Stop!...Rewind That

We have all been beaten to death now with ESPN and every other media outlet pushing the change for instant replay to be implemented in the MLB. But with every decision there are pros and cons that must come in to question. Major League Baseball is the only major sport without instant replay besides Soccer. The NHL have instant replay as does the NBA and the NFL. And I agree its about that time that baseball adopts the idea as well.

In the 4th inning of the subway series wrap up game last night, Carlos Delgado, the Mets first baseman, hit an opposite field shot that stirred up quite the amount of controversy. Delgado's hit bounced off the left field foul poll and ricocheted to the left and into the first row of foul territory. The foul pole and foul lines in Yankee Stadium are aligned yet the white line on the outfield wall is slightly to the left of the line on the field. On the yellow foul pole the bottom portion of the pole, about 8-10 inches is painted black. The ball hit the black part of the foul pole and indeed went foul, BUT WAIT. The reason for the foul pole is to judge whether a ball is in play or not, and the rules state if the ball hits the foul pole then it is considered a fair ball. (Go figure)

The initial ruling on the field was a home run, but as Bob Davidson and his umpiring crew got together they agreed and over ruled the home run and in turn called the ball foul. From the ESPN telecast the replay clearly showed the ball hit the black portion of the foul pole and indeed it was a fair ball and a 3 run home run. In stead it was a foul ball but Delgado got some redemption and hit an RBI single later in the at bat.

Bob Davidson was clearly upset with himself about the call and had this to say after the game. "I [expletive] it up. I'm the one who thought it was a [expletive] foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I'm the one who [expletive] it up so you can put that in your paper," Davidson said. "Bolts and nuts, I [expletive] up. You've just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do."

But now the question is should instant replay become a part of Major League Baseball? There are several arguments that have been made, the traditionalist wants America's pastime to remain the same and others can argue that baseball is already long enough. The way replay in baseball would work, is that there would have to be a system. In my opinion it should be like the NFL, coaches have 2 challenges per game well the same should be done for baseball. You can not challenge balls and strikes, but you can challenge fair or foul balls, home runs or not. There should be a 3 minute time limit for a review, and maybe as well put a clock on the pitcher. Like a shot clock in basketball give the pitcher a 15-20 second time limit, also speeding up the game.

In an interview today on 1050 ESPN Radio New York, Bud Selig said that instant replay is an issue he is strongly thinking about and a decision will be made for the 2009 season. All in all this is a good step for baseball and bringing in instant replay would help the game more than it would hinder it.