Not sure if anyone else is watching the MLB playoffs or not - I wouldn’t blame if you weren’t - but I know at least my dad and I had the TV tuned to TBS when the umpire on the left field line blew possibly the worst foul ball call I’ve ever seen. It was last Friday, the Twins were playing the Yankees, and the batter was Joe Mauer. The call was so bad, in fact, that I was almost impressed.
In the wake of this and a few other lousy calls on the base paths, people started yapping about how baseball needs to use instant replay more than it does (currently only on home runs). I completely agree - and so should everyone else. It’s insane that viewers sitting on a couch at home can look at a play on TV for 5 seconds and have more knowledge than the people who are actually determining the outcome of the game.
Of course, the one guy who didn’t agree was the only person, really, that mattered: MLB commissioner Bud Selig. When asked about implementing replay more extensively, Selig had this to say:
“Baseball is not the kind of game that can have interminable delays.”
Really? Baseball can’t handle long delays? You mean like…
*The 200 times a game a pitcher steps off the rubber.
*The 200 times a game a batter steps out of the box and/or re-adjusts his batting gloves.
*The time outs that are called every time a player slides into a base.
*The 7th Inning stretch.
*The pitcher asking the ump for a new ball.
*The amount of time a team warms up between innings, playing catch in the outfield, and grabbing balls in the infield.
*The amount of time it takes to change pitchers.
*The amount of time it takes a manager to visit the mound.
*Catchers calling time out to run out and chatter with the pitcher.
*Managers arguing calls that never get overturned.
I assume what Bud meant was that because baseball is already full of ridiculously long delays, we’re hesitant to add more…but come on, wouldn’t we all rather see an umpire crew take 5 minutes to review a call and get it right than to just let horrifically blown calls go by?
Really, what Selig should do is find a way to get rid of some of the other delays in baseball that are far less meaningful. To me, his response to the cries for a smarter, more involved use of replay is indicative of what’s wrong with baseball - the belief that it is somehow a pure sport that should be resistant to change in order to maintain its integrity.
Well, if baseball ever wants its fan base to grow, instead of merely age, some drastic things have to be done…and it may take a new commissioner, perhaps someone under the age of 50, to really help shape a new direction.
