Instant Replay in MLB?

So the General Managers meetings are underway in Orlando. According to Peter Abraham, one of the topics being discussed is instant replay. The GMs of the game really have no say in the matter, but could influence a decision of the commissioner.

Personally, baseball needs instant replay. The biggest question to me is, how would you implement it? Are managers going to be responsible to challenge calls on the field, similar to the red flags thrown by coaches in the NFL? Perhaps a new job of 'Replay Official' should be introduced and work with the official scorers of the game in the booth along with monitors to watch replays, signaling to an on-field umpire when it is determined a call should be reversed.

At a minimum, I have felt that MLB needs to at least automate the strike zone. I had a poll running regarding the introduction of instant replay when I started this blog and automating the strike zone was an option. To me, this is the biggest grey area in baseball officiating. Home plate umpires far too often mishandle things in this aspect of the game. Balls are called when a pitcher misses his target, but still throws within the strike zone and strike zones vary depending on who the home plate umpire is.

The strike zone should not change for any situation, other than vertically to compensate for the height of the batter during his swing. Automating the strike zone can be done rather easily, as seen by the pitch location graphics shown on the television replays, and of course QuesTec. A strike or ball call can be relayed to the home plate umpire who would signal for a ball or strike, as he normally does. The job of the home plate umpire would then be a bit simpler. Mike Mussina would agree.

When the technology is available to improve the game, it should be taken advantage of. I hear arguments against instant replay in baseball stating that it would take the human element out of the game. This is ridiculous really. Human Element? By this logic, players should not watch video, pitch velocity should not be looked at, and players would be using bats carved by hand in the off season. Go see a vintage league game if that's what you want. Honestly, I hear they are great!

First Post-Season Umpiring Disaster (Well, kind of...)

Okay, so it really wasn't a post-season game. Stats are counted as regular season stats, which I guess is only fair. You can't ignore the stats in such a high pressure game. You can't count them as post-season because they are not on 'post-season' rosters and you can't include the Padres as a post-season team (well, at least now we know that). I thought it was odd when I first heard that these stats would be considered regular season stats. They are getting a 163rd game to accumulate stats, something most players and teams do not get. I guess the best way to look at the game is like an extra-innings game from inning 1. There's also the other case when 'if necessary' rain outs aren't made up.

But enough of that, and on to the actual game itself.

First off, I thought TBS did a great job. They were not shy at pointing out the flaws of the umpires at all, and if you watched the game, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I think other media outlets tend not to point such things out and think it may damage the integrity of the game. I think at that point, it's more insulting to knowledgeable fans than anything else.

Cal Ripken called out the extra outfield umpires for not being in position. They (LF-Fieldin Culbreth, RF-Jim Wolf) were practically positioned just beyond the 1st and 3rd base umpires and coaches. A little redundant, don't you think? It sure seems like a case of them going through the motions to get extra cash for an extra day of work. The purpose of the outfield umpires I would think is to get a better look at questionable home runs and to determine if fly balls were trapped or caught cleanly by an outfielder. These guys looked like part of their job was to possibly get a better angle on a call on the base path. Horrible job. I'm interested to see if this continues throughout the playoffs, even after Cal calling them out.

Now, aside from the umpires being out of position to make the call, I think the right call was made on the non-HR. The ball certainly seemed to bounce off of the top of the railing before coming back onto the field. Due to the outfield umpires being out of position, Tim Tschida at 2nd base was in the best position to make the call. After an argument from the Rockies manager, the umpires conferenced and left the call as is. Perhaps extra cameras should be installed to show such things better. Foul poles may be a good place for them. Then again, that may expose bad calls to the viewers and there still isn't an instant replay in MLB (yet).

The other disaster would be the final play of the game. Once again, I think the umpires got the call right. The execution of the call was is an entirely different story. Matt Holiday was attempting to score on a sac fly, beating a throw from right field. Michael Barrett had the plate blocked and lost the ball as Holiday slid. It's really tough to tell from the replay if Holiday's ever did touch the plate, as every replay had something (Holiday's body and Barrett's foot) blocking the view of the hand and the plate. Honestly, if you saw the slop Trevor Hoffman was dealing, it probably wouldn't have mattered either way.

There's really no excuse for why Tim Mcclelland took so long to make the call though. The same can be said for his strike calls throughout the game. This is just stupid. You are an umpire Tim. If you want to make a name for yourself in the industry, come up with a unique way to call strikeouts or something. We don't have time for your quirks.

NFL Preview

So another long grueling 17 week season of NFL football is now upon us and referees must be as giddy as ever, so get those little yellow pieces of cloth ready and dust off those instant replay monitors!

To start the season off, I thought I'd start a new poll to see which major professional sport readers think is most affected by the in-game officiating. Please take a moment to cast your vote over on the left hand side of the page. Personally, I think NFL referees are the worst, but will give the league credit for the way they carry out the rules of instant replay.

I had a cousin, who like a lot of sports fans, enjoyed watching football in bars. He had somewhat of a conspiracy theory where the halftime of every NFL game was the time where all of the bookies across the country would make their phone calls in order to have the game's outcome work to their favor. "The fix is in!" he would then yell throughout the remainder of the game, while I'm sure he was mocked by others watching from the bar. A few months ago, this would be a pretty far-fetched allegation. Nowadays, not so much. I wonder if he still has the same opinion.