Instant replay in Major League Baseball?

[riceboy]

I was wondering what the masses thought about this. I was listening on the radio this morning and the talk show host was explaining why he felt instant replay would be good for baseball. Granted I'm not a baseball fan, but I do watch the playoffs. He brought up examples like when Mark McGwire was going for his home run record and he recalled there was an instance when a ball was called foul, but after the replay it clearly was a home run. Also, I guess there was a play in the Rockies vs Padres game it should've been a home run but ruled a double that he mentioned? I didn't see that game, but I wish I did. He added that he wouldn't want it for things like strikes or balls. I'm a football fan and the NFL has utilized instant replay and it's worked well IMHO. The years they didn't have it, I wished they did. Now in college football, the games I've seen it's worked out pretty good. The talk show host ended by saying that in the end don't you just want to get the game called right. What do you guys think?

[grawk]

IMHO, baseball is a game of tradition and statistics. They shouldn't make changes to the rules that materially impact that. Human error is part of that.

[hungrych]

If it was used games would take 5 hours because so many calls would be contested. Maybe only on home runs, maybe.

[CD44hi]

I think it would make a somewhat long (and borish at most times) game into a marathon of contested decisions. not a good idea IMO. (And that taking into account that I grew up playing and appreciating the game with guys that made the AAA/majors here)

[recstar24]

It would have to be very limited use. I would say playoffs only, restricted to homerun balls, to determine if it stayed within the foul line, or if it actually goes over the line on the fence that marks it officially as a "homerun." They cannot use it for anything else, because it will make the games too long, and the aspect of human error and judgement is what baseball is all about. Imagine if coaches had the right to challenge balls vs. strikes or close outs with runners on base - the games would be like 6-7 hours long.

[mjg]

screw that... it goes both ways. how about hiring younger umps, having their eyes checked, and making sure all is fair in how homeruns are guaged in one park vs another. Having the umps staring at tapes and vetoing each other isn't going to solve anything. Let them do it right the first time.

[aerius]

If it was used games would take 5 hours because so many calls would be contested. Maybe only on home runs, maybe.

You mean the games don't already go 5 hours?

[tkam]

I think it's ok as long as they keep it very limited like for checking fair/foul calls on home runs and things of that nature. If they ever start using it for to determine balls/strikes or safe/out calls it'll completely ruin the game.

I agree with dan the human error is part of the game but I think mistakes that can be fixed with a single look at replay are probably worth correcting.

[socrates63]

Instant replay reviews would absolutely ruin the flow and pace of the game. I'm not for instant replay even on a limited basis.

I prefer the direction mjg is going with it -- better umps.

Baseball should be looking to other areas to improve the game. For starters, how about recruiting more US athletes and improving the talent? It seems more and more guys are going for football or basketball. And in a populous state like Florida, how come the two baseball teams are struggling for fan interest? Whatever happened to the idea of contraction?

[hungrych]

And in a populous state like Florida, how come the two baseball teams are struggling for fan interest? Whatever happened to the idea of contraction?

Because the Devil Rays, sorry, Rays suck and always have sucked, and the Marlins have one of the worst owners of any team in any sport.

[socrates63]

True dat, it's hard to overcome crap owners. For the longest time, Mariner owners prior to the current group of local owners always threatened to move the team to Florida.

With MLB pulling in 7 billion dollars in revenue, it's unfathomable to see some teams spend the miniscule amounts (relatively speaking) that they do on payroll... the Rays and Royals come to mind.

Anyways, the sport has many more issues it can tackle in order to improve the product beside thinking about instant replay.