MLB GMs Recommend Use Of Replay For Home Runs
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GMs Approve Video Replay
Proposal For Home Runs |
MLB GMs Tuesday at their annual meeting in Orlando approved by a 25-5 vote a proposal to use video replays to help umpires determine if potential home run balls landed fair or foul, if they cleared the wall and if they were interfered with by fans. The proposal must be approved by MLB Commissioner Bud Selig, the owners, the MLBPA and the World Umpires Association (Mult., 11/7). In L.A., Kevin Baxter notes that under the proposal, replays “would be handled much as they are in the NHL, where officials in the league’s Toronto office review video of all goals to make sure the puck crossed the goal line cleanly. Baseball’s replay officials, working from a central location, would be charged with reviewing home runs” (L.A. TIMES, 11/7). In Boston, Nick Cafardo notes MLB President & COO Bob DuPuy “doubted that a replay system could be instituted as early as next season.” Selig, a “longtime opponent of replay,” will “get input from baseball’s technology department.” If he approves the proposal, the commissioner’s office “could draft a formal proposal that GMs would vote on at the winter meetings in December” (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/7). Selig said, “I don’t like instant replay because I don’t like all the delays. I think it sometimes creates as many problems or more than it solves. But I am willing to say we’ll at least talk about it” (MLB.com, 11/6). WUA President John Hirschbeck also said that the umpires would “listen to what management had to present,” and MLBPA COO Gene Orza said that union officials “would have to speak to players” (N.Y. TIMES, 11/7).
ALL IN FAVOR? MLB Exec VP/Baseball Operations Jimmie Lee Solomon credited "very technologically savvy [GMs], who are getting younger and younger” with the vote in favor of replay (MLB.com, 11/6). Phillies GM Pat Gillick said, “From a technical standpoint, why wouldn’t we want to get the play right? It seems like we were kind of behind the times” (PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS, 11/7). Blue Jays President & CEO Paul Godfrey said, “I think I’d be in favour of replay, but not on balls and strikes because that will slow the game down. But I think you should have at least one opportunity to ask for a replay on a play like a close slide at the plate or on a play that changes the complexion of the game” (Toronto GLOBE & MAIL, 11/7). Astros GM Ed Wade, whose club was one of five voting against the proposal, said, “If you open it on a limited basis, it becomes a broader issue. It becomes a, ‘Why not do it in this setting? Why not do it in that setting?' I just think it grows bigger and bigger as time goes by” (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 11/7).
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Exec Thinks Replay For Balls And Strikes
Would Slow Game Down Too Much |
REAX: In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes of the use of replay, “What is Bud Selig waiting for? The backing of baseball’s brightest young minds should give Selig all the juice he needs to push the innovations past the owners and union, getting it on the field in time for testing this spring, setting it up for full use by 2009.” Former umpire Bruce Froemming said, “The way the parks are built today, sometimes there are impossible home run calls. The fences are too close. Why not bring in the TV camera for help?” However, former umpire Doug Harvey said replay would “slow down our games, and I’m against anything that would slow down our games” (L.A. TIMES, 11/7). Umpire Brian Gorman said, “I think it’s a good thing. In a limited role. With some of these new ballparks with the new dimensions … they bring fans closer to the outfield fences and they have a lot of fan interference” (L.A. TIMES, 11/7). In Toronto, Dave Perkins writes the recommendation by the GMs “seems about right. It won’t take forever and the teams won’t be involved. It will be similar to what the NBA does with instant replay, which is use it to determine if quarter-ending shots beat the buzzer. That takes officials maybe 15 seconds to figure out” (TORONTO STAR, 11/7). In Dallas, Evan Grant writes replay is “an idea whose time has come. With all the technology available, umpires can use a dash of help. Nobody is looking to take the human element out of the game. But with calls on which they’d need opera glasses for help, there is no reason why a TV camera can’t be of assistance” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 11/7). In Illinois, Scot Gregor writes, "Allow only one minute for a decision to be made. Baseball games are long enough as it is" (Illinois DAILY HERALD, 11/7).
GETTING UP TO SPEED: USA TODAY's Hal Bodley writes "pace of the game has become an issue," as MLB playoff games tend to run long. Solomon said MLB and its umpires “are going to be very vigilant at enforcing current rules on the books -- the 12-second rules, for example, in which the pitcher has to get the ball to the plate. We’re going to restrict the amount of times we let a batter call timeout. We’re trying to start each inning by having a cue the umpire will send to the pitcher” (USA TODAY, 11/7).
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