Baseball fans, is it time for instant replay?

[pilottj]

Hey folks

After seeing my team get their game winning run wiped out on a clearly bad call at the plate, I have to wonder if we are overdue for instant replay. And I am sure many of you have seen costly bad calls against your teams. Granted, bad calls are no excuse for our teams not being able to close out games when they need to but it sure would make things a lot better for everyone. What have we got to loose by having instant replay in baseball? I am sure umpires would actually like it that they have a chance to either prove or correct themselves. I am sure Jim Joyce would have loved to have been able to reverse his call. I think instant replay has helped the NFL out quite a bit. It isn't perfect but it helps alot. Sorry just a frustrated fan venting a little.

Cheers
TJ

[NoNewMessages]

No! Next question, please.

Define "my team", not that it would matter... :ernae:

[Moses03]

I am a baseball purist but would be open to instant replay in a limited form. We don't want to slow down the games any more than we have to. Home run calls, plays at the plate as you mentioned TJ, fan interference/ground rule doubles etc could use some help. Keep the balls and strikes the Umps domain.

I got frustrated earlier this season when a Josh Hamilton home run was ruled a double when it was clearly a home run in all camera angles. Rangers went on to win that game so luckily it didn't affect the outcome.

Moses

[Cazzie]

Let's leave one game open to cursive fans. After seeing the World Cup, I think baseball umpires do a very good job, now that is refereeing that could use some help. But again, adding replay to baseball just destroys the essence and fluidity of the game. Baseball currently cannot be ruined by TV, add the replay call and boom, 5 more minutes of commercials before you see the game again, just like American football.

No, let the umps continue to miss a few and gain the cursory admonition of the fans, it is the one place one can vent his frustration on authority without the risk of arrest. Anyone who saw baseball in the 1850s would still understand the game, it has changed little. That is the beauty of the American pastime, kids 8 to 80 know the game here, there is no generation gap in baseball.

Caz

[pilottj]

No! Next question, please.

Define "my team", not that it would matter... :ernae:
You are right, it doesnt matter what team it is because it happens to alot of teams. My team is the Giants and they lost on a bad call at the plate to the Mets. As I said before, that is no excuse for loosing, their closer should have kept them in the game and they should have scored when they had their oppertunities. The Mets got a very bad call on the next play that was a tap in fair territory that would have ended the inning but was called foul.

But if you were an umpire, wouldn't you want every available resource to make the correct call? A close call happens, you let the play happen, then you could throw up your hands and call TIME, then go look at a replay monitor and make the best call based on the replay and input from the other umpires.

[Dain Arns]

No, the game drags on long enough now... :icon_lol:

[TARPSBird]

With four umps on the field I think there's enough brain trust out there to fairly resolve most disputed calls after the ball leaves the bat without instant replay. Like Dain said, the games are already too long with all the crotch adjustments, conferences and stepping out of the batter's box. What I don't like is the inconsistency of home plate umps in distinguishing balls from strikes. I've seen calls that were so totally outrageous that I wonder if the ump even saw the pitch come in. I think umps should be periodically evaluated for their ability to call balls and strikes in compliance with the regulation strike zone, including depth perception tests. You can't call balls and strikes if you don't know where the ball is.

[azflyboy]

What the MLB could do is simply copy the NHL system, which takes the review away from the on-site referees and sends it to a central location where the video gets watched and a ruling made, all within about 5 minutes.

If MLB limited what calls could be placed under review (only safe/out calls, no balls/strikes) a system like what the NHL uses could be pretty helpful, as long as something was in place to keep managers from challenging every single call.

As for speeding up the game, just use Vuvuzelas. As soon as the previous play concludes and the batter takes the box, a 15 second "pitch clock" begins counting down, after which a recording of vuvuzleas begins playing at obscenely high volume in the pitchers dugout.

Exceptions to the "vuvuzela clock" would be made for changing pitchers or "dusting the plate" after someone gets a ball in the crotch, but I think it would go a long way towards speeding up the game.

[NoNewMessages]

My convoluted take, before I settle in to my bedtime bowl of ice cream...

Leave the game alone, play it by the rules and let it prosper.

But, if there is to be technology introduced then embrace it and do it full speed ahead. One comment was made about balls and strikes. Simple solution? Embed sensors on the edge of the plate, 17 inches apart of course! Have scanners that aim towards home plate from around the dugout area to measure pitch height. Each player is measured before hand to show top and bottom of the strike zone. Pitch comes in, catcher catches it, computer reads sensors and call it a ball or a strike. Place about 20 cameras throughout the stadium giving the eye in the sky a look from every angle and let them make the call, safe or out at second base on a steal attempt. HR or double? Eye in the sky calls that play.

But the greatness of baseball is it's purity. While other sports, such as football and hockey and basketball have be influenced by the progression of the physical talents over the years, baseball really is limited to these physical improvements. If there were a way to train someone to throw faster than 95mph consistently, they all would be doing it. If sharp breaking curves being thrown on a 3 and 2 count with the bases loaded was a teachable skill, they would all be doing it. If failing 70% of the time was a skill that could be taught, there be a lot more .300 hitters.

Baseball is the only sport where you could argue that plugging in an athlete from 50 years ago would still allow the possibility of success. Think Ted Williams (in his prime) couldn't compete today? How about Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax? They'd still be stars, because baseball has it's own physical skill set, that for many is not teachable.

Is the game worse today than in the past? Not to me. It might be lacking some fundamentals that I'd like to see, but that's coaching, not the game. Today there's ESPN and Fox and all the regionals covering the game. And all the rhetoric needed to sell advertiser spots. So when a call is blown, just like it might have been 50 or 100 years ago, it get's dissected and blown out of proportion.

And what a truly classy thing for Jim Joyce to admit to anyone who would listen that his call, a blown call, ruined a "Perfecto" for a pitcher. And what a classy thing for the Tigers and their fans to do when they applauded Mr. Joyce the next day for his integrity. That's why a three hour game isn't too long for me to watch. I still recall as a kid hearing about Ernie Banks and how he would say something to the effect "It's a lovely day for baseball. Let's play two."

[Allen]

a 15 second "pitch clock"

This would put a end to those slow yank and socks games that 4 hours to play. I'm also in faver of a 10 second "hitter clock". If the pitchers and hitter would stop http://forums.guildofgreeters.com/style_emoticons/default/censored.gifing around we could have replay and the game would not take any longer.

Pitcher's Clock

When the Hitter steps in to the "Batters Box", the Pitcher has 15 seconds to throw the ball. If not it is a ball for the Hitter.

Hitter Clock

When the Pitcher steps on the "Rubber", the Hitter has 10 seconds to get in the box and hit. If not it is a strike for the Hitter and once in the "Batters Box" the Hitter can't step out, If he dose it is also a strike for the Hitter.

[pilottj]

well part of the beauty of the game too is that there is no 'clock', each game has it's own pace. Some are pitching duels, some are slugfests, some are blowouts. I think the 1-0 pitchers duels are typically faster games than the slugfests.

I agree technology should be part of the game. anything technology we can do to increase the accuracy of the game, and reduce injury to players is a good thing. But isnt replay part of that technology? It is a tool like the ball/strike clicker the Umpire carries to help him keep track of the count. Umpires will confer with each other on some plays already. Replay might reduce time spent by umpires conferences because they would have the camera's eye to assist them. It would reduce time wasted by players and managers arguing calls after a questionable call...tho I admit that can be amusing sometimes:jump: If these technologies were available then, I am sure they would use it.

And even with the new technology it wouldnt really change how the game is played other than accuracy and speed of information available to umps, managers and players. A young Willy Mays or Juan Marichal could easily step into today's ballpark and compete with the best of them.

Oh well, its sports lol.

[Cazzie]

Baseball is a game, all the rest are sports!

Baseball requires only one talent, hand-eye coordination, but it is an asset if you have some speed to go with it. And like my old HS coach use to say, either you got it or you not got it. A fat boy can play baseball if he has hand-eye coordination to catch, throw, and hit the ball, so can a scrawny 100-lb midget, but they have to have good hand-eye coordination. It takes no great physical specimen to play baseball.

Yes, the pitcher's duel is the quick game, especially if both team's pitchers are throwing strikes. That is what slows games down, pitchers who throw too many balls, get a 3-2 count on about every batter, has to have a mound conference every third batter. Slug fests are shorter as a rule than these.

If there is one thing in baseball I cannot tolerate it is a pitcher (in particular a relief pitcher), who is brought in to save a game and the SOB cannot throw a strike to save his life. In my pristine baseball world, you walk two batters in a row and your butt is out of the game. Too many of those and he's out of a career quick. I cannot stand a pitcher with bad control.

Caz