Instant Replay in Baseball?
Writing by bettingfool on Monday, 23 of June , 2008 at 4:48 pm
It should be a no-brainer. During the offseason, Major League Baseball general managers voted 25-5 last year in favor of instant replay. It looks like they’ll get their wish as soon as August 1, at least on disputed home-run calls.
Whether or not a ball clears the fence in fair territory should be an easy call with the support of existing video coverage – the occasional Jeffrey Maier moment notwithstanding. So as long as the league can crank out a workable replay system that is acceptable to umpires, players and front-office personnel, what’s the problem?
Tradition. Baseball prides itself on being old school; they’d often rather get the call wrong and chalk it up to human error. Noted conservative and baseball fan George Will pooh-poohs the idea of instant replay. But even Will, after making the usual straw man and slippery slope arguments, accedes that using replay for boundary calls is acceptable. Byzantine whimsy, indeed.
Category: Baseball 101
- Add this post to Del.icio.us - Digg
No comments yet.
You must be logged in to post a comment.