The Tale of Instant Replay

By Jeremiah Sullivan

Word on the street is that MLB all ready has a deal in place to flip the switch on its intended plan to integrate instant replay before the end of this season. According to ESPN.com, two baseball officials told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney that as of last Thursday morning, instant replay was a done deal, with all of the issues with the umpires union being settled, and replay will happen "soon."

A replay report was given to MLB owners by Jimmie Lee Solomon, an executive vice president in the commissioner's office, a person at the meeting said. According to ESPN.com, the source spoke on condition of anonymity because Selig's remarks were the only ones that were authorized. Condition of anonymity…isn’t that just the most overrated word in sports today. However, thanks to the power of persuasion these facts slipped through the cracks.

Operations for the new instant replay system will play out as follows:

o Multiple monitors and phones will be installed near the field of every Major League ballpark to be used for instant replay purposes

o Video feeds would be collected and reviewed by officials who will then consult with umpiring crew chiefs before making their final call

o All analysis of video feeds will take place in New York at MLB’s Advanced Media offices in what is being dubbed ‘the war room’


To date, all of the replay systems that would be installed would only be used to either a) determine if a homerun ball was foul or fair, or if b) longballs that appear to just barley make it out of the stadium in fact do beat the friendly confines of your favorite ballpark.. Currently, officials are saying that it will NOT be used to call balls and strikes, nor will it be used to determine bang-bang plays. Isn’t it just a little too good to be true?

C’mon people, do you actually believe that? Let’s not forget that only several years ago, most of the league umpires went on strike, and a lot of the better ones have yet to return to the game. Take a look at the level of officiating before the strike and compare it to today; I bet you’ll notice a lot more manager ejections and blown calls with the latter.

Temptation is just that; temptation. In time, instant replay will become the game’s one and only umpire; there is no question about it. Only question is, how far off is it? Today’s fan wants perfectly officiated games and won’t accept ‘human error’ as a viable excuse for anything less. To have the type of resource that instant replay can offer, and a command center of experts at your service, it’s only a matter of time until lame-duck umpires start taking the field at a ballpark near you. Don’t think they’ll be out there to perform the YMCA during the seventh-inning stretch in place of their usual officiating duties either.

And let’s not forget QuesTec either. In 2001, the Deer Park, N.Y. company signed a five year deal with baseball to use pitch-tracking technology it developed to act as a report card for home plate umpires. Going into this season the contract for QuesTec was extended after the system had already been used to review 4,000 since its inception.

So stop for a minute and take stock of things. There was an uproar over the fluctuating size of the strike zone, and the consistent stress over the differential in called balls and strikes in between at-bats. The world saw the advent of QuesTec.

This year, the game saw an unusual number of blown home run calls or questionable rulings once balls got closer to the foul poles that mark the warning tracks of ballparks across the country. Or maybe perhaps we were just looking a bit more closely. Now, the world is awaiting the inevitable birth of instant replay.

So what’s next? If history serves as a guideline, soon a catcher’s throw down to second on a steal attempt or a pitcher’s pick-off move will come under a technologically advanced microscope. And then it’ll be the amount of pine tar used. And then it will be the dirt on a pitcher’s hand. We’ve already started to lose the human element of the nation’s pastime by relying on programmable machines rather than those paid to know the rules and call it as they see it, to get the ruling right on the field.

Fans and critics complain that games are currently taking too long. Just imagine how long it’ll take for a play to happen at a ballpark, and fall into question. Next, the umpires will gather together and hold conference on the third base bag. Then, it’ll be off to the review room in New York, then sent back to the ballfield for a review by the umpiring crew. Finally, the umpiring crew will hop on the phone with an expert in video analysis to get their take on the play. And then maybe, just maybe…we get to play ball again.

And then there is eight innings left to play, chock-full of manager trips to the mound, righty-lefty match-ups, pinch-hitters and t-shirt tosses to boot.

Let umpires do their job; that’s why you hire them, that’s why you have agreements with their union and that’s why they’ve been a part of every contest in the game’s existence.

Think they are happy about it? A report hit SI.com today claiming that the governing board of the Umpire’s Association voted yesterday to boycott a conference call with management intended to discuss implementing replay, angry that their concerns aren't being addressed. However, baseball reps claim the cancellation of the call rested solely on the lack of a replay agreement with the union.

But wait…as of last Thursday didn’t they? It’s a mess. That much is assured. I’ll certainly turn into a he-said she-said classic moment if enough fuel is added to the fire. The fact of the matter is, instant replay equipment is being installed into Big League parks across the U.S. as we speak. The umpires will be taking the field. And questionable calls will be continuing to grace the highlight reel.

And that’s my two sense.

*Since the posting of this article, MLB and the Umpires' Union have reached an agreement



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