Enough is enough, MLB needs replay

Baseball needs replay. Period.

I know Orioles fans smell what I’m cookin’ (Jeffrey Maier anyone??)

Several times in the past week there have been blown calls by umpires that garnered national attention. It’s time to give the boys in blue some help.

Carlos Delgado’s foul ball that wasn’t (should have been a three-run home run against the Yankees), A-Rod’s double that should have been a four-bagger against the Orioles (ironic), and Geovany Soto’s inside-the-park-home run that should have been ruled a round-tripper (I know he ended up with a home run either way, but the pudgy backstop for the Cubs couldn’t enjoy his trot nearly as much), were all errors in judgment by the umpires working the games…big errors.

This is not a condemnation of the umpires – I think it’s amazing that they get as many calls right as they do. With all of the bang-bang plays at first, trap calls in the outfield, and plays at the plate, there are plenty of chances to get the call wrong. But, for the most part, the umps hold their own.

After all, we get to sneak a few glances at a slow-mo replay before we come to a decision – these guys have 50,000 pairs of eyes staring at them while they have two seconds (if that) to figure out what happened.

However, with the technology we have now - the ability to call up and slow video down frame-by-frame – we need to be giving these guys some help.

There are two primary arguments against the institution of replay: the fact that human error is part of the game, and the possibility of replay slowing down an already plodding sport.

First of all, the “human error is part of the sport” line of reasoning is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard. The same case was made against using computers to help with line calls in tennis, and I laughed out loud then as I do now. Why should human error be part of the game?? Because they didn’t use replays in the 30’s? Yeah, they didn’t have closers, lefty specialists or batting helmets then either…should we get rid of those too?

Oh that’s right…there’s that thing called “progress”…imagine that.

Personally, I’d rather see the proper team win than have a squad penalized because baseball was too obsessed with tradition.

As for the timing issue, it’s only slightly more complicated…very slightly.

There is no question that for each replay scenario a 3-4 minute (oh my goodness, hide the children) delay will ensue...if that.

All you need is a person sitting at a TV with a phone next to them - I have an extra of both at my house that I don’t use if the MLB is that hard up for cash.

The umpire makes a phone call, the judge takes a look, and then they inform the crew chief of their decision. I’m thinking we go from play in question to next pitch in less than five minutes.

Where could they make that time up?

Hmm…how about enforcing the rules already in place?

How many times do pitchers take more than 12 seconds from the time the umpire makes one call to delivering the next pitch…I’m going to be conservative and say it happens more than 75 percent of the time.

Believe it or not, all of those seconds add up to minutes…maybe even five of them over a three hour period.

Do batters really need to adjust their gloves, helmet, belt buckle and wristbands after every pitch? Somehow I doubt it. Make the guys stay in the batters box until the at-bat is over, they break their twig, or the umpire feels the need to grant a time-out.

If they want to leave the painted area, allow the pitcher to throw the ball and let the umpire call the pitch as if the batter was there. See how many guys feel the need to go through a 15-second pruning routine between tosses at that point.

I don’t think there should be replay for everything (individual pitches are off limits), but calls at first, home, and along the fair-foul lines should be up for inspection, along with home run calls. Give teams two challenges each, and a third if they’re right both times.

Sure it would add some time to the games, but they could get it back by cutting down on the uselessness in between pitches and the number of times a pitching coach can go out to calm down his declining starter.