After watching game 2 of the World Series between the Yankees and Phillies last night, it is clear that baseball needs to have some sort of instant replay. How many games are going to be questioned, what would have, could have happened if the umps didn’t blow this call and that call?
I recently read a very well written and insightful article by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports. I’ll sum up the article and give my opinion below:
He talks about how in the post game interview Charlie Manuel flat out said “Utley was safe.” He mentions how when questioned about whether or not he had caught the ball, Ryan Howard said, “Well, they called him out” and then he winked. The two plays referenced above could have hugely altered the outcome of the game. He then lists the near dozen big time mistakes that the umpires have made during this postseason alone.
He goes on to counter what many people, including Shane Victorino, say about instant replay- you can’t review every play or it would take 7 hours to play a game. Passan counters with saying that moderation is key and he alludes to the NFL.
That is the solution, you keep the existing instant replay rules regarding homeruns, but you add to it by implementing a challenge flag procedure exactly like the NFL has. The NFL has a proven system that works, each manager would get two “challenges” of calls per game. If it is a huge play the manager calls the challenge and the umpires check the replay. It really is that simple. The system works and it would not extend the game by any noticeable amount of time, with a 3 minute max review time that is a maximum of 12 minutes that could get added to each game– really not a big deal to get the calls correct.
Once again, I recommend that you read Passan’s article. Fell free to comment below or send me a tweet @MikesPickz
