GMs vote 25-5 to use replay to aid home run decisions

Slim · 11-06-2007, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Baseball could have a new position next year: replay judge.

General managers recommended for the first time Tuesday that instant replay be used to help umpires make difficult decisions.

The proposal, approved by a 25-5 vote, was limited to boundary calls -- whether potential home runs are fair or foul, whether balls go over fences or hit the tops and bounce back, and whether fans interfere with possible homers.

"We've taken the first step. The question will be now, what do we do?" said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president for baseball operations in the commissioner's office. "We have glacier-like movement in baseball, so I'm hopeful that we can at least start meaningful discussions about it. I think that this will be something we'll have to go very deliberately on."

Five general managers -- Dan O'Dowd of the Rockies, Josh Byrnes of the Diamondbacks, Jim Bowden of the Nationals, John Mozeliak of the Cardinals and Billy Beane of the A's were in charge of the recommendation.

Solomon said the next step will be to speak with commissioner Bud Selig, who opposes the use of replays but said last month he was willing to let GMs examine the issue. If Selig gives the go-ahead, Solomon and staff in the commissioner's office would draft a detailed replay proposal that GMs could vote on when they gather next month at the winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn.

"All anybody is interested in is getting it right," White Sox GM Ken Williams said. "It will be a lot easier and less time to get that right than some of these arguments that ensue when a call is disputed."

Replay eventually would have to be approved by the unions for players and umpires, and possibly in a vote by owners.

Solomon said if replay couldn't be put in place for the start of next season, it was possible it could make its debut in the postseason. A baseball executive told ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney that replay is not likely to be implemented in 2008.

"It's very important that we do get Bud's agreement on this," Solomon said. "He seemed to be softer, at least, on the consideration of the subject lately. I would not consider him an advocate of instant replay. He will have to be convinced."

Selig earlier this year said he did not favor replay "because I don't like all the delays. I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves."

Television replays can be used for many calls in the NFL. In the NBA, they are often used to determine whether players get shots off before time expires. In the NHL, replays are applied to check whether pucks cross goal lines. In grand slam tennis, replays can be used to ascertain whether balls are in or out.

Solomon likened this to the NHL model. He said the GMs' technology committee felt that the best method would be to have all video fed to a central location to be judged.

"A phone call would go to that person, and that person would have all the available angles that the network feed provided, and then make that call," he said. "We would have limits on it and there would be some type of penalties if a person tried to, if a team tried to go beyond those limits."

Solomon also said that to speed up games, baseball was considering limiting when a hitter could step out of the batter's box between pitches, restricting the number of times a player could visit the mound, and limiting the number of players allowed to visit the mound.

espn.com

I am not a big fan of replay at all for baseball, but as long as they keep it to only home runs and if the ball was fair or not I guess that is fine.

Dr. Giganto · 11-07-2007, 01:05 PM

I am very happy about this.

Getting the calls right is much more important than the "human element" of the game

In my ideal world, there would be no umpires whatsoever

Slim · 11-07-2007, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr. Giganto
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In my ideal world, there would be no umpires whatsoever

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Computers are going to take over the world....

Dr. Giganto · 11-07-2007, 01:11 PM

lol just embrace it Slim!

Brandon · 11-07-2007, 08:23 PM

As long as this is just for home runs I'm all for it. I don't want my ball games taking 4 hours.. wait, they already do!

Dr. Giganto · 11-07-2007, 08:28 PM

haha true...like college football games

Toaster Oven · 11-08-2007, 05:43 AM

Eh, I think the human element is what makes the game, the game. just tbh. I'll live with bad calls. Besides, Heckling the ump is half the fun!

Slim · 11-08-2007, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suntan Superman
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Eh, I think the human element is what makes the game, the game. just tbh. I'll live with bad calls. Besides, Heckling the ump is half the fun!

I agree 100%.

We as fans, we go to the games, a close call at first or maybe at home, and the umpire says OUT! What do we do?....

booooooooooo...

Then we see the manager come out and what do we do?

YEAH!!!!!!

The manager throws his hat down, kicks some dirt... And we do what?

OHH YEAH!!!

All of that will be gone if there are zero umps, and just computers of some sort.

You suck computer!..... nah doesnt feel the same..

Jayman · 11-08-2007, 10:53 AM

I agree with what you're saying Slim, but as of right now this is just for fair/foul and homerun calls. I'm fine with this as sometimes there isn't an ump close enough to the play to make a true decision.

But if it comes down to computers using high-tech cameras to judge balls/strikes, I'll be upset. That will be too much in my book. Here's hoping that doesn't happen.