Why does baseball need to change anything? It had the most successful year in its long history. People love it for its quirks, including missed calls.
As approved by the general managers, it would only apply to home run calls: fair or foul, fan interference or not, etc. If the.re was public outrage about home run calls during the year, I could see the compulsion to take action. I don't think that outrage exists.
The worst calls I saw this year were on catchers' throws to second base, and outfielders' throws to home. Those are not part of the proposed instant replay -- nor should they be.
The real danger is the slippery slope. If we start here, how many years are we away from having the computer call balls and strikes? This seems to have happened in the NFL, as the reviewable plays morph. They are now reviewing everything in the last two minutes of each half. I'm tired of the delays. I'm actually tired of having all the controversies resolved by a ref sticking his head under a hood.
In baseball will they review everything in the 8th and 9th innings? That would be ridiculous.
No one inning is more important than any other. Will it slow the game down? Will the umps run off the field into the dugout to check out the replays? If the ball is called foul, does the batter stand at home plate awaiting the decision? And if the ump says home run, does the batter then start running. Blah.
Tennis has the system down. It is a challenge system. The player simply signals to the umpire he/she wants to challenge. It takes about 10 seconds for the computer to make the line call, and the umpire has it on a screen in the umpiring chair. It is also shown to the fans. Play resumes immediately. Seamless.
I see no way to make it seamless in baseball.
