If you're watching the game on ESPN right now, you're doubtlessly aware that Carlos Delgado had a home run stolen from him thanks to baseball's stubborn refusal to accept that there are actual ways of knowing whether balls are fair or foul. And his was fair. Be you a Met fan, Yankee fan or Padre fan, there's no doubt about it after seeing the replay dozens of times. Of course, the umpires aren't allowed to watch the replay even once. I'm not proposing instant replay across the board. Safe and out, ball and strike - these are, by rule of the game, judgment calls. They are, and should remain, prone to human nature. Fair or foul, though? That's factual. That should be reviewed because there's no judgment involved.
Joe Morgan, of course, disagrees. He doesn't think replay would work because "every play would be reviewed." He also thought the reason the umps blew the call was because the bottom of the foul pole was painted black rather than yellow. Which would make sense if the ball was black but even Morgan would probably concede that it's white with red stitches. And I'll concede that what he says about every play being reviewed could be true. Only if someone as dumb as Morgan was the one writing the rules about how replay can be used but, hey, anything's possible.
The NBA ensures that shots get off before the buzzer, another factual matter, by using replay. They don't use it any other way. I can't believe that baseball prefers to look like imbeciles on national television so here's a suggestion for the next owner's meeting.
"In the event of a disagreement between umpires about whether or not a batted ball leaves the field of play in fair or foul territory, the umpires shall consult a video replay, if one exists, to ensure that the correct call is made. At no other point may umpires consult video replay."
Fair enough?
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 1)
1. And it's not like it would have taken any extra time for a replay ... in the time it took to argue the call, huddle, then argue the call some more, and have Jerry Manuel ejected, they could have looked at the play a couple of times and made the call. So "slowing down the game" isn't a great argument against replay either.
Posted at 10:37PM on May 18th 2008 by Mullet
2. It shoulld be allowed in the playoffs and WS.
Posted at 10:45PM on May 18th 2008 by Bernie
3. Instant replay is for pu**ys. Umps blew it just like they blow about 25% of their calls.
Posted at 11:23PM on May 18th 2008 by NYRanger26
4. Joe has always been a racial fool,while feeling jealous of todays players. I'm sorry, Joe that you didn't make the big buck and that you feel whites have ruined the game but it would be easy to look at the screen for a homer, huh? Dr Bugs
Posted at 3:24AM on May 19th 2008 by cjrbans
5. It's Bush's fault.
Posted at 6:19AM on May 19th 2008 by GB
6. Doesn't anyone at ESPN listen to the broadcast. I appreciate Joe Morgan's abilities as a ball player but he's as dumb as they come and very annoying to listen to.
Posted at 10:15AM on May 19th 2008 by vmallamo
7. How on earth is safe/out a judgement call? Either they're safe, or they're out. There should be no human judgement on that.
And, honestly, the same thing goes for balls and strikes. The strike zone is pretty well defined in the rule book.
Posted at 12:42PM on May 19th 2008 by Clay