Baseball general managers recommend instant replay for first time By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer November 6, 2007 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- For the first time Tuesday, baseball general managers recommended instant replay be used to help umpires make difficult decisions. The recommendation, 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 top and bounce back, and whether fans interfere with possible homers. Baseball commissioner Bud Selig opposes the use of replays but said last month he was willing to let GMs examine the issue. "I don't like instant replay because I don't like all the delays. I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves," Selig said then. But Jimmie Lee Solomon, an executive vice president in the commissioner's office, thinks Selig's stance has changed a bit recently. "He seemed to be softer, at least on the consideration of the subject," Solomon said Tuesday. He added it was unclear how the proposal will proceed and acknowledged there is "glacier-like movement in baseball" when it comes to innovation. Solomon said if Selig is willing, the commissioner probably would run the idea by owners. The plan needs approval from the players' association and umpires. Solomon said GMs favored having a Major League Baseball official in a central place with access to all camera angles. If there is a disputed call, that official would be contacted and would view the television replay to make a decision. "We have a very technologically savvy group of GMs," Solomon said. "I was surprised that we had five teams that said no." Solomon also said that to speed up games, baseball was considering limiting the number of times a hitter could step out of the batter's box during an at-bat and the number of times any player could visit the mound.
Personally, I think it's a good idea. It would be a stepping stone to getting replays into regular game use. Maybe down the line, allow a team 2 challenges in the game. So it can't take all night, but gives teams the opportunity to not have an inning end on a terrible call. They thought replay would kill football, and here we are, years later, and it's been a boon for the sport.
Good god - Baseball is long and drawn out enough. If you don’t have a vested interest in a team – it’s pretty much painful to watch. The last thing they need to do is stop the (lack of) action to go dick around with game tape. Also – getting a single call right in baseball is far less important than it is in football since any given game is basically meaningless.
I'm ok with this, but if they institute instant replay in the game beyond this, I'll be a little worried.
I actually think replay is pretty terrible in football, only because the rules are so vague and half the time they screw up the call based on some imagined interpretation of a rule. It definitely belongs in baseball where plays are much more cut and dry and calls are routinely blown by the umpires. I mean, a team made it to the playoffs and ultimately the world series this year because of a blown call by the umpire that would've easily been corrected if replay had been an option.
I doubt it will have any impact on the length of game at all. Instead of 5 minutes of the manager arguing the call, it will be 5 minutes of looking at the replay.
