Major League Baseball’s instant replay system is a step forward for the sport, it’s just going to take some time and tinkering to work out the kinks.
The video review system has been a dominant storyline in the first few weeks of the season. There seems to be some new confusion every day and the procedure has annoyed managers, fans and members of the media alike. But that doesn’t mean the decision to drastically expand replay was a mistake.
The point of replay is to get the call right and make sure an umpire’s mistake doesn’t ultimately determine the result of a game. Regardless of the sport, nobody wants officiating to be the deciding factor in a game — and that includes the officials.
For years, people fought to keep replay out of baseball based on the claim that officiating blown calls were part of the “human element” that made baseball what it is. But with the current state of technology, that argument no longer holds any water.
Each fan who tunes into a baseball game gets high-definition replays of every play from multiple angles. Calls in baseball are the most cut and dry of the four major sports, and it’s not hard for even the most casual of observers to watch a replay and figure out if the umpire blew the call.
There’s no reason for the umpires to be the only people without the benefit of that second look, but the system needs work.
MLB initially installed replay in 2008 strictly to review boundary calls following a rash of missed calls on potential home runs — the thinking being those decisions tend to have a major effect on the game.
After years of successful implementation and incremental growth, the massive expansion of instant replay was added as part of the new collective bargaining agreement this past offseason. Now managers can challenge just about anything short of balls and strikes.
Allowing the managers to challenge adds a bit of strategy into the game. Currently managers get one challenge per game and are granted a second if the first call gets overturned.
That would be fine if there was some risk of losing the challenge, but since managers are still allowed to go out and argue on the field before challenging — a stall tactic to enable someone in the clubhouse to check the replay themselves — the risk is minimal.
This has led to way too many managerial challenges. The rule was implemented to avoid one call deciding the outcome of a game, but since the calls are being overturned so often, plays that have a minimal effect on the game are being challenged.
Correcting mistakes is important, but when managers are challenging bang-bang force plays at first base with no runners on base in the first inning of a game, there’s a problem. Baseball is already a slow-paced sport, and dragging it out with frivolous video reviews will do nothing but drive fans away.
On top of the excess challenges, the replay system hasn’t been anywhere near instant. Ideally, it should take one minute or less to confer with the video command center in New York City, but thus far that hasn’t been the case.
It’s a new system that will get better with time, but the combination of slow reviews and excessive challenges has made it an issue early on this season. The former should get better with time or the addition of more umpires, but in the mean time, the latter is a treatable issue.
There are two quick fixes that could alleviate the problem and speed up the games. Either managers shouldn’t be allowed to hold up the game to figure out whether to challenge a call or they should be limited to one challenge regardless of if it’s successful, which would force them to be judicious and save it for truly critical situations.
It’s always difficult to adjust rules during the seasons, but MLB should consider going to the replay booth to refine how exactly it goes to the replay booth. The system is working for the most part. Just give it some time.
James Moran is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Beacon, N.Y.