So yeah, it’s cool to see some actual progress made on an issue that I analyzed – with an overwhelming conclusion – for my senior research paper. This is dated October 31, 2011, and some of my proposals were shockingly *ahem* accurate. Let me puff out my chest while I can – and also thank my teacher at the time, Mr. Ketelaar.
Instant Rewards: A Call for Expanded Replay In Baseball
Picture this for a moment: St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols deliberately points to the middle of the plate where he wants the ball to be thrown. Tigers ace Justin Verlander subsequently fires one of his signature fastballs to Pujols’ exact desired location. Fans in attendance know the ball is destined for the outfield seats before the pitch is even served. Believe it or not, baseball HAS progressed and made significant changes to it’s rule book, because this seemingly ridiculous situation was a reality at the sport’s beginnings. Baseball traditionalists must consider the differences in the original sport and today’s game before dispelling the idea of further implementation of instant replay. Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has dealt with the controversy of whether instant replay deserves a place in baseball since the technology emerged in the sport during the 1999 season. Instant replay can currently only review boundary calls. Boundary calls include determining whether fly balls went over the fence, potential home runs were fair or foul, and deciding if fan interference took place on a play. No usage of instant replay exists for calls that require an umpires immediate judgment – safe/out calls, fair/foul calls, whether or not a player is hit by a pitch, and so on. These loopholes in the instant replay system have came into full exposure recently. During a critical ALCS playoff series between the Yankees and Orioles in 1996, an umpire ruled blatant fan interference as a home run. Another incident occurred in the 2005 ALCS, when White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski was declared safe at first base on a strikeout. Umpire Doug Eddings ruled that Angels catcher, Josh Paul, had let the ball bounce before catching it. In 2010, Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga had a perfect game ruined because of a botched call at first base. Clearly, the necessity of instant replay would undoubtedly aid umpires in making correct judgment calls.
Most importantly, the additional usage of instant replay would ensure the most deserving team comes away with a victory more often. Correcting potentially game-deciding calls would clearly benefit the sport of baseball. Rarely do umpires get acknowledged for making a clutch call, but in an increasingly media driven society they often find themselves under fire for “blown” calls. The late Leo “The Lip” Durocher once stated, “You argue with the umpire because there is nothing else you can do about it” (BrainyQuote). An instant replay system could essentially rid the sport of any post-game controversy surrounding the men who more often than not, do their job efficiently. It would also bring attention to the players, and the actual events taking place on the baseball diamond – rendering a sort of “invisible” umpire. All adversaries of an expanded instant replay system have to do is look at the NFL for evidence of a seamless technological addition to the sport. Professional football has exploded in popularity over the past few decades, which has coincided with the NFL’s adoption of an instant replay system in 1986. While no one is claiming complete correlation between instant replay and football overtaking baseball as America’s favorite sport, it provides further proof baseball could still thrive while removing at least some human element to the game in order to get the calls right.
The historical implications of blown calls due to the lack of instant replay have been evident in recent years. Perhaps most infamously is the instance of Galarraga and his “imperfect” game thrown on June 2, 2010. An incorrect call at first base by umpire Jim Joyce prevented the Venezuelan from being ingrained among some of the best pitching performances ever and throwing the first perfect game in Tigers history. While Galarraga handled the situation with unprecedented class – he simply declared “Nobody is perfect” (Yahoo! Sports) – the baseball world was soon in uproar. How could an easily reversible decision ruin one man’s chance at lifelong glory? Contrasting this lost personal achievement is that a whole team’s fate can be undone by an umpire’s call. For instance, during the 2007 season the Colorado Rockies hosted the San Diego Padres in a decisive one game playoff, after the regular season could not decide the NL Wild Card. With a playoff berth on the line, Matt Holliday was declared safe at home on a diving slide in the bottom of the 13th inning. Replays clearly showed Holliday had never touched the plate – something he even later admitted himself. Just like that, the Padres post-season hopes slipped away courtesy of another obviously blown call. The Rockies would go on to win the National League pennant and advance to their franchise’s first ever World Series. Undoubtedly, the 2007 season could have played out differently if an instant replay system was in place.
All of these outcries for expanded instant replay are for naught if no solid foundation or ideas for how the system could work are explored. One of the more popular proposals is allowing each team’s manager to have “challenges” like the system currently used in the NFL. Sports writer and instant replay proponent, Rob Rubin, suggests giving “each manager three ‘challenges’ and let them stop the game at their discretion for anything – fair/foul, safe/out, trap/catch, interference – but never for calling balls and strikes” (New York Daily News). An extra, fifth member would be added to the umpire crew to specifically view replays. This would allow for quick verdicts, and added relief to the umpires actually calling the game. Pro baseball is already viewed as unnecessarily slowed down and drawn out, so the addition of an instant replay system could allow the MLB to finally strictly enforce time constraints between pitches. The official MLB rulebook states there should be no more than 12 seconds between each pitch, but this “rule” is usually ignored. Boston Red Sox pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka averages 25.9 seconds between pitches, and even the fastest pitcher, Mark Buehrle, averages 16.4 seconds (FanGraphs.com). Implementation of an instant replay system would force the MLB to seriously start to enforce time between pitches, creating a more enjoyable final product for all baseball fans.
Critics of instant replay’s place in baseball need only to put themselves in the cleats of every man – young, or old – to step on a baseball diamond. Awarding the most deserving team or individual for their performance has been the number one priority since the beginning of sport. No one will deny the means by which we decide these “winners” changed drastically since the ancient Greeks established the first Olympic Games. If the technology is available to aid the inconsistent human eye with making these ever important decisions, why should it be neglected? Conceded thoughts and blind arrogance are proving detrimental to the sport of baseball, as we continue to watch it’s dethroning as the king of American sport. The “human element” baseball traditionalists constantly speak of will certainly be eliminated if there is no one playing the greatest, most long standing game our country can call it’s own.
Brickslap 