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Missed plays and calls, speed of game, impact on umpires are concerns
By Sheldon Ocker
Beacon Journal sports writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 28, 2008
DETROIT: When the Indians and Seattle Mariners begin their weekend series at Progressive Field Friday night, instant replay will have been in place for one day.
Today is the day when Major League Baseball begins an experiment to determine the efficacy of replay in judging whether potential home run balls are fair or foul or have cleared the appropriate boundary.
David Dellucci doesn't look forward to the innovation.''I'm a traditionalist,'' he said Wednesday. ''I think baseball has a unique set of rules. For instance, there's no time limit, things like that sets the game apart. I hate to see instant replay in the game, when we already have four umpires. The (critics') biggest complaint is the speed of the game, and this won't help.''
Detroit Tigers catcher Brandon Inge told reporters that he spoke to an umpire who told him that each time replay is used, it will take at least seven minutes to make a decision.
Dellucci has other concerns, as well. Among them, that deciding the legitimacy of home runs now takes on a greater importance than other kinds of plays.
''I feel like there are other plays that are equally or even more important,'' he said. ''Ball and strike calls, plays on the bases, foul balls (outside first and third) can have just as much impact on winning or losing a game as a home run. So why do we care that only home runs are called correctly? There are a lot more missed calls on the bases than missed home run calls.''
Dellucci was expressing the fear of many players who believe that once the door is open for replay, it will eventually replace the human element of the game, that is, the umpires.
''Where does it stop?'' he said. ''I don't think there's any way to keep this to just home runs. We've been playing the game for 100 years without this, so why change now?''
Pitchers might be the biggest victims of replay, if it takes seven minutes or more to make a call.
''I'd have to warm up again if it took 10 minutes,'' Anthony Reyes said. ''Personally, I wouldn't want to wait around for seven minutes.''
Grady Sizemore thinks replay can work.
''You want to get the call right, and this can help,'' he said. ''It might be fine for home runs, but what about the other plays? Don't they want to get them right? But we'll see how it works.''
Sheldon Ocker can be reached at socker@thebeaconjournal.com.
DETROIT: When the Indians and Seattle Mariners begin their weekend series at Progressive Field Friday night, instant replay will have been in place for one day.
Get the full article here.
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