Bad sports, good sports: Major League Baseball needs more instant replay
Last season, Major League Baseball instituted instant replay, but only for review of homerun calls. On the one hand, if you know anything about baseball umpires, it is an amazing thing that they allowed any amount of questioning of their decision-making to be factored into the game. This is a group that is famous for its arrogance and belligerence. At the same time, it was at least a small measure of progress that a few messed up calls could conceivably be reversed. It seems clear, though, that there is a far greater opportunity for review than just homerun calls. Thursday night’s game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Florida Marlins demonstrated this very well.
After the Phillies had tied the game at 4 in the top of the 9th on a Jayson Werth RBI single, the Marlins got a runner to second base with one out on a hit batter and a stolen base. Gaby Sanchez hit a ground ball down the third base line that should have scored Hanley Ramirez with the winning run. Instead, the ball was ruled foul by third base umpire Bob Davidson. Sanchez subsequently struck out, and the Marlins failed to score. The Phillies won the game in the 10th inning. Replays of Sanchez’ hit show that the ball hit the line in the infield, and again hit the line in the outfield. Now I am no physics expert, but I am pretty sure that it is not possible for the ball to have hit the line in those two spots and yet managed to not physically pass over the third base bag. The fair-or-foul call is determined by whether or not the ball passes over any portion of the third base bag (or inside of it, obviously). For this ball to have been legitimately foul, the ball would have to have been outside of the edge of the bag at that moment. Off the bat, I can see that the ball could have had the kind of spin that could cause it to bend outside of the bag and then back inside the line beyond it. This one, though, hit the ground in the infield. The ground just can’t cause that kind of spin. A simple replay would have been enough to show the umpires that the ball was fair, and the Marlins would have won the game. Instead, the Phillies were able to go on and steal a victory. As an unabashed Phillies fan, I am thankful for the win. As a baseball fan, I am embarrassed for the umpires and for the league. There is no excuse for a team losing a game on a blown call that could have very easily been fixed. There is too much at stake in big-time sports.
I know there are challenges to implementing wide-spread instant replay in baseball. There are aspects of how replay is used in the NFL that I don’t like, including the fact that the referees often seem afraid to make any kind of call at all, as an errant whistle can render any kind of replay useless. Still, it is nice to know that replay is an option, and a football game is now far less likely to turn on a bad call than it used to be. Major League Baseball needs to give some serious thought to expanding its use of replay. Just ask the Marlins.
Bad sports, continued:
2) Continuing the theme of baseball finding ways to embarrass itself, the Tampa Bay Rays lost a game on Thursday in a bizarre way. With two outs in the ninth inning of a tie game, Jason Kubel of the Minnesota Twins hit a towering popup in the infield. In any other stadium, the ball would have been caught by an infielder and the game would have moved to the bottom of the ninth. In Tampa’s Tropicana Field, though, it was a different story. The domed stadium has a series of catwalks at the top of the dome, for some reason. Every once in a while, a ball manages to hit one of these catwalks. It has long been expected that this architectural oddity would someday affect the outcome of a game, and Thursday was the day the expectation became reality. Kubel’s popup hit a catwalk, which caused the ball to drop straight down and land in the infield, out of the reach of the startled Rays fielders. The go-ahead run scored on the play, and the Twins ended up winning the game. Stupid. The Rays need a new stadium.
3) It has been a rough year for Tiger Woods. His issues have been off the course, but the impact of his personal problems have been felt during competition. His disappointing year hit a new low point this weekend at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club, a tournament he has absolutely dominated in the past. This time, though, he finished 78th out of 79 golfers, with a score of eighteen over par. This is a man who has dominated golf over the last decade. It is clear that there is so much more to this game than just talent and ability. It is a mental game, and Tiger’s family problems have clearly had a major impact. I have no doubt that he will be back at some point, but I wonder how low he will need to go before he gets it back.
Bonus: I really am not ready for another season of Brett Favre crap. Can this guy just hang it up already? Please?
Good sports:
1) Have you ever heard of Masato Akamatsu? Neither have I. I know they play some pretty good baseball in Japan, but I really know very little about that league or its players. Based on this video, there are some pretty good players over there. That may be the greatest catch I have ever seen.
2) Every young player wants to make a quick impact when he makes it to the big leagues. J.P. Arencibia of the Toronto Blue Jays is living the dream. The rookie catcher hit a two-run homer on the very first pitch he faced in the Major Leagues on Saturday. He finished his first game having gone 4-5 with two homeruns, three runs scored and three RBI. Quite a debut.
Bad Sports, Good Sports appears every Monday
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Allan, I’m becoming a regular reader! As soon as I saw the video of Akamatsu, I thought, “I wonder if Allan will include that in ‘Good Sports?'”
The only problem I see with instant replay for balls in play is, what happens next should a called foul ball be overturned? As soon as the play you mentioned was ruled a foul ball, all play stopped. Runners stopped moving. Although we can safely assume the game would have been over in this case, a slower grounder down the third base line would’ve been less obvious. Would there have been a close play at the place?
A possible solution could be that all umps should assume a borderline call is fair until proven foul. So that at least the situation gets to play out. But then umps will contend that plays we think are borderline are not to them.
Anyway, Bob Davidson did completely screw this one up. It’s a good thing I’m a Phillies fan.
In the first paragraph, I meant – “close play at the plate.”
Jeff – I certainly appreciate your regular comments and contributions!
Marc – I agree with you about the challenges. There is no doubt that there is a lot to consider. Yes, the umpires would likely have to go the way the NFL refs have gone…if it’s close, call it fair so the play continues, and then review. I am certainly not suggesting that there is a simple solution, but when you see something as blatantly wrong as this call, it seems clear that there must be a better way than what they do now.
Not to be a stickler….but Ruiz’s home run won the game in the 10th. Werth’s single tied it in the 9th and then set off the triple baserunning blunder.
Thanks Vince. You are quite correct. I have fixed my error.