Should Baseball Have Instant Replay?

While watching the end of the Oriole's/Yankees game on Saturday night, there was a close play at first base that resulted in the final out of the game and another come-from-behind win for the O's. But after reviewing the play (which consisted of Yankee's slugger Mark Texiera sliding headfirst into first base), it was pretty clear that the runner was actually safe. This would have given the Yankees at least one more at-bat and possibly changed the outcome of the game. But since there was no option to review the on-field call, the game abruptly ended with Texiera spitting out some dirt and what I assume were some colorful words for the first base umpire.


Currently, instant replay can only be used to help umpires determine the outcome of a home run. Basically, the instant replay can be used to determine:

• Whether a home run ball was fair or foul
• Whether the ball actually left the playing field
• Whether the ball was subject to fan interference 

The Baltimore Oriole's could have likely benefited from the fan interference rule in a 1996 playoff game with the Yankees. But unfortunately for the O's, the home run replay wasn't an option back then. In that case, a 12 year-old Yankee fan clearly reached over the fence and deflected a ball hit by Derrick Jeter which ultimately resulted in a home run. There's no telling whether or not Baltimore's Tony Tarasco would have made a play, but it appeared at the very least, that the ball would not have been a home run. Many Oriole fans are still bitter over the incident, feeling that it cost their team a trip to the World Series.

So, this brings up the question: Should instant replay be used in any controversial call in Major League Baseball?

We've already seen the delays in the NFL due to the instant replays. Although, they really are beneficial at times, do we really want to add a delay to a much slower paced sport like baseball? In football, you have twenty two players on the field moving all at once. No matter how good the referee is, there is inevitably going to be blown calls. So, I feel that there is indeed a need for the replay option in football. However, in baseball, things are much more deliberate. In other words, when a runner is heading to base, the umpire usually has more than enough time to position himself to make an accurate call. In football, chaos can ensue at any moment and catch the refs completely off guard, making it almost impossible to make the right call.

Aside from the controversial game between the O's and Yanks, there are many other pivotal playoff and World Series games that have been affected by blown calls. In one of the most infamous blown calls of all time, the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals were robbed of a World Series crown when Kansas City's Jorge Orta was called safe on a play were replays confirmed that he was clearly out. If the right call had been made, the Cardinals would have been celebrating. Instead, they went on to lose the game, and ultimately the World Series, to the Royals.

And on an individual basis, what baseball fan can forget Detroit's Armando Galarraga's perfect game in 2010 that was stolen due to a blown call at first base, which would have resulted in the final out. This guy pitched perfectly against the first twenty-six batters only to have number twenty-seven reach base on a blown call. So, instead of Galarraga going into the record books, he joined a list of many others who came so close. What a let-down......

Will baseball ever go to a replay system where any call can be reviewed? Or will there only be certain parts of the game, such as home runs, that will be eligible for a second look? Maybe only playoff and World Series games would be open to instant replay? One thing is for certain, when it's your team that's on the losing end of a bad call, the replay option sure sounds like a good thing.

And I know Yankees fans were upset about the blown call on Saturday night. And rightly so. But after the 1996 playoff incident, you're not going to get a whole lot of sympathy from this O's fan. Umpires are human and occasionally make mistakes. So for now, we're just going to have to accept it......

kw