Baseball instant replay starts on thursday

Major League Baseball officiating takes a tentative step out of the dark ages on Thursday, when umpires will begin having instant replay at their disposal to help insure the correct ruling on close calls.  For the time being, the use of replay will be limited to home run balls—primarily determining whether they’re fair or foul.  Also, it’s up to the exclusive discretion of the umpire and managers won’t have the ability to throw a hanky and dispute a call as in the NFL.

There’s been talk of adding an instant replay component to the venerable sport for over a decade now.  These calls were renewed during a high profile fan interference call when Jeffrey Maier reached over the fence trying to grab a Derek Jeter fly ball during game 1 of the 1996 ALCS between the Yankees and Orioles.  The umpire closest to the incident called ‘fan interference’ and ruled the shot a home run.  Instant replay suggested that the ball wouldn’t have cleared the fence without Maier’s interference and the home run call was incorrect.  This sort of incident is precisely what MLB has in mind with its new guidelines for instant replay.

Some have suggested that with fan interference much more likely at newer ballparks (which have been built to bring the fans closer to the action) that instant replay use is long overdue.  Other major league players disagree, such as Detroit pitcher Kenny Rogers who speculates that replay was implemented at this time due to the perceived favoritism for the New York Yankees.  Alex Rodriguez lost a home run on a blown call in May:

"(Instant replay is) a slap in the face of umpires that have been here for a long time. It overshot the mark by far just because, what, in a Yankee game someone didn't get a homer? Please. It's happened thousands of times. That’s part of the game. It's the beauty of the game. Mistakes are made."

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who has been an outspoken critic of instant replay for years, recently changed his position somewhat.  He’s still opposed to the use of replay for most other judgment calls, and he adamantly denied that it would ever be used to overrule “safe/out” calls.

Instant replay will be a part of the game for at least the rest of this season and through the World Series.  It will be subject to review by the MLB offices and the Players’ Union, both of whom can relegate it to further “study”.  If there are no objections, it’ll be here to stay.