instant replay in baseball?

Question

should there be instant replay in certain situations

Answer 1

No. Baseball doesn't need instant replay. Instituting it for home runs is just the start down a slippery slope towards challenging balls and strikes. Human error is part of the game - heck it's a stat for the players - and in all reality the number of plays that instant replay (in the current form they are discussing) will affect is minimal, maybe a one or two dozen over 2,430 games. So I don't understand the need to open up the Pandora's Box that instant replay is in order to change a few plays that in all likely hood won't have any effect on the season.

Answer 2

OK, this sure as heck probably won't be the "Best Answer" because I disagree with so many of you, but hear me out.

Come on, do you really think the umpires' jobs will be taken over? Get real! They have a union. Enough said.

It is said that changes in this sport happen at a glacial pace. That's pretty much accurate. Instant replay might be coming, but it is being done on a VERY limited basis with the "purity" of the game very much in mind. You won't see replays on balls and strikes anytime soon; that's impractical (too many judgment variables, such as "normal stance" and whether there was a swing or not.

Under the current proposition, it's not even certain that we'd see ONE replay in the first month, and maybe not even ONE replay all season. Doubtful home runs are among the rarest calls in baseball. This is nowhere near the frequency of the old "in-the-crease" replays in the NHL a few years back. That was insane; baseball's proposal isn't.

And even in those VERY RARE instances, the replay will probably speed up the game, not slow it down. In the amount of time that the umpires convene to discuss the call and take their best guess, they can go to a replay and get the right answer. One enterprising umpire actually did that a few years ago, and was instructed not to do it again.

I can tolerate "human error" only so much. If my team has just been denied a game-winning home run by poor eyesight, I want them to fix it. Just get the call right. The home run/yellow line call is the only thing replay is really needed for, anyway. And believe me, it's the ONLY kind of call that MLB will even THINK of allowing replay on for a long, long time.

Go ahead and use it.

And I am very much a baseball purist. I can't stand the DH, or body armor for diving batters. Heck, I play vintage base ball; that's about as pure as it gets. Still, there are some things that are OK to change. This is one of them.

Answer 3

Human error. It applies to the players; in fact, when they make a mistake it's referred to as an "error". So if playes are fallable why should umpires--almost all of whom are human beings--be held to a higher standard? According to studies, they're correct on 97-or-98% of their calls and that;s better than most players' fielding percentage. The only reason replay is being debated here and now is that a couple of New York teams got their panties in a twist over a couple of missed homerun calls. These errors by the umps did not affect the outcome of the game but it's as if New Yorkers think instant replay will magically cure what ails their teams. I've got a news flash for you: That ain't gonna happen. Major league baseball has survived for over 100 hundred years without using instant replay and there's no need for it now. Calls even out in the long run and there's o need to delay what is already a snail-paced game by having an ump look at video on homeruns, foul balls, hit batters, or whatever. Humans make mstakes. Get over it.

Answer 4

well let see I would have to say no! If they were to even try it I could not even imagine what they ( the owners and the players union and the umpires union) would have to go through to figure out what could be reviewable and what could not be. Do they review a called third strike or a home run. What about some one caught stealing? The next question is how do they show they want a review? do they have to call a time out? or throw a little red flag at the umpire? and then what do they lose if the lose the review? do they lose one at bat ? or do they get one out automatically so if its the top of the ninth and the home team is losing and the challenge a play and lose do they only get 2 outs that inning? Do they get a certain number of reviews a game an inning ?

That is just some of the things that popped in to my head when I saw that question. Besides a play can be overruled by another umpire that might have had a better look at what happened then the one making the call. so I would have to say no instant replay for baseball.....Ever.

Answer 5

No way jose! Baseball has been judged by the human eye for 100 + years now and no ones ever complained about it before. Now one contraversial call and everyones all like "there should be instant replay in baseball." No there should not! Let the umpires do there job! There job is to call the game as they see it!

Answer 6

I'm totally against it.

Sure, errors happen, but isn't that what makes the game so exciting? I say we just leave it the way it is. If they start doing an instant replay on homeruns, its only a matter of time before they do it on everything else. Pretty soon, those 3 hour games will turn into 5 hour games.

Answer 7

Instant replay would ruin the game Ruth, Cobb, Robinson, Speaker, Wagner (and so on) made. Do you even think they EVER EVER asked for instant replay? NO! Why should we today in 2007? Its the same game it was for over 100 years, lets keep it that way. The way it needs to be....

Answer 8

I am completely against instant replay. While some bad calls will have a negative effect on your team, just as many will have a positive one. Instant replay would harm the purity of the game and the reliance of umpires. what would they turn to if instant replay started to not workout? calling balls and strikes determined by a hollogram of the strike zone? we need to keep the game pure and let it be played as it is


you know how excited you get when a call is turned in your team's favor! It just adds imperfections - and for some reason i like that.

Answer 9

MLB needs an instant replay. I no longer want to see the managers and players being suspended and fighting and then blaming their loss on the call. I also no longer want games to be ended or rallies to be stopped because of horrible calls. Obviously though, their must be strict rules like the NFL, including only a certain number of challenges and only for certain instances, not balls and strikes.

Answer 10

Never. It takes away from the integrity of the game. Baseball was designed in the old days and not meant for replay. I am totally against this replay in baseball.