How do you Feel about Instant Replay?

[StormShadow]

This should be interesting............how do you feel about instant replay in baseball?

I'm an old schooler and I would HATE to see it in baseball. Yes some games are filled with umpire errors, but it has been that way since the start of the game. Some calls go your way some dont, but baseball is a game of failure so it should come as no surprise that sometimes umpires miss some calls. If one run costs you the game......then so be it, that is the way the cards fell.

I dont think it would slow the game down at all, but I just like to keep things the way they are.

IF it was put into baseball the only way I would really agree with it is if it was used ONLY for HR's and ONLY in the playoffs, but I would not be happy. Now I know there is ALOT if reasons to have it, but I personally HATE the idea of it. The game has lasted this long without and I truly believe putting it into baseball would not help the game. Part of baseball is arguing with the umpires, blown calls, pissed players and managers and with instant replay that would not be no more and IMO it would hurt the game more than help it.

Your thoughts?

[Bower]

I totally agree with you except for the arguing with umpires part. But with the current NBA scandals it concerns me with officials in sports game and this would prevent umpires from calling a game to ones side. Everyone knows wrong calls are made but if umpires are altering games with constant wrong calls then maby we should use instant replay.

I really hope that this NBA scandal doesn't happen in other sports. I doubt this will happen but if it does escalate to baseball maby this is an option.

[Thedatch]

I disagree. Baseball is a statistical game. Everything in baseball is stats. When an ump gets a call wrong, and blatantly wrong, it changes stats. Imagine bonds ending his career being one homerun short of tying Aaron, and the reason for it is because an umpire messed up a call on a homerun he said was a double.

sure, I'm reaching, but the point is this. In a game in which stats play such a large role, leaving it up to human mistakes doesn't make sense.

Now, as for the extent to which there should be instant replay, I agree with you storm that it should be limited. There should be strict rules as to when and how you can challenge a call, and you should only get one challenge a game. The chances of the umps missing more than one call is small, they are usually pretty good.

Times change, and just like they changed the baseballs when Babe was playing, or just like when they added phones to the dugout and bullpen so they could communicate easier, this wouldn't be the first time baseball has been changed by technology, and it has not made the game any worse.

[StormShadow]

I disagree. Baseball is a statistical game. Everything in baseball is stats. When an ump gets a call wrong, and blatantly wrong, it changes stats. Imagine bonds ending his career being one homerun short of tying Aaron, and the reason for it is because an umpire messed up a call on a homerun he said was a double.

So how many HR's do you think Aaron did or not get due to bad calls? It can go both ways. For all we know Aaron could have had 20 real homeruns taken away due to bad calls or 20 homeruns added due to bad calls.

[Thedatch]

So how many HR's do you think Aaron did or not get due to bad calls? It can go both ways. For all we know Aaron could have had 20 real homeruns taken away due to bad calls or 20 homeruns added due to bad calls.

back when he was hitting, was instant replay even an option?

[StormShadow]

back when he was hitting, was instant replay even an option?

No, but what I'm getting at is from a records stand point it is kind of unfair, because no one know how many home runs a player would have or not have from missed calls.

Even if Replay was an option back then I dont think it would have been put into baseball because it seems like fans and players back then were more pure than they are today, but i could be wrong.

[Thedatch]

No, but what I'm getting at is from a records stand point it is kind of unfair, because no one know how many home runs a player would have or not have from missed calls.

Even if Replay was an option back then I dont think it would have been put into baseball because it seems like fans and players back then were more pure than they are today, but i could be wrong.

what I'm trying to get across is that this isn't the first time baseball has changed, and the sky hasn't fallen down. I mentioned earlier when they switched baseballs to basically give Babe more homers. Or the DH, or even Interleague play.

I guess it comes down to "traditionalists" vs. ...whatever name the other people get. I see nothing wrong with change, everything has to evolve to keep up with the times, and I think this is just one of those things.

[StormShadow]

what I'm trying to get across is that this isn't the first time baseball has changed, and the sky hasn't fallen down. I mentioned earlier when they switched baseballs to basically give Babe more homers. Or the DH, or even Interleague play.

I guess it comes down to "traditionalists" vs. ...whatever name the other people get. I see nothing wrong with change, everything has to evolve to keep up with the times, and I think this is just one of those things.

I see your point..................but I disagree :D.......that is the beauty of Freedom of Speech.

Yeah I'm a traditionalist when it comes to baseball, but anything else I could really careless about.

[Rockin Robin]

No!!!!! There have been some excellent points made here, but let me point some things out.

First, if instant replay was only to be used in certain instances, you know that those boundaries would be stretched. Give 'em an inch and they'll take a mile.

Okay, I lost my train of thought beyond that! lol :tongue:

But to suffice it to say that it is NOT a good idea, IMO!!!

[milky_way]

I second Datch :D

IMO baseball is about the Game, and the umpires should not be a part of the game. The best games IMO are the games where the umpires aren't even noticed. The worst feeling for a fan is to watch his/her team lose on a bad call, whether it be a miss-called homerun or a bad call on the basepaths (and to me it seems like the umpires have been especially horrible at calling SB/CS this season).

As Datch said, it would be necessary to work out the logistics of it, such as in what situations instant replay should be used (definitely not on ball/strike calls). Baseball's already a slow game, so to slow it down even more by adding IR is tough. But IMO, games that are significantly influenced by bad calls do more damage to Baseball as a sport than a slightly longer gametime would.

[Rockin Robin]

Okay, someone says it should be used for home runs but not balls and strikes. So I submit for you this scenario.

Bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, home team down 1 run. Full count with 2 outs.

The difference between a ball and a strike here means the game. Strike 3 and the game's over, with the home team losing. But call it Ball 4 and the tying run just walked home and the game continues.

If the call is questionable, do you use instant replay here since it's now a part of the game?

If so, then when can you or can't you use it to verify balls vs. strikes? And what about a check swing?

There are two many situational intangibles to allow instant replay into the game of baseball. It's survived for over a hundred years without it. Let's keep the game pure.

[milky_way]

Whether something is or isn't a homerun is a simple call with enormous impact. In addition, questionable homeruns are not an everyday occurance, so making such calls subject to IR is not likely to significantly affect the length of games.

On the other hand, if IR was allowed to be used for ball/strike calls, the game would easily turn into a 5 hour game. Questionable homeruns may come up maybe once or twice every few games; ball/strike calls occur by the hundreds every game. Not to mention, camera angles can easily affect the perception of whether a pitch is a ball/strike, making it even more complicated (same goes for whether a swing is or isn't a check-swing). We do not have the technology to easily and accurately determine whether a pitch is a ball/strike through video; we DO have the technology to determine whether a homerun call is completely wrong.

All of the other sports are moving towards instant replay...I don't think of it as "depurifying" the sport, I think of it more as adapting to the technology of the time. Why continue to let games be determined by human error when the human error is coming from someone (the umpire) who, in a perfect world, would have absolutely no effect on the game's outcome?

[Fireball]

This is an interesting question because though I supported Instant Replay in football, I would not do the same for baseball. the difference is tradition. I cherish the spontaneity of baseball in that once the call is made, it's final and I also like the fact that a manager or player can express their dissatisfaction with an umpire (within reason, of course). It makes the game more interesting and fun, especially when taking into account the fact that every umpire has a different strikezone and style. No other sport has that kind of character, one that relies so much on the human element, and I would hope that it stays that way. Baseball is an art, after all, not a science.

[Thedatch]

This is an interesting question because though I supported Instant Replay in football, I would not do the same for baseball. the difference is tradition. I cherish the spontaneity of baseball in that once the call is made, it's final and I also like the fact that a manager or player can express their dissatisfaction with an umpire (within reason, of course). It makes the game more interesting and fun, especially when taking into account the fact that every umpire has a different strikezone and style. No other sport has that kind of character, one that relies so much on the human element, and I would hope that it stays that way. Baseball is an art, after all, not a science.

I dont see how baseball is any more of an art than football...its a sport. also, umps recently have been known to get together and review calls, so they aren't spontaneous anymore...

[ginalee]

Now, as for the extent to which there should be instant replay, I agree with you storm that it should be limited. There should be strict rules as to when and how you can challenge a call, and you should only get one challenge a game. The chances of the umps missing more than one call is small, they are usually pretty good.

[Old Sweater]

Never! It's just part of baseball that all evens out in the end. Human games should be judged by human beings.

[StormShadow]

Never! It's just part of baseball that all evens out in the end. Human games should be judged by human beings.

Dont respond to GInalee, trust me he/she is just a troll

[ginalee]

I guess it comes down to "traditionalists" vs. ...whatever name the other people get. I see nothing wrong with change, everything has to evolve to keep up with the times, and I think this is just one of those things.