Instant replay is a good thing. The MLB's first attempt at implementing their bastardized process is not a good thing.
Instant replay will be reviewed (pun intended) and they will make the process better, quicker and more decisive in the coming years. Did you really think MLB would get it right out of the gate (I'll remind you Selig is still running The Show)? Fat chance.
Red Sox-Yankees today. Missed call. Replay. Still missed it.
Excuse is the umpires don't have the same number of camera angles that TV has.
This is a joke.
Last week there was a crucial call on a ball supposedly hit right over the bag. Looked foul, ruled fair. Foul balls are reviewable in the outfield but not the infield.
Again, it's a joke. Get rid of it.
When I saw that replay, I wondered what good it is. That was an obvious call with the instant replay and yet, with it that obvious, and the foot was well off of 2nd base, they didn't call the runner out. Unbelievable! Yes, if this is all the good it is going to do, then get rid of it.
biggerpapi and CoachB25,
If the reviews fix 99 calls and miss 1, how does it serve baseball to quit it because it failed one time and the system you want to put back into place failed 99?
No system is going to be perfect! All anyone can hope for is to use the system that gets things right the most often.
Anything that gets us closer to a correct, reliable and fair result, without a signficant delay in the game, is a postive. The system is also a work in progress, which will surely improve over time, and with reflection. A "flawless system from the onset" litmus test is an unfairly harsh standard that precludes even minimal progress. I think that the willingness and commitment to improve baseball has made the greatest sport there ever was an international and multi-racial game, reaped expansion, enhanced playoff opportunites, brought us night games, produced names and numbers on uniforms, offered domed ballparks to its fans and venues that no longer get rained out, yielded lights at ballfields, and a host of other improvements. Simply put, I would never rally against lights, if there were a single power outage at the ballpark, so why can replay in its infancy?
MLB needs to get replay right in the preseason before using it in the regular season. After the missed call in the Sox-Yanks game they came back the next night and reversed an inconclusive call that helped decide the game. The runner looked safe or out depending on the angle. I thought calls had to be conclusive to be reversed.
Did you see the play biggerpapi and I are talking about? If it isn't conclusive then nothing is. Runner's foot is 4 or 5 inches off of the bag and no doubt that the glove of the defender is touching the leg of the base runner. Yet, the call was not overturned.
I think what we will eventually see is the umpire will no longer exist as we know it today. Balls and strikes will be called by an automated device. The same with plays in the field. We will continue to work towards the "perfect" game. Dirt will no longer be used. We simply don't need to have bad hops when we can produce a playing surface that will take that away. Every field will have the same dimensions. No reason for anyone to have an unfair advantage. The game will morph into something that us old timers no longer recognize if were even around to see it. But it will come.
We simply can't have a blown call when the technology is there to make sure EVERY call is right. Every ball is a ball. Every strike is a strike. The game will be PERFECT and it will be so darn boring.
Who needs umpires anyway? With their ego's and unique perspective that they each bring to the game. Who needs the human element in the game? Who wants to see a bad hop or a controversial call? We need the game to be perfect. We HAVE to get it right.
You know the more technology we have the better off we are right?
What was wrong with baseball? I loved it. I loved it just the way it was. Now? Managers walk slowly out on the field so their crew can watch the play over and over so they can decide if they should challenge or not. That's so exciting isn't it? Who needs a skipper running out on the field and going off? That's so boring.
Put me in that small group of people who thinks the better we try to make something the more we mess it up. I used to love going fishing knowing NO ONE could contact me. NO ONE could call me. Now that stupid phone. That awesome technology that has made life and sports so much better. Yeah lets get it right. All the time. And while you get it right I think you will find you got it all wrong. But that's just my opinion. And one that I am sure many will find silly and old. I guess the new game is just passing me by. Oh well.
No need to respond and tell me why I am wrong. I already know I am. My way simply doesn't get it right all the time. I just don't have a problem with something not being perfect. Perfect is boring to me. Just like swimming pools in center field. Circus stunts between innings. And so on and so on. I just like old school ball. Knowing it wasn't perfect and being played by coached by and umpired by imperfect folks. Made it perfect for me. To each his own.
Bravo Coach May!
Coach May - Good stuff! I agree the replay system has been pretty tedious so far. I also believe there's better way to go about doing it... No challenges, just umps using it when they think it's needed and also the eye in the sky from NY breaking in when needed. It's mostly a communication problem at this point. Think they should have spent more time getting it right before implementing... You could see in spring training that it wasn't ready. And as I said in the post about automated balls and strikes, I think I'm for it. To me having balls called balls and strikes called strikes isn't boring. But I hear what you're saying and can't disagree with a lot of it.
Coach May ... You forgot we can have the perfect players too, robots. No more DL. No payroll. Just maintenance. The problem is we've already seen what happened with robots. Casey the Robot of the Zephyrs (Twilight Zone) got emotions and didn't want to hurt anymore feelings by striking everyone out. And HAL (2001:Space Odyssey) got completely out of control when he developed a mind of his own.
Outstanding post Coach May! You seem to find the right words all the time. I think the more we try to make it perfect the more we slowly take away the things that made, me at least, fall in love with the game. FWIW thanks to replay now we will never have a you tube clip that comes close to Earl Weaver losing it. Thank you John Farrell whether you were right or wrong!
Why can't these guys get it right even with replay. I still don't like it. Might as well let the umps on the field decide what's going on. These examples just never seem to end.
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/...wrong-083141608.html
