Instant Replay Needs To Be Implemented

Bruce Jenkins just wrote a column regarding umpires and the need to bring in a replay system of some sort. I think he hit the nail right on the head: the umpires lost their right to have unanswered calls through sheer incompetence to keep the traditional system.

ogc Thoughts

I've been for a replay system to be put into place, but I've not heard a better, more succinct wording of why it must be done until now:  the umpires lost their right to have unanswered calls through sheer incompetence to keep the traditional umpiring system.  Not that all umpiring is incompetent, but enough that I feel that something needs to be done.  I've been on board for changing the umpiring situation for many decades now.

Hopefully the MLB will do something, but I've been discouraged that anything will happen with umpires since Sandy Alderson left the Commissioner's Office. Sandy's moves, including his great move to accept only certain umpire's letters of resignation (and his great quote on that:  "it is either a threat to be ignored or offer to be accepted"), gave me hope that something would eventually be done, but instead he moved on, and a pitcher lost his perfect no-hitter plus other travesties like the latest string of complaints have happened.

If tradition is the be-all and end-all, they would all still be playing with paper thin gloves, use balls until they are falling apart, spike each other in the legs when sliding, use spitballs regularly, and the homerun ball would still be gauche while the stolen base would still be king.  Times change, technology changes, tradition changes.

For me, it has nothing to do with good teams or bad teams, it has to do with getting the correct result in any game. Recently, there was an out call made when the firstbaseman's foot was a good foot or more off the bag. And while good teams don't usually get beat by bad calls, it can cost them a playoff berth.  The Giants nearly did not make the 2010 playoffs because the umpire called Ishikawa out at home plate when he clearly scored, looking at the replay, costing the Giants a win.  Mistakes that are so obvious using current technology simply cannot be tolerated.

And I love baseball's perfect/imperfect blend as much as anyone else. I think that there is greater skill involved - see how many high school teenagers make it in other sports vs. baseball - and that is part of why I love it, as I see/feel the difference.  As a former (not so good) ballplayer, I can appreciate the ability involved with professional baseball.  As a humanist, I don't want baseball to be sterile either.

I also feel that the MLB can be improved by a replay system. I'm tired of lazy umpiring. I'm tired of blown calls. I'm not there to listen to the umpire call a strike, though that is nice sometimes. I'm there to watch baseball and to see a team's or individual's efforts ruined because the umpire was clearly wrong is infuriating, whether it is my team or another, whether it is a nearly perfect game or a laugher of epic proportions.

I like the human element too so that is why I'm OK with keeping the umpires around and to have them call the strikes (though that also bothers me too). With all the new technologies, I would like to see the MLB better enforce the strikezone as well, grading umpires on their calls, creating minimum standards for consistency with penalties up to losing their job for incompetence.  And instant replay is another aspect of improving umpiring that makes even more sense, to me, at least with balls and strikes, you can maybe recover from a blown call.  Costing a team the tying or winning run is another thing, there are some mistakes that clearly costs one team and benefits the other..

So I totally agree that the human element needs to still be in there, but I really hate when umpires get in the way of the game, the purity of the game, if you will. The game will never be perfect, but at least get the calls right to the best extent possible without ruining or slowing the game.

Bruce's suggestion makes a lot of sense, and there is usually a break in play where the reviewing umpire can override an erroneous call. You don't even need the umpires or the managers asking for a review, the review umpire job is to correct wrong calls, so he should be able to buzz the home plate umpire and inform him of any calls that are changed by the reviewing umpire or let him know it is OK to proceed, that there will be no call.  That way, the home ump keeps the attention of the crowd and not a voice on the loudspeakers announcing to the crowd, like the Wizard of Oz.

That's 15 extra umpires per season,which would probably cost this multi-billion dollar industry less than $5M per season to implement, given how good TV broadcasts are at supplying all the angles almost immediately.  That's a small price to pay to fix egregious umpire errors, and it won't add much time either, to the game, almost seamless, part of the action.  You just have the reviewing umpire somewhere with a panel of screens with the ability to view any play by the various camera angles available.  And he communicates directly with the home plate umpire, who will announce any changed plays.

As much as I enjoy seeing a manager lose it sometimes on calls, I just want the umpires to get it right on the close calls.   To expect humans to do so is folly, but we have the technology to at least help the situation without much additional cost nor much additional time added.  I would also like to see further changes related to consistent strikezones, if not across all umpires, then at least that each umpire is consistent in his calls.  But I understand that a traditional sport like baseball will only change gradually, one battle at a time.

No Better Reason For Instant Replay Rule Now

I'm sure you heard about the Armando Gallaraga perfect game fiasco where the umpire blew the call on THE LAST PLAY OF THE GAME.  I've been wanting this for years now, if not decades.  Unfortunately, it would take something like this to move things.

Hopefully NOW the umpires and/or MLB will agree on some way to implement instant replay to handle instances like this.  I don't know how - red phone hot line, replay machine for umpires similar to when they are trying to figure out whether a home run is hit or not, whatever - mainly because this is something that will be negotiated to death by all concerned, but something has to be done to prevent such a travesty again.

I understand that umpires are not perfect.  But in such a situation, something has to be allowed to make things right.

Age Old Debate: Umpires and the Human Element

There was a nice post on Baseball Prospectus Unfiltered on The Human Element of having umpires decide plays. The author, Joe Sheehan, played with that argument that many make that taking the umpire out would "take out the human element out of the game," and he noted all the things non-human that we are using today while we are not listening to or watching baseball.

I happen to agree with Joe, for the most part, but, of course, I'll be writing about the part I differ on. :^) But first, I totally agree with Joe that there is a lot of rules about baseball that is not open to interpretation, whether who touched first base first, or where the strike zone is. I don't like when umpires make a mistake that costs my team.

This was particularly egregious to me late this season, as I heard a lot of calls go against the Giants, and not an equal amount go for them. And some were blatantly obvious too, like the Schierholtz play at first base, he was clearly safe. I would like such plays to be removed from the game. As Joe noted, there are a lot of things we are non-human that we do and use.

Plenty of Human Element

But I think that goes away from the point, which is about umpires in a game, and losing the human element. I have never understood this point, to be honest. I mean, players are human, are they not?

I think the whole game is very human and taking away the mistakes that umpires make in a game does not remove the humanity from the game, it removes the errors in judgement that umpires make. I think the players make enough errors on the field to keep the human element in spades in the game. Giving the umpires the technology to make the right calls would just make the best sporting game in the world that much better.

Implementation is a Bear

But how would this be implemented without disrupting the game totally? Do we do it like football with replays and the coach gets three for the game? I've never seen any ideas that caught my fancy, but while thinking of it today, here is an idea I came up with, because I don't really like the limit placed on the coach/manager, what if the refs/umpires just have a bad day and just making a lot of poor calls? I mean, we all are human, no?

I think that the following would be a novel way to do it, it should limit the times it happens, yet does not limit the manager if he thinks the umpire team is just not having a good day. Each manager is allowed to question any call that is crucial, that is, causes something to happen on the field. Thus, strike one could not be questioned, but a called strike three can be and, of course, a questionable call on the bases. QuesTech makes correcting pitch calls easy (though not swinging strikes) and viewing a replay (with today's mobile/portable tablets, they can get a good viewing on the field quickly, particularly with a zoom feature and multiple angles) is already being done with HR calls.

However, that could lengthen the game a lot if the manager just feels very disagreeable that day. As a consequence, if the manager is wrong for questioning the call, he has to remove a player off his roster for the game, as if he announced the player to pinch-hit, then took him out when the other team changed their pitcher in response. Thus, this would limit the team from making a lot of calls for replays on any old play, but, if they truly believe that they are being wronged, then they can bring it up. Heck, they can announce the player the team is potentially sacrificing in order to make the call, that can add some suspense.

And it is still human, when you think about it, well, except for QuesTech. The umpires are still looking over the video and deciding what is right and what is wrong. There is still that human judgement involved. Now, however, the clear errors can be removed from the game, and any possible bias is removed (if you don't believe that an umpire can hold a grudge against a team or player, or still secretly roots for a team, then you don't really understand the human element).

Leaving a still very human game to be played, only the rules of the game are applied equally and not randomly going against one team or another. The main negative from this idea is that some player's feeling is going to get hurt, either once his name is announced, if that is what happens, or when he is removed from the game, knowing that the manager didn't think that he was that essential to the team.

The Game Has Changed Over History

Still, it is not like the game has not changed. There are not only divisions now, but the wild card team. And the abominable DH is still in the AL, and will probably stay there forever, the question is whether the NL can be strong enough to not implement it too. I like having the pitcher hit, otherwise, allow designated fielders too, heck, why not be like football and have an offensive and defensive team? It is not like that would slow down the game, heck, they can get in and out faster, no need to take a quick break, get your glove or whatever. The main problem would be, how do you now fit 40-50 people in a dugout built to fit 25-30? And there is the HR replay now, and probably other technology that will make their way into the game some day.

Heck, nobody today remembers, but it used to be 3 balls for a walk, the distance to the mound was variable for a while, we used to allow spitballs, batters hit without batting helmets, we used to continue to use the ball until it was falling apart, players would spike others regularly. The game has changed and will continue to change. But it should still be the great game that we love.