Radical idea for instant replay

[young guns]

So basically a play happens where a team wants reviewed and it gets kicked to new york and, instead of someone whos been watching the game, it gets looked at by someone looking at it with a fresh perspective. They get it completely context neutral. No score, no inning/time remaining (works for all sports), not what the call was on the field, nor who asked for the review. Heck, if it was possible they should cover which teams are playing, though that would be hard for games where theres only one going on like playoffs and stadiums with recognizable features or recognizable players. Their job is then to just make a call on the play as they see it.

 

The object is to eliminate biases, both concious and unconscious, and in theory could shorten the length of replay reviews because instead of looking for something to overturn they would just be looking at it. I would also have it be like a group of 3 or 5 looking at it and discussing it, though im not sure if they do this already. Also, once it goes to review, the call is then made by the reviewers. There would be no call stands, except in specific cases where theres no view of what happened, mostly in football when you have all those bodies blocking the action on fumbles or goaline attempts.

 

As it stands now, the system is set up to assume that the officials on the field are in the best positions to get the best looks and i think its silly to think that. I doubt anything like this will ever be implemented though.

[Dean Machine]

This sounds like Adam Carolla's replay Gimp he wants instituted in the NFL where he says someone in the gimp outfit from pulp fiction is locked in a box and then is dragged out to look at a play with no idea of what call was made or what the game situation was etc. )

[jerichoholicninja]

I'd say the problem is that fellow umps are reviewing the plays and they are less likely to change calls to protect each other. The plays in question rarely require any sort of in depth knowledge of the rules of baseball to get right so MLB should hire their own non-umpire people to review the plays with an umpire in the room to help with any weird rules issues.

[DaSpark]

Honestly, I say just do away with instant replay. Half of the calls they make on the replay are wrong anyway.

 

However, if you want to keep it then the only good solution is to install 4K cameras at all ballparks. Ever wonder why you get crystal clear freeze shots in the NFL but not MLB? It's because the NFL utilizes 4K cameras in all the parks. You can zoom in so far on a 4K camera where you can count the whiskers on the players and still not have pixelization. If MLB did the same you would see an instant increase in correct replay calls.

[Cool Hand Lucroy]

I like this idea. I sometimes wonder why they don't just automatically have someone in New York looking at close plays on the bases and fair/foul calls. It seems like it should be pretty quick, and if it's too close to tell on two quick angles, why bother with the challenge system? Assuming they have the resources and the technology to do it quickly, this would make sense to me.

 

My own radical replay thought is to try and eliminate the "popped off the base" call. I know it goes against the rules, but it seems silly to me that a runner can make a reasonable slide, lose the bag for an instant in the process of a transfer while being tagged, be ruled safe initially, and then called out. Part of me would like to see 2nd and 3rd operate more like 1st. If you overslide the bag, you're out, but once you hit, that counts a full touch in the case there's a momentary loss of contact. Obviously that's a really tough distinction sometimes, but I want to think it's workable, mainly because replay doesn't seem made to reverse safe calls where the runner pops off or is brushed off the bag.

 

Just a thought.

[Baldkin]

They need to go the college football route. Have an extra umpire/replay official in the booth. Stop with the stupid challenges. If something needs to be reviewed, buzz the home plate umpire. 30 extra seconds is added to the clock (1 minute total), then if it isn't decided by then, call on the field stands.

[jerichoholicninja]

They need to go the college football route. Have an extra umpire/replay official in the booth. Stop with the stupid challenges. If something needs to be reviewed, buzz the home plate umpire. 30 extra seconds is added to the clock (1 minute total), then if it isn't decided by then, call on the field stands.

 

This, to me, is just the most obvious way to do replay in all sports. Giving teams a limited amount of challenges means any mistakes after those challenges are gone go uncorrected which defeats the whole purpose of having replay.

[FVBrewerFan]

They need to go the college football route. Have an extra umpire/replay official in the booth. Stop with the stupid challenges. If something needs to be reviewed, buzz the home plate umpire. 30 extra seconds is added to the clock (1 minute total), then if it isn't decided by then, call on the field stands.

 

This, to me, is just the most obvious way to do replay in all sports. Giving teams a limited amount of challenges means any mistakes after those challenges are gone go uncorrected which defeats the whole purpose of having replay.

 

Since a lot of people seem to have an issue with pace of play, this would add even more time to a game. Every close play would result in a team slowing things down to see if the call is getting reversed or not.

[pacopete4]

Why can't the MLB just hire a larger group of "umpires" to watch games as they are being played? There could be some way for this umpire to buzz in on a close play that looks wrong. They get 30-60 seconds. If it can't be decided by then, you move on with the game. Instant replay was never and should never be something that holds up play. It really has become tiresome and like others have mentioned, even then they don't always get the play right after the review anyways. This would at least keep the pace of play going. Nothing worse than a game being derailed by a review.

[tmwiese55]

They need to go the college football route. Have an extra umpire/replay official in the booth. Stop with the stupid challenges. If something needs to be reviewed, buzz the home plate umpire. 30 extra seconds is added to the clock (1 minute total), then if it isn't decided by then, call on the field stands.

 

This, to me, is just the most obvious way to do replay in all sports. Giving teams a limited amount of challenges means any mistakes after those challenges are gone go uncorrected which defeats the whole purpose of having replay.

 

Since a lot of people seem to have an issue with pace of play, this would add even more time to a game. Every close play would result in a team slowing things down to see if the call is getting reversed or not.

 

That is my biggest complain as it is, the stand around for 15-30 seconds over and over all game while their guy looks at it. Then you still have to wait for the booth to look at it.

 

I've been saying for a long time that all sports should go the CFB route and just have a guy buzz down to give them a quick second to look at it. Rather than the stops you see in the NFL/NBA and then the on field ref has to go look. The decision could be done before those guys would even get to the monitor if done properly. To try and ensure nothing gets dragged out you could have something in like if the booth doesn't call for the stoppage in X amount of seconds then it can't be stopped. So the teams would have no incentive to kill time.

[FVBrewerFan]

Yes, but if you do that, the replay center will be buzzing in a lot more often to review close plays. Baseball lends itself to having a lot of close plays. Basically, we're saying the number of reviews could be unlimited, and that certainly won't speed up the time of games.

[jerichoholicninja]

Yes, but if you do that, the replay center will be buzzing in a lot more often to review close plays. Baseball lends itself to having a lot of close plays. Basically, we're saying the number of reviews could be unlimited, and that certainly won't speed up the time of games.

 

That's a good point. Most tag plays you could scrutinize for 15 minutes and still not come to a 100% conclusion.

[tmwiese55]

I agree on that problem. But that's already a problem with the current system, they're stopping over and over all games while the manager stands on the step waiting for word from his people. And if there is someone dedicated to every game like in CFB, he's already looking at every play immediately. Most would be done very quickly. Whereas now, the guys don't even look at it until requested. So you have somewhere in the 30-45 seconds gone before they start looking at it. This way the guy is looking right away, and would have like 30 seconds to buzz. Most times he'll already know by then or just after. Note that I'm just spitballing here and haven't really looked into this much. Just thinking as I go and of my general thought the last couple years that CFB has the best way.

 

I suppose another tweak to the current system would be to not allow someone in the clubhouse (or whoever is watching and telling them now) to tell the manager what to do. So you have your challenges on gut and what yours or basecoaches eyes see. Hopefully would get rid of the standing around waiting thing that goes on

[Baldkin]

Yes, but if you do that, the replay center will be buzzing in a lot more often to review close plays. Baseball lends itself to having a lot of close plays. Basically, we're saying the number of reviews could be unlimited, and that certainly won't speed up the time of games.

 

Again. You cap it at 60 seconds.

If it can't be determined in 60 seconds, you go with the call on the field.

 

They are already taking a minute just to have the guy in the clubhouse wait and see if they should challenge the call anyway every single time.

[MrTPlush]

People they already start looking at close plays before it is ever challenged. There are guys sitting there waiting for a close play to be bumped over to them to look at. The time the manager is sitting on the top step holding up the game it is already being reviewed.

 

It takes long because they have to make sure there is nothing not obvious that could be the call a different way. Like oh he is obviously safe, but wait his hand actually popped off, but we rushed it and missed it.

[dlk9s]

Honestly, I say just do away with instant replay. Half of the calls they make on the replay are wrong anyway.

 

lol no

[pacopete4]

Yes, but if you do that, the replay center will be buzzing in a lot more often to review close plays. Baseball lends itself to having a lot of close plays. Basically, we're saying the number of reviews could be unlimited, and that certainly won't speed up the time of games.

 

Again. You cap it at 60 seconds.

If it can't be determined in 60 seconds, you go with the call on the field.

 

They are already taking a minute just to have the guy in the clubhouse wait and see if they should challenge the call anyway every single time.

 

Yes, I agree here. If you can't see it in 60 seconds then play on and it is what it is.

[tmwiese55]

If they're already looking at this stuff immediately then they need to just speed things up. The average must about just under 90 seconds for the replay itself (forgetting the 20-30 before and whatever aftermath), some go a bit shorter, some longer. Tack on the 30ish seconds before it and you should have been able to watch everything 20 times. Then of course tack on the 30ish seconds blown another 10 times throughout the game to him and haw.

 

IDK, I'm in the camp of dedicate one person to each game and do it like CFB. Find a way to make it so no putzing around delaying the game. And maybe give each team 2 challenges they can use if for some reason the booth doesn't stop, which should almost never happen or be needed.

[SomewhereInTime]

Honestly, I say just do away with instant replay. Half of the calls they make on the replay are wrong anyway.

 

However, if you want to keep it then the only good solution is to install 4K cameras at all ballparks. Ever wonder why you get crystal clear freeze shots in the NFL but not MLB? It's because the NFL utilizes 4K cameras in all the parks. You can zoom in so far on a 4K camera where you can count the whiskers on the players and still not have pixelization. If MLB did the same you would see an instant increase in correct replay calls.

 

After watching this atrocity over the last few years, I'm convinced they do nothing more than flip a coin to decide the outcome in New York.

 

It doesn't have to be that way either, the NFL nearly always gets it right on replay. They do a great job.

[DaSpark]

Honestly, I say just do away with instant replay. Half of the calls they make on the replay are wrong anyway.

 

However, if you want to keep it then the only good solution is to install 4K cameras at all ballparks. Ever wonder why you get crystal clear freeze shots in the NFL but not MLB? It's because the NFL utilizes 4K cameras in all the parks. You can zoom in so far on a 4K camera where you can count the whiskers on the players and still not have pixelization. If MLB did the same you would see an instant increase in correct replay calls.

 

After watching this atrocity over the last few years, I'm convinced they do nothing more than flip a coin to decide the outcome in New York.

 

It doesn't have to be that way either, the NFL nearly always gets it right on replay. They do a great job.

 

That's my point though. The NFL does such a great job because they have cameras with the resolution (4K) to zoom in and see exactly what happened in crystal clear (non-pixelated) shots. Most MLB instant replays could also be just as decisive and get the call correct if they had 4K shots to review. With 4K even if the play was a matter of a hundredth of a centimeter or 1/100th of a second you can tell and get the call correct with near 100% accuracy.

[FVBrewerFan]

I don't think many (any?) NFL games are in 4k yet? CBS is planning to get there by the end of the season.