So this one is kind of awkward. I’m not understanding why this necessary. Now before you start yelling at your computer screen let me note, I’m a big baseball fan. When it comes to Chicago we have two teams, which means big rivalry, I also have a third team to root for when the Chicago teams (NL: Cubs, AL: White Sox) aren’t seen in the Washington D.C. media outlet (NL: Washington Nationals, formally the Senators). I have also played baseball for nearly half my life, until an accident which left both of my legs shattered. After 3+ years of reconstructive surgery and therapy I’m about as close as I’m going to get as I was before my accident. After being a player for some time, I switched gears and was an umpire for nearly 5 years in the local kids leagues in the area. So when it comes to baseball, flip a coin and I have experience on both sides of the coin.
Anyways, getting back to the bigger picture; Instant Replay in Baseball. Starting today (Thursday, August 28, 2008) all new baseball series will allow for the implementation and use of instant replay in games. The current idea is to use instant replay for a second call on only home-run balls and safe/out on the bag calls.
Now, speaking as a fan of baseball, I’m a little confused, in little league or community leagues there are typically 1-2 umpires, in the minors there are 2 umpires, and in the Major League Baseball there are 4 umpires (one for each base). Now in a game as structured as baseball where there are going to be very limited outcomes from each at bat, I see no since in instant replay for over turning a previous decision. There are at most about 5 things that need to be watched at any given time. That’s a ball and up to 4 base runners, but most of the time, the ball determines the strategy of the runners. Now when you have 4 guys standing watching the same thing, they should be able to achieve a consensus of what they saw without having to consult a screen.
As a former umpire, I think this is crazy. Not to say the power trip didn’t go to my head a few times over the seasons, but your say is final. When it’s one guy calling the shots, I can understand when someone may have a disagreement, but when there are 4 guys who seemingly can’t come to a fair consensus, that’s a little ridiculous.
As a player in baseball, I could see a slight need for it, as sometimes in sports I feel I had achieved a score or something to that nature that someone may have had disagreement with. But again, to the highly structured rules of baseball, I would have to be impartial to all calls except when I’m up at the plate.
But I mean really, come on. When there are only 10 players on the field it’s not that hard to keep track of what is going on. Now compare that to a sport like football or soccer. At any given time there are around 22 players (for both sports) on the field at a given time.
In Soccer, you have a single referee who watches the ball and the players, while two linesmen watch for offsides, but there is no instant replay here (partly due to the continuous flow of the game, unlike the structure of baseball).
In football, the same thing, there is one referee, along side him are his 6 sidekicks, each watching for something specific. Football is semi-structured (when compared to baseball) in the each team takes turns with offense and defense. But out of 22 guys on the field, one single slip-up could alter the play, maybe even the entire game. For example probably the most called foul in Football is holding, but more importantly a player not even in the vicinity of the ball could be accused of it, altering the play and/or the momentum of the game. That’s why there are instant replays and coaches challenges are in Football. But that’s because of all the meaty, nitty-gritty rules.
Baseball is an extremely superficial sport. What you see is what you get. Sure there is some strategy to it with sacrifice flies and bunting etc, but for the most part it’s self explanatory.
So what do you guys think of this?
NOTE: I am attending one tonights game of Dodgers @ Nationals so, should anything arise, I’ll be sure to post a first hand experience.
