Baseball will expand instant replay for the 2014 season…wait, let me rewind that. Yep. “After further review that statement stands.” My only hope is that Major League Baseball hires NFL referee Ed Hochuli to announce every reviewed call for the next year.
This is not a cut and dry issue for me. I am really of two minds about instant replay in the American Pastime. On one hand I long for the day when, self proclaimed Country Music singer and terrible ump, “Cowboy” Joe West has to eat a big plate of crow when one of his ridiculously blown calls is overturned.
He was heartbroken and apologized profusely to the Tiger’s pitcher and the fans. The bottom line is the umps need help. There is no earthly way they can be 100% right all the time. We now live in an age where we can provide the “Eye in the Sky” to make sure we save games from the scourge of human error…but should we?
Being a Yankee fan I have heard the angry tale of Jeffery Maier from countless people. I have many friends from the Baltimore area and I absolutely understand their feelings on what happened that night in 1996. It WAS a blown call. The kid reached over the wall, snatched the ball and handed Derek Jeter a big Post Season dinger.
Would it have changed the outcome of the series? I don’t think so. I feel that Yankee team was better than the O’s…but I can’t say for sure. The mishap went New York’s way and they went on to be World Champions. Yes, it is still an open wound for the Camden Yards’ Faithful, but it is also part of Baseball History.
That is where my heart still belongs to the game without computerized help. I like that we rely on the umpires to be as involved as possible. Yes, they will get it wrong and be showered with venomous heckling and boos…but that’s a part of the game too in my opinion. I look at blown calls and remember the great TV spot starring Bob Uecker screaming, “HE MISSED THE TAG! HE MISSED THE TAG!!” from the cheap seats. These mistakes are almost woven into the very fabric of baseball. It is almost not supposed to be perfect 100% of the time. I worry that sooner or later we won’t need on-field umps at all. We all watch the virtual strike zone on FOX, ESPN and TBS broadcast. Why do we need Dan Iassogna standing behind Brian McCann? The computer laser beams called it a strike…I’ll take R2D2’s censors over your “20/20”, Dan. Sorry.
It would make the game much more accurate, but it would take away the chess match of an ump squeezing or expanding the zone on a pitcher. That adds to the drama of the game. It’s one of the reasons why we watch. I love to see the Ace of the staff have to bare down and adjust because Blue isn’t calling the outside corner. It just draws me in. Now, I realize that that isn’t on the table as part of this decision. The umps still own the plate, but I worry that a pebble will start the avalanche to a field of cameras and drones.
Overall I see Major League Baseball’s move to a game with a digital fail-safe system as a good thing. Baseball, like other major sports, is ever changing. We have the technology to help the umps get it right, so we should give them a hand. I just hope they strike a solid balance between droids and the humans. The game has to be able to maintain it’s tradition while still allowing for overall improvements…but I may read this back and see that I got it wrong. Stay tuned.
--Mike O'Hara, MLB Fan Cave Host, Season 1
Twitter: @mikeyoh21
"Paulie was always my favorite player."
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