It's Happening

by Eric Simon on Aug 14, 2008 5:39 PM EDT in Commentary Comment 17 comments

Can you feel it? Instant replay in baseball is happening, perhaps as soon as the end of the month. Here's what we know:

MLB ballparks are being wired for instant replay as we speak
The replay feeds will go to a "war room" in New York City, where baseball officials will review questionable plays (like the one the NHL employs).
Instant replay will only be used to determine homerun calls on the basis of fair/foul or before/beyond the wall.
Instant replay will *not* be used on close plays, ball/strike calls, etc.
Instant replay does not require a vote by the owners because it isn't technically a rule change.

The Mets have been on the short end of a few botched homerun calls this season, so in the interest of simply getting those calls right I fully endorse the use of replay in those situations. Considering that the umpires already congregate to discuss Jebus-knows-what on questionable calls, I wouldn't expect replay to be much of an encumbrance time-wise. The NHL has it down to a science, and in a lot of ways the baseball replays will be far easier to discern.

While the exact timetable for its institution is as yet unknown, expect instant replay to be ready in time for the end of the season and, for sure, the forthcoming postseason.

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my question is...

why a “war room” in new york? what’s gonna happen when there is a power outage or some technical glitch? are they saying that the umpire’s can’t get together, look at a few different angles of the ball on an HDTV there at the ballpark and determine whether or not it’s a home run? why is the wheel being re-invented here?

i bet Bud Selig’s a$$ cheeks are sweatin wonderin how this is going to play out.

"LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES AND ESPN...GIVE ME A BREAK."

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 14, 2008 6:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

It's not being reinvented

The same setup is used for determining questionable goals in the NHL and it works extraordinarily well. The logistics of bringing HD technology onto the field for the umpires to use would be a lot of work. It would take a matter of seconds for New York to review the play from every angle available and report back whether it was a homerun or not.

by Eric Simon on Aug 14, 2008 10:44 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

we'll see

"LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES AND ESPN...GIVE ME A BREAK."

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 15, 2008 1:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rule Change

I certainly am not an expert on the MLB rule book (nor I have I done more than give it a cursory glance), but I don’t understand how this does not constitute a rule change. The following rules, when viewed in conjunction, appear to give the umpires (rather than technicians in a war room) final authority over the calls on the field:

9.02 (a) Any umpire’s decision which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to,
whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a
runner is safe or out, is final. No player, manager, coach or substitute shall object to
any such judgment decisions.

9.04 © If different decisions should be made on one play by different umpires, the
umpire-in-chief shall call all the umpires into consultation, with no manager or
player present. After consultation, the umpire-in-chief (unless another umpire may
have been designated by the league president) shall determine which decision shall
prevail, based on which umpire was in best position and which decision was most
likely correct. Play shall proceed as if only the final decision had been made.

The only possible way around these rules would be if the head umpire has to request that the play be reviewed, and then he makes the final decision based on the war room’s recommendation. However, even this scenario appears to run counter 9.04©. The rule clearly states “the umpire-in-chief shall call all the umpires into consultation”; the rule fails to mention, and thereby excludes, the possibility of consultation with someone off the field.

"the game, like life, is full of men who are bitter, forgotten, and misunderstood. " - Joshua Love, Pitchfork, August 12, 2008

by Shomov on Aug 14, 2008 6:09 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Shomov

Awesome post! Nice research. I think you nailed it with; 9.04…officials other than the ones on the field making the call is a direct smack in the face to that rule.

"LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES AND ESPN...GIVE ME A BREAK."

by LOUtheMETandNATSfan on Aug 14, 2008 6:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Thanks

"the game, like life, is full of men who are bitter, forgotten, and misunderstood. " - Joshua Love, Pitchfork, August 12, 2008

by Shomov on Aug 14, 2008 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's good research, Shomov

Maybe the interpretation is that an off-field official in the “war room” (I’m not a big fan of that term, but I think the concept works) is deemed “another umpire… designated by the league president” and therefore has the authority to “determine which decision shall prevail” under 9.04c.

Personally, I’m of the opinion that balls and strikes should be automated if possible; I think the idea that different umpires should be allowed to have a bigger or smaller strike zone, or that different pitchers should get more or less leeway, is ridiculous. I don’t expect this to ever happen, because people (for some reason that makes no sense to me) think “human error is part of the game” or something like that, but I figured I’d throw it out there nonetheless.

by JoshNY on Aug 14, 2008 8:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Interesting interpretation

I agree that nothing in the rule book explicitly states that all umpires must be on the field. However, the rules only document the responsibilities of the plate umpire and field umpires (“A field umpire may take any position on the playing field he thinks best suited to make impending decisions on the bases.”) The implication is that all umpires must be on the field.

I do agree, however, that as many calls as possible should be automated. I just think that it is disingenuous to say that such radical changes do not constitute “rule changes.”

"the game, like life, is full of men who are bitter, forgotten, and misunderstood. " - Joshua Love, Pitchfork, August 12, 2008

by Shomov on Aug 14, 2008 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think I agree with you

Calling it “not a rule change” is a bit disingenuous. I was really just trying to come up with a plausible explanation, but I’m not sure I’d be sold on it if someone tried to convince me that it was correct.

by JoshNY on Aug 15, 2008 12:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

This interpretation appears to work

Of course, can’t say much of anything without seeing the exact language of the amendment, but this appears to make sense.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 14, 2008 11:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good

I’m relieved that it’s only for Home Runs. I was really dreading the prospect of multiple instant replays per game.

"It's Father's Day today at Shea, so to all you fathers out there, Happy Birthday." -- Ralph Kiner

by dissento on Aug 15, 2008 9:27 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

ridiculous

First, the player all get their own gloves, instead of sharing with the opponent playing the same position.

Next, they built outfield walls instead of letting the ball roll into the crowd hundreds of yards away.

Then, the owners erected lights in every stadium so they could play after the natural setting of the sun.

Now this.

What’s next? Are they going to ride unicorns around the bases?

by mmxii on Aug 15, 2008 11:00 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Additionally

I long for the days when the parks served whiskey and pork knuckles, bookies took bets in the first few rows, and fans threw sharpened umbrellas at the visiting team from the roofs of buildings surrounding the stadiums.

"the game, like life, is full of men who are bitter, forgotten, and misunderstood. " - Joshua Love, Pitchfork, August 12, 2008

by Shomov on Aug 15, 2008 12:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I could get down with the reintroduction of whiskey at ballparks...

We've got ourselves a ball club, the Mets of New York town!

by kingcritical on Aug 15, 2008 12:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

We have that at the AAA park here

but you have to stand in this pen adjacent to the bar, which sort of changes the experience. That’s why I usually just pack a flask.

'Catsmeat!' he cried. 'I see it all. It was that chump, Catsmeat.'

by Catsmeat Potter-Pirbright on Aug 15, 2008 2:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well…

by lonely on Aug 17, 2008 11:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

well

Yeah , I just can’t say much of anything without seeing the exact language of the amendment, and I ’d like to have a chat with some nude babes online directly on
###N A T U R I S T M E E T.com ###, they all care about it….

by lonely on Aug 17, 2008 11:46 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs