Use of replay long overdue as long as time is on our side
What: Re-Play Ball! Major League Baseball has begun using video replay to determine if balls go over the fence, if they are fair or foul and if fan interference is involved. The crew chief of the umpiring crew will decide whether a play is reviewed. The concern is the possible delay and how it would affect pitchers.
When: Replay went into effect Thursday, with no calls reviewed entering the weekend. The support for replay by players has been overwhelming. Rockies slugger Matt Holliday summed it up, saying, “If we have a two-minute delay, so what? It is too big of a play not to get the call right.” But will it only be two minutes? Or will kids be celebrating birthdays waiting for a ruling?
Background: The umpires will have access to every feed of the game — the TV broadcasts and in-house cameras — from a mini TV located just off the playing field.
Renck’s take: Given that you can film a movie with your phone, clearly the technology is in place to use replay, which is long overdue. The Rockies have been involved with six botched home-run calls the past two years. Here’s the possible pitfall. What if the delay takes so long a pitcher loses his rhythm? It has happened in the playoffs at Yankee Stadium during excruciating long seventh-inning stretches while Ronan Tynan sings the dance-mix version of “God Bless America.” Will teams howl about this as much as they do about blown calls? The No. 1 priority is to get the call right. But I believe they should put a limit on the reviews (playing Styx’s “Too Much Time on My Hands” throughout the stadium would be a clever touch). Simply put, if a decision can’t be made in five minutes, then the evidence is inconclusive and the call should stand.
