FanHouse Instant Replay

With baseball using instant replay for the first time on Wednesday night to give Alex Rodriguez his latest pointless home run (Alex also homered last night to help the Yankees only lose by two), it's obvious we've entered a new age in the sport. Of course, all the opponents of instant replay were against it because they weren't sure where it would end.

Yeah, it only starts with home runs, but soon it will be safe or out, fair or foul, and ultimately, balls and strikes. Well, while it looks like umpires can still judge a pitch's location, we may end up needing robot umpires anyway. The human ones the game utilizes now can't count.

In the fourth inning Thursday, [Sean] Rodriguez struck out on what the scoreboard said was a full-count pitch. But a pitch-by-pitch replay of the at-bat confirmed that Rodriguez actually struck out on a 4-and-2 pitch.

Neither plate umpire Tim Welke nor Angels Manager Mike Scioscia noticed the mistake. At 2-2, Rodriguez said Welke asked Tigers catcher Brandon Inge what the count was.

"He said he thought it was 1-2, and I said I thought it was 1-2 also," Rodriguez said. "He thanked me for my honesty."

See, this is what happens to a sport when they draft players straight out of high school and let them skip college. Their math and counting skills just deteriorate.

There are quite a few people out there who will tell you that the only reason MLB finally decided to implement the use of replay in it's games this season is because there were a few bad calls in New York. Had their been a rash of missed calls in a couple of Royals games, nobody would have cared, and it never would have happened.

While there's probably some truth behind those feelings, I highly doubt they were the only reasons baseball finally woke up and joined the 21st century, but it is fitting that the very first use of the new replay system involved Alex Rodriguez and the Yankees.

Tropicana Field hosted history on Wednesday night, when instant replay was used for the first time in Major League history.

Alex Rodriguez hit a 2-2 pitch from Rays closer Troy Percival high over the foul pole in left in the ninth inning and, to add to the confusion, the ball ricocheted off the D-ring catwalk. Third-base umpire Brian Runge ruled the ball fair.

Dioner Navarro and Rays manager Joe Maddon both argued that the ball was foul, and after a brief talk amongst themselves, the umpires decided to break the replay cherry. Two minutes and fifteen seconds later they emerged with the news that they were right, the ball was fair.

The game went on, Tropicana Field did not self destruct, and the sun came up this morning.

It's the question that's been on every sports fan's mind: Quis re-custodiet ipsos custodes?

Okay, it's the question that's been on the mind of every late 1st and early 2nd centuries CE Latin sports fan, and even though it probably had more to do with throwing the discus, we're using it tonight to talk about baseball.

The instant replay initiative memos have been placed onto players' chairs, and that means instant replay is SERIOUS BUSINESS. Will it stop with home run calls? No. Will it stop with close plays in important situations? Of course not. Will it stop when we're TiVo-ing check swings and deeply investigating the use of the pogo stick in Ketchup's nightly victory in the Hot Dog Race? Okay, maybe then it'll stop.

Tonight's Dugout, and tonight's Dugout-within-a-Dugout, are after the jump.

With baseball set to start using instant replay on Thursday, there are a lot of different opinions floating around as to whether or not baseball should be doing this. Some are perfectly fine with the whole thing, thinking that it's about time the game finally adapted to this new-fangled technology, and then there are those who are whole-heartedly against it.

Hell, Sal Fasano actually compared the use of replay to armageddon (Note to Sal: Shaving your mustache? That would be armageddon). On the opposite end of the spectrum from Sal, there's Twins lumberjack Justin Morneau. Justin is happy baseball has finally decided to join the 20th century, though he wishes they weren't just using replay on home run calls.

... the Twins first baseman said Tuesday he wishes MLB would go even further and have instant replay available to decide whether any batted ball is fair or foul.

"I don't know why they didn't go all the way," Morneau said. "That could be just as big.

"Everybody's human, everybody's going to make mistakes. Why not take advantage of all the technology to make sure those [fair or foul] calls are right?"

While I don't want to go out of my way to help a Minnesota Twin feel better, I don't think Justin will have to wait too long to get his wish.

Major League Baseball will be getting instant replay; it's just a matter of when. MLB has already begun installing the necessary equipment in its stadiums, and Bud Selig has suggested that it's possible that the system will be in place before the end of the season. Honestly, I'm shocked at how quickly this has come together (relatively speaking, of course -- baseball is the last major sport to embrace the technology) ... and apparently, I'm not alone.

While most fans and players would like nothing else for the correct call to be made every time, the umpires on the field aren't in any hurry to interrupt a game to have their judgments scrutinized. To protest the fact that they don't feel their concerns are being addressed, the umpires boycotted a conference call with MLB officials yesterday in which replay was set to be discussed.

Umpires say they're unhappy that replay equipment is being installed away from the field in nearly all major league ballparks and say MLB wants to limit the number of umpires allowed to review replay monitors.

They also aren't pleased that MLB wants them to discuss the replays with umpire supervisors in New York before making a decision on whether to reverse a call. They claim MLB may not be able to provide replays for some rescheduled games.

I think I have an idea that can solve everything: if the umpires have concerns, they should talk about them. And since it's hard finding time to get everyone together in the same room, let's do this thing over the phone. One big conference call. Oh wait ... what was the point of boycotting again?

Previously on FanHouse:
The Dugout: Instant Replay
Baseball Will Have Instant Replay Soon
Details About Baseball's Instant Replay Plans Coming to Light
MLB Wasting No Time With Instant Replay

Considering how slow moving baseball has been historically in making changes to the game, for once I have to give props to Bud Selig for actually getting out and doing something. With so many questionable calls being made by umpires on home runs this season, the clamor for baseball to use instant replay has grown louder than ever, and MLB is responding accordingly.

In fact, it's starting to look as though instant replay will be in use in Major League games by the end of this season. From Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci:

Commissioner Bud Selig will make a presentation to owners at their two-day meeting in Washington that begins on Wednesday. Said Selig, "We're still checking things. I will tell you that nothing is final yet. All I can tell you is if everything is lined up, we will go to instant replay at some point."

Selig declined to set a timetable. His hesitation, according to a baseball source, is partly due to the logistics of getting the ballparks hardwired for such a system. In the most discussed scenario, officials at a central office, likely in New York, will monitor all games and immediately send video of questionable boundary calls to an on-site device for review by the umpires. The umpires would determine whether their original call should stand or not.

Rarely have leagues attempted to incorporate instant replay, or any rules and logistics changes, as fast as Major League Baseball is attempting to with instant replay. Why, it was only a few months ago that replay was merely a thought in fans' minds. A few botched home run calls later, and here we are, struggling through the dawn of new technology.

And struggling we (they) are: Despite having IR cameras on hand during last night's Phillies-Marlins game, the umps still screwed up a home run call (fist pound, brah: The Sporting Blog):

The first night Major League Baseball tested instant-replay equipment at Citizens Bank Park, it had a controversial home-run ball in the seventh inning in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Florida Marlins. Shane Victorino's two-run homer off Renyel Pinto looked foul on instant replay. Third base umpire Dale Scott called the ball fair and the umpires conferred after the Marlins protested. But the call stood, cutting the Marlins' lead to 4-2. Scott acknowledged after the game that the ball was foul.

Unfortunately for the Marlins, MLB was testing the equipment it could use in the future only to see how it works. In other words, umpires had no opportunity to run to a TV screen to check it out.

In other words, MLB is merely testing the fact that instant replay cameras work, despite the fact that TVs and cameras have been relaying laser beams at sporting events for like 30 years. This is kind of like sticking your hand in the wall socket just to test if your electricity works. Trust us, Bud Selig. The cameras are rolling.

There's been some debate amongst baseball fans and purists about MLB following the lead of the NFL, NBA, and NHL before them by implementing instant replay into the sport for the 2009 season. As of now, the plan is to give the process a trial run during the Arizona Fall League, and then if things go well there, they'll be using it during the World Baseball Classic.

After that, if nobody dies and the world doesn't come crashing to an end as some fear, they'll be using it in MLB games next season. Of course, if you asked MLB's supervisor of umpires, Rich Rieker, he'd tell you that the the trial runs aren't to see if it could work, they're to see how it will work. There's no stopping the runaway train that is instant replay.

"Replay is coming," Rich Rieker, who serves as a liaison between MLB and its umpires, wrote in a chat with the Houston Chronicle's Web site. "If done properly we have an opportunity to set the gold standard in replay, learning from pros and cons from other sports. But we must do so in a fashion that will not delay the game further."

Yes, of course, how could we forget about making sure we don't delay the game. I'm all for instant replay being used in baseball, and I understand why some people are so against it, but I can't stand when people complain that implementing it is going to slow the game down.

The GM's meetings are always the huge storyline on ESPN following the World Series, and by that I mean that Scott Boras is there pimping his boy. Well other stuff goes down like votes and crazy things like that. All I've learned is that pimping an SI Championship package every commercial break is definitely effective. Please contribute to my SI Subscription PayPal account if you want to help a junkie out.

I just watched the Celtics whomp on the the Nuggets. I swear to God Rocky Marciano is about to rise from the grave and beat on Oleg Maskaev. Although I'm 750 miles from Boston, I can feel the d-baggery stirring in my chest.

Yeah, pretty slow week for baseball. Curt Schilling leading the headlines is good for one guy. Brian Cashman and Kevin Towers talk to Bud Selig about introducing instant replay to the game after the jump.

Your answers are probably no, and no for the Rockies, but yes for baseball. In Monday's live blog of the game, Mullet noted that Matt Holliday said post-game he had no idea if he touched home upon scoring the game-winning run on a Jamey Carroll RBI sac fly in the 13th. Ever the Rockie hater, Mark Kiszla led his column saying Holliday still hadn't touched home. He also offered this quote from Holliday:

"The umpire called me safe, that's all I know," Holliday said in a Rockies clubhouse drenched in champagne. "I don't even know what happened on the play, to tell the truth."

Padre manager Bud Black said he thought Holliday did touch the plate, but Black was probably still in shock that Trevor Hoffman, the all-time saves leader, had blown consecutive playoff berth-clinching opportunities. With so much riding on one call, I say instant replay was necessary to make the proper judgment.

Tim Kurkjian on ESPN argued after the game that instant replay would have ruined the great reaction and celebration in Denver. True. But the Padres got jobbed in a game they never lost. If Holliday's called out, that's a double play, and Hoffman just needs to get Hawpe out to send it to the 14th. It's also ironic that none other than Rockies manager Clint Hurdle was calling for instant replay earlier in the year. Were instant replay in effect, Garrett Atkins would have been awarded a home run in the 7th, and the Rox would have had the game-winning run taken away in the 13th.