Instant Replay Rules for MLB

[rickh150]

In the spirit of the week, this topic needs to be brought up again. I'm sure that there are a few different threads out there with similar topics. Yet, with what happened in Detroit, most people with a moderate interest in baseball are talking about instant replay. What would some realistic options be for MLB? You and I both know that there is not going to be a dramatic and drastic switch in the way the game is called. Balls and strikes are off limits. Yet, change is coming with the new commisioner.

 

Here is my take for realistic change:

1. Managers get one "challege", like in football. No flags, however. A manager simply tells an ump that he would like to challenge the call with a 5th ump looking at a monitor in the booth(or use 3 in the field and 1 in the booth)- safe, out, fair, foul, HR, not a HR(everything but strikes and balls).

2. If the call is reversed, the manager retains his challenge for the rest of the game.

3. If the call stands, the manager cannot challenge for the rest of the game. Also, the manager cannot leave the dugout to talk to the umpire for the rest of the game. Upon doing so, he is ejected.

 

This could be possible. The game actually would speed up under such rules. No more 5 to 10 minute manager arguments. Simply have the play reviewed by another ump. This would also help umpires and insure themselves of possible embarrassment when blown calls inevitably happen.

 

In the spirit of the week, this is my take on a reasonable step forward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[owbc]

I agree 100% with the "challenge" idea.

 

I would also like to see an MLB-gameday style display on the scoreboard. Balls and strikes would be completely computerized. The scoreboard could also tell the crowd the pitch type/speed/break/etc. This would help the average fan learn the different pitch types and have something interesting to look at besides the play on the field. The umpires would still make safe/out calls on the bases, signal balls/strikes for the players, judge foul tips, etc. An extra umpire would also be needed to program the strike zone for each individual hitter, since a home-field technician could not be trusted.

 

Of course, I do not see that happening before about 2030, but the technology is there.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

I would also like to see an MLB-gameday style display on the scoreboard.

That is an outstanding idea. No questions, no arguments, no excuses...it's all just out there in black and white. I love it.

[topper09er]

1. Managers get one "challege", like in football. No flags, however. A manager simply tells an ump that he would like to challenge the call with a 5th ump looking at a monitor in the booth(or use 3 in the field and 1 in the booth)- safe, out, fair, foul, HR, not a HR(everything but strikes and balls).

 

Everyone who proposes these ideas fail to realize the implications of this. What if an OF traps a ball with runners on base and its called the third out, where do you put the runners? What if the runner fell down and could have easily been thrown out after the trap, do you assume he would have been thrown out. What if it there was 1 out and a runner was tagging and was then thrown out for a double play, do you give the batter 2nd base since he would have gone there on the throw to home? What if a ball is ruled a hit and runners advance, but replay shows a catch, do you put the runners back? What if you had Carlos Gomez on 3rd, do you assume he would have scored because he is fast, but if it was McGehee you dont get the run because he is slow? What if you have R1, R2, double play attempt with 1 out, runner called out at first but R2 was trying to score? Reaplay shows runner safe at first, if he was called safe at first on the field the 1B would have had a chacne to throw the runner out at home. Does the runner get to score, go back to 3rd. The defense would surely complain that they had a chacne to throw him out? The list of special situations which would have to be applied to replay situations would fill volumes and you couldnt just show it on the screen to the average fan.

 

3. If the call stands, the manager cannot challenge for the rest of the game. Also, the manager cannot leave the dugout to talk to the umpire for the rest of the game. Upon doing so, he is ejected.

 

I never understand this, isnt the point of replay to get the call right, what possible sense does it make to have a clause like this. What if Jim Leyland was wrong on some call eariler in the game and was out of challenges? Then everything is all fine and good?

 

This could be possible. The game actually would speed up under such rules. No more 5 to 10 minute manager arguments.

 

A little too idealistic here. Do you honestly think this will speed up games? Everyone acts like every call in baseball is obvious, I have DVR and a few points are that 1) whenever I think the ump was wrong there were right, 2) There are MANY plays where you cannot tell what the right call is using instant replay. Also, if you are giving this 5th umpire this job he is giong to take his sweet time, just like in the NFL, because they know the same views they are getting will be replayed on ESPN for a week, so they are going to make 100% sure they are correct, they will not just take 1 look in 15 seconds and say OK we have a decision, play ball. Even the play last night it appeared that the ball moved in Galarraga's glove making it not 100% obvious that he had complete control of the ball, it would have probably been reviewed a dozen times by the 5th ump.

 

Managers argue with umps for many reasons and they are not to just question calls, it is mostly to stand up for their players. Also, they certainly do not last for 5 minutes.

 

 

My point is that I dont care if the call is wrong, IT IS A GAME. Plus, wrong calls RARELY happen in situations which actually cause the wrong team to win. Having controvesial things is interesting and memorable and make baseball a great game. There are millions of people all over who think baseball is "boring" are overreacting to this and talking about instant replay, its good for the game. Its fun to talk about blown calls and would could have beens. The home fans boo when a call goes against them no matter what and that is part of the game. The game would slow down far too much for no reason because some call reversal wont change the outcome and everyones time will just be wasted.

[TooLiveBrew]

Its fun to talk about blown calls and would could have beens.

 

While I appreciate the perspective you're lending here, no -- for me, it's really not. It's obnoxious.

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

In one single night we had an ump blow a historic perfect game call and an ump win the game for the Mariners in extra innings. That doesn't seem that rare to me. Every game players have to adjust to a different ump's so called "strike zone". If the technology is there and the bugs can be worked out that don't overly delay the game I don't see why it's not an improvement. Having controversial calls make baseball memorable all right...for all the wrong reasons. It may be part of the game now, but it doesn't have to be.

 

Why can't baseball evolve and get better? Why does it have to be stuck in the stone ages with excuses made by "traditionalists" about how bad umpiring is part of the game? Baseball is indeed a great game, but it sure didn't feel like it was run like one last night.

[topper09er]

TooLiveBrew[/b]]Its fun to talk about blown calls and would could have beens.

 

While I appreciate the perspective you're lending here, no -- for me, it's really not. It's obnoxious.

Sorry but for me its obnoxious that someone can care so much about a game that you cant have fun with it and realize how special that game was last night. It will now be talked about for a much longer time and be remembered by many people because of the controversy. There are probably millions of people at work today talking about baseball who didnt even know what a perfect game was before last night, let alone could even name Dallas Braden.

 

Once we start with replay it will just keep getting longer and worse and more boring (just like in football) I guarantee eventually a team will be out of challenges and not be able to challenge some play that ended up being very important in some NFL playoff game and they will just allow unlimited challenges. If you watch college football you know that now 90% of scoring plays are just automatically challenged and it takes the life out of the crowd and wastes time on TV.

 

THIS IS A GAME, the most important aspect is not to get perfect calls, it is to make it enjoyable for the fans. The delayed celebrations in football are no where near the same level of excitement for the fan than the real thing.

 

Im not some traditionalist who thinks oght to be done they used to be in good ol' days just because, I want the game to be EXCITING.

 

 

[TooLiveBrew]

Sorry but for me its obnoxious that someone can care so much about a game that you cant have fun with it and realize how special that game was last night.

 

I fail to see how I can't recognize that, enjoy baseball, and find the blown call & subsequent lack of action by MLB obnoxious.

 

 

THIS IS A GAME, the most important aspect is not to get perfect calls, it is to make it enjoyable for the fans.

 

And you're only one fan. Obviously there are many, many more that enjoy things like this more when they aren't botched by a bad call & subsequent lack of action by MLB.

[topper09er]

I fail to see how I can't recognize that, enjoy baseball, and find the blown call & subsequent lack of action by MLB obnoxious.

 

Because who cares, it doesnt affect your life, its something to talk about for a little bit and then forget. But I do understand your desire to have the call correct so we disagree.

 

And you're only one fan. Obviously there are many, many more that enjoy things like this more when they aren't botched by a bad call & subsequent lack of action by MLB.

 

Not including people on this board I really think is just a typical overreation by many, many people who arent really baseball fans, dont understand the game, only follow their team if they are good or the Yankees...on ESPN the guys on NFL live and NBA live are voicing their opinions about instant replay in MLB just like all the morons on youtube, how bout you explain the infield fly rule to me before you act like you should be the commisioner. I feel that in general there are many decisions in life forced on people by other people who are not involved that much, just like how many little leagues have all these dumb rules where every kid has playing time minimums and bla bla. They were not implemented by the coaches or parents who are baseball fans, they are forced upon the league by some moms and dads of the kids who suck who dont know the difference between a fastball and curveball. We should not give into the overreation of the masses and implement instant replay because most people on the internet want it.

 

Obviously you and I disagree and we can debate it based on our reasons, but you cannot use the majority of people on ESPN or youtubers who spent 5 hours a day on facebook and use that as an arguement to support your cause...the most popular show currently on TV is dancing with the stars.

 

[AJAY]

I have always supported the idea of instant replay being expanded to overturn any bad call. History is full of thousands of examples where technology has either assisted or replaced what ordinary humans do. It's called PROGRESS. Every aspect of life uses technology nowadays. MLB should be no different.

 

I personally don't understand the need to have a "human element" anymore. I would rather see the calls made correctly with replay as a tool to help umpires or settle disputes.I have been to games where the Brewers have lost due to a terrible call, and I literally leave the ballpark feeling angry, cheated, and wanting my money back. If the umpires were to overturn a call that originally favored the Brewers, I could live with it knowing that the play was reviewed and the correct call was made.

 

I agree that there are a lot of details to be worked out, but I think MLB, the players union, and the umpires union need to agree in principle that the goal should be to eliminate umpire errors using any technology available.

[TooLiveBrew]

Obviously you and I disagree and we can debate it based on our reasons, but you cannot use the majority of people on ESPN or youtubers who spent 5 hours a day on facebook and use that as an arguement to support your cause...the most popular show currently on TV is dancing with the stars.

 

I didn't mention Dancing With the Stars/ESPN/YouTube/casual fans. I think, given the comments here (which is what I was referring to... should've emphasized that), the vast majority of die-hard baseball fans (at least here) were perturbed & want to see that call overturned.

[pebadger]

I'm perturbed, wish Joyce would have gotten it right, but do not want the call overturned. Whatever happened, happened.

 

I can live with baseball expanding instant replay, but my gut reaction is that they will initially get it wrong when/if they do. Baseball is just too dynamic in terms of continuous action when the ball is in play to come up with any kind of really good, comprehensive system on the first time through.

[dlk9s]

Sorry but for me its obnoxious that someone can care so much about a game that you cant have fun with it and realize how special that game was last night. It will now be talked about for a much longer time and be remembered by many people because of the controversy. There are probably millions of people at work today talking about baseball who didnt even know what a perfect game was before last night, let alone could even name Dallas Braden.

Personally, I think the game would have been much more special had the correct call been made and the pitcher gotten to celebrate his perfect game. That, and Jeff Joyce's life would be better because he wouldn't have ruined Gallaraga's moment. If the game is talked about for a longer time than the other perfect games, it's for a bad reason.

THIS IS A GAME, the most important aspect is not to get perfect calls,

it is to make it enjoyable for the fans. The delayed celebrations in

football are no where near the same level of excitement for the fan than

the real thing.

I believe fans will enjoy the game more if the correct calls are made. Only those into schadenfreude enjoyed the blown perfect game call.

[jeffy]

I don't want wrong calls, but I even more do not want replay taking away from the normal flow of the game. It really does not add to the game to have everything stop and the umpires leave the field to look at a TV screen to verify if a home run occurred or not. I do not want to see more of this. I'm not against using technology but it would have to be done in a way that does not work the way replay does in the sports that use it.

The officials on the field or ice call a touchdown or a goal scored, but the fans at the game don't really know if the scoring actually occurred until after somebody studies 10 different views on a screen and then an anti-climatic announcement is made.

[adambr2]

My system -- each manager receives 2 challenges, that must be used prior to the first pitch of the 9th inning. In the 9th inning and every inning thereafter, the booth will review any questionable, reviewable play. The manager simply signals to the homeplate umpire that he wishes to challenge. The booth has 90 seconds to review the play. The 2 challenges are enough for each manager to be able to fairly challenge game-changing plays prior to the 9th inning, but limited enough where a manager won't use challenges pointlessly.

 

Reviewable plays -- a play at any base including a force out or tag play. If a runner had been called out and was found safe on review, play is dead at that point if the mistaken out was the 3rd out -- all other runners return to the respective bases that they had been on. If mistaken out was the 1st or 2nd, play is still considered live at that point, any other runners who advanced, scored, or were tagged out during continuation of the play will be allowed.

 

If a runner had been called safe and was shown to be out upon review, play is dead if that had been the 3rd out, any advancements will be nullified and the inning ends. Again, play continuation WILL count if it ends up only being the 1st or 2nd out upon review.

 

All base reviews apply to all baserunning situations, whether balls in play, stolen base attempts, etc, whether the play was made while advancing, or retreating to a base.

 

A runner leaving prematurely on a sac fly is reviewable. If the runner leaves early, the umpire will not make that call until after the play at the next base or home plate is made. If the runner is safe, but the umpire rules he left early upon appeal, that is reviewable for the sake of awarding that base to the runner.

 

No play will be overturned without conclusive video evidence.

 

All other plays (balls, strikes, balks, trapped balls, fair/foul on the field calls, are not reviewable). I would like a way to review these plays, but I'm not sure how feasible it is. A ball incorrectly ruled fair could easily be overturned by having the runners retreat and returning the batter back to the box. However, a ball incorrectly ruled foul will result in no play continuation. Therefore, there's really no way to overturn that unless you're just going to automatically rule a ground-rule double after review and have the runners advance accordingly. Rather than get into that, I think it would be better to keep such fair/foul calls as non-reviewable -- for now.

[pitchleague]

what if they went to a "challenge" system with reviews but each team were given one challenge PER WEEK? Yeah, it might be a bit of paperwork nightmare keeping track of who has their challenge and who doesn't, but think about it, if you've got a reviewable play occurring during a game on Monday, as the manager you have have to decide if it's big enough of a situation to blow your challenge or save it for a possible "bigger" game later in the week.

 

Otherwise, I'm all for review on close plays at the bag/plate, trap/catch in the outfield and fair/foul calls on balls hit down the lines. But, yeah, use a booth review like the Big Ten does to keep the game moving. Balls/strikes, however, should never be reviewable.

[bani1717]

I personally don't understand the need to have a "human element" anymore. I would rather see the calls made correctly with replay as a tool to help umpires or settle disputes.I have been to games where the Brewers have lost due to a terrible call, and I literally leave the ballpark feeling angry, cheated, and wanting my money back. If the umpires were to overturn a call that originally favored the Brewers, I could live with it knowing that the play was reviewed and the correct call was made.

I want to start by saying that I'm not against replay when it can be reasonably implemented. Like many have pointed out though, that's easier said than done.

 

In response to this post, do you feel cheated and want your money back when the ball takes a funny "in-between" hop that one of our guys can't grab? Or when the wind is blowing strongly in and turns what would've been a home run into a fly out? The umpires are currently part of the game, like it or not, and no human being is perfect. It's part of the luck of the game whether any one close call does or doesn't go your way, just like in those other circumstances.

 

I can understand being unhappy that your team lost on a tight call, but that wouldn't make me so angry that I'd want my money back, it's just bad luck. I'd be frustrated for sure, but no more so than I would be for a weird bounce of the ball or something like that. If anything, I'd get angry that we couldn't capitalize on one more opportunity to make that one call not even matter. While many may think the Brewers lost due to a terrible call, the terrible call will be one of many things that caused the Brewers to lose. It'd be the on-field performance that I paid to see that would make me want my money back, if anything.

 

I don't oppose replays, I just completely disagree with the notion that it needs to be implemented so that people don't feel screwed by one call. Blaming one ump/call is a conveneint excuse people might use to make themselves feel better about the loss. It's blaming some outside force and not poor play that caused the loss.

 

And also, while Jim Joyce obviously felt terrible, I think that in the long run he'll look back on this experience fondly. He'll realize that he basically did witness a perfect game, and while it was a very inconvenient time to make the wrong call, he'll remember Gallaraga's positive reaction and when Gallaraga brought him the lineup card the next day. I'm sure that means very much to him. After he gets over the initial agony of blowing the call, I would guess he'll have good memories of this time.

 

 

[AJAY]

In response to this post, do you feel cheated and want your money back when the ball takes a funny "in-between" hop that one of our guys can't grab? Or when the wind is blowing strongly in and turns what would've been a home run into a fly out? The umpires are currently part of the game, like it or not, and no human being is perfect. It's part of the luck of the game whether any one close call does or doesn't go your way, just like in those other circumstances.

 

 

If a ball takes a bad hop or the wind affects the flight of a ball, I don't feel cheated because nobody really screwed anything up in those situations. But when an umpire blows a call, it seems very correctible. I would rather have the correct call than leave things to the "luck of the game". I don't find the sport to be more charming because umpires make mistakes. I don't need the storylines that go with mistakes either.

 

One could even argue that teams have made progress in improving field and weather conditions thanks to fancier drainage systems, better leveling techniques, and retractable domes. If it is really windy at Miller Park, they close the window panels to reduce extraneous wind effects. I realize not all stadiums have these things and that not all teams can afford this stuff, but the point is that technology is constantly being used to improve things wherever possible.