes a double that stays just fair down the third base line, which easily scores the runner from second to win the game, and the division, on the final game of the season.

Or did it?

What if the third base umpire made the wrong call and instead ruled it a foul ball, sending the only-moments-earlier-hero back to the box? What if he strikes out, and the visiting team goes on to win it in the tenth inning? What if?

Of course, what I described didn’t actually happen. At least, not in that context. In August, the Florida Marlins were the victim of a blown call in the bottom of the ninth that would have given them the win against the Philadelphia Phillies, but the implications of such a loss didn’t have an impact on the standings, in the long run.

But we didn’t know that at the time. What we did know that night…anyone watching on TV or online or highlight packages after the game…was the “foul ball” off the bat of Gabby Sanchez went down in the record books as a nothing more than a routine strike, despite having an overwhelming amount of evidence that it was fair, and a game-winner, too.

Baseball fans learned yesterday that in 2011, this exact same scenario could happen again. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has officially ruled out the institution of any changes to the league’s instant replay policy, which is currently only being used on reviewing home runs.

Said Selig to MLB.com on Tuesday:

“There continues to be fruitful talks about it, but they’re definitely off the table for this year,” Selig said when reached by phone on Monday at his office in Milwaukee. “Really, I think that’s what we’ve been saying all along.”

The fruitful talks to which Selig is referring are those between himself, his inner circle and his special committee consisting of managers, GMs, and other baseball personnel brought together by Bud, himself, to address issues within the game and determine whether changes are necessary.

However fruitful, those talks do little good when they seemingly go nowhere, especially when the outcome of the action (or in this case, inaction) can have such a profound effect on the game. The aforementioned Phillies/Marlins contest was just one example of how a blown call could impact the outcome of one game and cause a chain reaction around the league.

And as we approach the three-year anniversary of the installation of instant replay around the game, we are still left to wonder why, and how, Selig can let it continue to only be used on home run calls, when out/safe calls and fair/foul calls have as much an impact on everything else. Just ask Armando Galaragga.

In the interest of getting the game right – or at least as right as it can be* – expanded instant replay needs to get back on the table, until it’s approved. The problem is very real, as evidenced by this recent study that shows that MLB umpires get 80% of “close calls” correct. 80% is fine for a C student, but not for Major League Baseball.

(*In a perfect world, there would be robot umpires or some sort of virtual strike zone indicator that made completely removed the human element of officiating out of the game, as every strike zone would be the exact same size for every pitcher, and judgment call on the basepaths would be 100% accurate. If MLB could have managed that in the 90s, then maybe Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine only win 260 games instead of 300, and Roberto Alomar gets into The Hall of Fame on the first ballot. Of course, the umpire robots would eventually become self aware and start attacking the players. But then maybe Albert Belle shows up and straightens them out.)

But if there is one thing that Selig seems to excel at, it’s being reactive, rather than proactive. The debate over instant reply didn’t come about until there were so many blown calls thrust into the public eye to actually get people talking about whether or not it was necessary. Despite the technology being used in other professional sports, it seemingly never crossed Selig’s mind that baseball can take advantage of this. Home runs were just the start, though. They can make or break a game, as the Baltimore Orioles, Derek Jeter and Jeffrey Maier can attest to, but so can a ball that lands just inside the foul line or a runner who is erroneously ruled safe at first base in a close (or perfect) game.

Baseball, like anything else, is a far from a perfect game. There are going to be mistakes; mental mistakes by baserunners, location mistakes by pitchers, errors by outfielders, and the like. But why should we settle for having mistakes by the ones who officiate the game, too? Especially when there’s a pretty easy way to lessen them.

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Posted on January 12, 2011 at 12:10PM

 

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  1. Ty
    01/12 2011

    Actually, I’d suggest Selig sucks at being reactive, too. Whenever anything really bad happens, he calls up a bunch of white septu- and octogenarian “baseball men,” and asks them if anything should change, and they all go, “Back during the war we only got one up a game! And he had to leave after the sixth inning! Rations, you know,” and then Selig goes “Yeah, damn kids,” and then that’s it.

    Peace
    Ty

  2. Ty
    01/12 2011

    that’s “one ump a game.”

  3. Mike L. White
    01/12 2011

    I think we owe it to the Jim Joyce’s of the world to protect them from a failure in judgement, like Joyce’s call in Galaragga’s perfect game or Don Denkinger’s call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series, so that these men are not left to be judged by their notable mistakes and vilified by angry fans.

    The umpires throughout the MLB do an exceptional job, but we ought to protect them from public shame the next time one makes a mistake in the post-season by forcing the expanded use of technology in the regular season. Once comfortable, this topic will be a non-issue.