Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Should There Be Instant Replay?

In almost every sport, there is instant replay.  The referees can review the play and ensure they made the right decision.  Baseball, however, has decided to remain true to it's roots and have very limited instant replay.  You can use instant replay to determine if a ball was a home run or not, but is that enough?  Or is it too much?
 
Many people say that instant replay would affect the flow of the game, that baseball is already long enough, why do we want to do something else to slow it down?  But there have also been many cases that lean towards instant replay.  The infamous Steve Bartman incident.  The near perfect game for Armando Galarraga, where Jim Joyce admits he blew that call.  And now, in the 2011 World Series, calling Matt Holliday safe in game 3, which could have very easily affected the outcome of the game.
 
So what is too much instant replay, and what is being too hard headed to change with the changing times?  In regular season games, I say don't mess with instant replay too much.  Keep it to determine whether a ball is a home run or not.  Maybe expand it to determine if a ball is fair or foul.  But we don't need it for every little play.  However in the post season, and most importantly the World Series, Major League Baseball might want to do a little more to ensure the right calls are made.  It has been brought up during this series, that it may be beneficial for another umpire to sit in the press box and review the plays that are made.  That would not "slow down the game" too much, as people are worried about.  I don't see an umpire with a specific job of watching the review slowing down the game any more than a manager arguing a call, the umpire on the field reversing that call, and the other manager arguing the reversal.  Yes, that provides entertainment, but wouldn't we rather have the right calls made in the most important games of the season?
 
In my opinion, expanded replay in the regular season is a waste of time.  But in the World Series, it needs to be explored.  As a baseball fan, I would rather the team who truly won the series, to win the series.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment