Posted on 01/17/2014 9:44:37 AM PST by 1rudeboy
In a trying month for baseball, this was a good day.
For much of the week, it seemed as if Alex Rodriguez was intent on shattering two decades of relative peace in our national pastime. But here was one achievement even Rodriguez couldn’t smear: Major League Baseball, the MLB Players Association, and the World Umpires Association decided — collectively — to expand instant replay, and they did it the right way.
It took years of thoughtful evolution on the issue — from commissioner Bud Selig and others — and then months of intense work from the triumvirate of John Schuerholz, Joe Torre and Tony La Russa, and MLB executives Peter Woodfork and Chris Marinak.
The best part? As MLB officials spoke during a Thursday news conference, they did so with complete candor about the system’s strengths and limitations.
It is not perfect, they cautioned. It could (and probably will) change after the first year. The game will be fairer, because umpires have more resources to get calls right, and more transparent, because fans inside stadiums will see the same replays as the umpires when calls are challenged.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.foxsports.com ...
This is the reason I enjoy recording (or "tivo") my favorite shows and football. I can fast forward over the extra-loud commercials and watch the event in half the time.
And THAT is the primary concern driving the use of replay. Getting it right so the game is fairer? BS.
Follow the Benjamins.
Oh, and two more things; the umpires will be discouraged from making controversial calls (for fear of being proven incorrect), and the rules will be “relaxed” during the playoffs.
Just check the NFL Network schedule. They replay games on Tuesday through Thursday with very few commercials and no huddles. Football game in one hour. Sometimes 90 minutes.
As if watching some overpaid athlete adjust their package for 2-3 hours is watchable?
NFL games have too many commercial timeouts added in, in my opinion. There are natural breaks after scoring plays, which is fine to use for commercials. But too often, right after the kickoff, they stop play for no reason other than to squeeze in another commercial.
To be fair, I was listening to someone on the MLB Network yesterday who said Triple-A had been experimenting with this for some time with generally positive results, and no real game lengthening.
At first, wasn’t the NFL replay rule limited to 90 seconds to review the call? I believe the ref looked at the replay and after 90 seconds the camera shut off, something like that. It’s gotten out of hand, splitting hairs over getting the call perfect. Hope this doesn’t happen in baseball.
I thought $30billion in new stadiums “saved” baseball.
I thought the 1998 “home run race” between steroid junkies “saved” baseball (it certainly provided “look a squirrel” cover for Bill Clinton during Fornigate).
If it isn’t one thing, it’s another.
I am always amazed at how often even the replay challenges get the calls wrong. You know the announcers are discouraged from making disparaging remarks about the referees and yet, they sometimes have to. Indy got crushed in the playoff game the other night against New England. But before it got out of hand (Luck did throw 3 interceptions), there were 3 significant calls (2 were actually no calls for tripping and pass interference) that killed 3 drives and changed the course of the game.
I will rarely to never blame the results of a game on the refs, especially when you have 4 turnovers. But there have been some games still decided on bad calls even with the NFL replay rules (think back to Green Bay with the fill-in refs).
“NFL games have too many commercial timeouts added in, in my opinion. There are natural breaks after scoring plays, which is fine to use for commercials. But too often, right after the kickoff, they stop play for no reason other than to squeeze in another commercial.”
That’s why the 4 pm games start at 4:35 now and run until almost 8 PM
I posted a piece from a sports economics blog (yes, they exist) a while back that purported to show how NFL referees, by strictly calling pass interference penalties during the regular season, but doing the opposite during the playoffs resulted in defensive backs engaging in behavior that, again, made the game arbitrary and unwatchable.
Better keep that foot on the bag during those routine 1st base outs.
And that would be a change...how? I honestly don't know how this will impact the game. I'm afraid it might make the Umpire calls even more important, and that would not be a good direction to go.
The games are already too long.
Not much of a change for the latter, but with regard to the former: “I think the runner was safe, but I was overturned on a similar call last week, and I’d really like to remain a MLB umpire without a rep for being overturned.”
I wish Judges in courtrooms were even half as concerned about being overturned. But I do get your point.
I think more use of replays will make that aspect worse, and will cause the games to drag. And no matter what, rules change in playoffs. It’s true for every sport that requires officiating.
The danger is always, “This will make [x sport] like Basketball, where the officials are the ones who decide who wins.” To me, “professional” Basketball has as much legitimacy as “professional” wrestling.
Instant replay will save baseball...
only if:
- it lowers ticket prices
- it introduces players who love the game for the game
- it eliminates the use of PEDs
- it brings in owners who build new stadiums without public funding
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