Filed under: Baseball
Back in June, Ken Rosenthal from Fox Sports wrote that the chance that the MLB would implement a replay system for boundary calls “appear[ed] better than ever.” This would be the most significant change in baseball since the addition of the Designated Hitter in the American League. Now that we are in August, it seems the league is set to push the new system. Tom Verducci from Sports Illustrated reports:
The umpires and players also are in favor of a replay system, though the players have expressed a concern about instituting replay during the regular season. Should September games, for instance, be played under rules that were not in place during the first five months of the season? Or, if all parties agree that replay is good for the game, why not institute it as soon as the system is ready?
Baseball wants replay in a very limited sense: to determine fair or foul balls on potential home runs as well as whether balls actually cleared the outfield wall for home runs, including instances that involve possible fan interference. It was not immediately determined if balls near the foul line, even if not near the foul pole, would qualify as boundary calls open to review. Close plays on the bases, trapped balls by fielders, and borderline pitches will not be reviewable.
Selig had long been an opponent of any instant replay system. As recently as 2005 Selig said, “But do I believe in instant replay? No, I do not. Human error is part of our sport.”
Bud Selig is absolutely right. He has made plenty of mistakes during his tenure, but in this case he is correct.
Baseball has always been different than other modern American sports. While basketball, football, and hockey have seen major aesthetic “improvements” in their sports–from horribly ugly modern jerseys to major changes in padding and stadium layout–baseball had prided itself on adhering to its own traditions, even when modernizing the sport. New parks are built, but for the most part they look to imitate the storied parks of the past. New jerseys are developed with old ones in mind, and many teams wear “retro” jerseys multiple times during the season. Old franchises hold special events throughout the season dedicated to great heroes of the past. Parks have their own hall (or “wall”) of fames.
Mystique also plays a major part in baseball–more so than in other sports. Baseball has the Nasty Boys, the Black Sox, Willie Mays and The Catch, the Curse of the Bambino and Ruth’s Called Shot, Ten Cent Beer Night, The Shot Heard ‘Round the World, The Homer in the Gloamin’. Bill Kauffman has called real baseball not the game of the home run but the game of the sacrifice-bunt, but it is also the game of the unassisted triple-play, great home run calls (Caray: “Holy Cow!” or Kalas: “Watch this baby… Outta Here!”), perfect games, hitting for the cycle, and–that’s right–human error.
Baseball is a game of charm and consistency. Generations bring their sons and grandsons (or daughters and granddaughters) to the ballpark and I imagine the sweet smell of hot dogs and beer and peanuts hasn’t changed much over the years. But the true beauty of baseball is that, despite the moaning and groaning from fans about curses and bad umpiring, the sport is better with its flaws left intact. Despite corporate sponsorships and 24 hour ESPN coverage, going to a ballgame, from single-A to the “big show”, gives a fan the distinct feeling that even with all the balls and whistles, a community is coming together to watch some grown men play a boys game. We yell for (and in Philly, at) our players, we live and die with them, and we yell along with the managers “The ball was foul, Ump!” It’s painful. But it’s also joyous.
Fundamentally, baseball in the little league is not terribly different than baseball in Yankee Stadium. Nine men playing the field, an opposing hitter at the plate, and four neutral men governing. Isn’t their something poetically simple about that? No review screens or stoppages. Just men playing a classic American game, governing themselves, at least for nine innings. What’s so harmful about that?
There are plenty of examples in modern society where human endeavors are replaced by cold, technological efficiency, but must we let this attitude infiltrate America’s classic pastime? It seems it is already too late.
