If you were watching the game Sunday night, you saw Delgado robbed of a homerun. The ball struck the left field foul pole and careened to the left into the stands. The third base umpire called the hit a homerun only to be overruled by . . . the homeplate umpire.
The ball left a FREAKING MARK on the foul pole. This is ridiculous. The umpire with the best view was overruled. What is going on here? The umpires are already getting together for conferences. Why not take a quick look at a replay? It doesn't have to slow the game down and it doesn't have to be for every call. Limit it to homeruns to begin with and see how it works. It's time.
Bob Davidson wrote:I bleeped it up. I'm the one who thought it was a bleeping foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I'm the one who bleeped it up so you can put that in your paper. Bolts and nuts, I bleeped up. You've just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.
I think that this was an incredibly difficult call to get right in live action. Even watching it on TV, if you knew it was fair or foul prior to the replays you are lying.
I would definitely be in favor of instant replays on home runs. This is the second time this year it has happened to the Mets. First time was that first series in Florida and Beltran was robbed. I can't remember the last time it's happened prior to this season.
Maine has a good swing for a pitcher but on anything that moves, he has no chance. And if it's a fastball, it has to be up in the zone. Basically, the pitcher has to hit his bat. - Mike Pelfrey
I'm in favor it for more than just HRs even. For example a catch vs. trap in the outfield. Even did someone touch or not touch home on a play at the plate. You will lose less time with instant replay than you do with all the conferences and protests from the managers that you see now when something is obviously wrong or confusing.
Oh well, at least the Mets pounded the Yank$ anyway.
Instant replay doesn't solve all the problems anyway...if you've ever heard that NFL VP of Officiating guy (Pereira?) comment every week on the NFL Network about the controversial calls. He flat out lies.
Instant replay WILL slow down the game. I think College Football's system is best, with a dedicated official in the booth doing the looking, but even that is a slow, laborious process at times. I agree with people saying that it would be good for home runs and catches, but I see that slippery slope where if they allow it for those calls, there's going to be that hue and cry demanding it for balls & strikes, which would paralyze the game. The strike zone may be the most difficult thing to call in all of sports, and to me, the less second-guessing of umpires there is, the better.
5 wrote:You don't REVERSE a call if you're not positive.
Oh well, at least the Mets pounded the Yank$ anyway.
Instant replay doesn't solve all the problems anyway...if you've ever heard that NFL VP of Officiating guy (Pereira?) comment every week on the NFL Network about the controversial calls. He flat out lies.
Yeah, but the officials are involved in MANY more calls in football than they are in baseball. Obviously baseball has balls/strikes (a different topic altogether) and safe/out calls to make, but there are a tiny fraction of close plays in baseball as compared to football that require the officials to make a decision. Most safe/out, catch/non-catch, fair/foul calls in baseball are clear and obvious - the ones that aren't could be reviewed in 10 seconds with one quick look at the tape.
Plus, the implementation of instant replay in football is dumb - it should only overrule the play on the field if it is clear and obviously wrong - that should require one look at one or two replays (from different angles). If that doesn't change the replay official's mind, then the call on the field should stand. If football did that, they could review more plays (because each review would take about 20 seconds) and stop all the nonsense that goes along with it. Also, there would be much less damage control needed.
"The government cannot give to anyone anything that it does not first take from someone else"