It is the great debate in sports at the moment, whether or not to expand the use of instant replay in Major League Baseball. For every person who supports instant replay in America's pastime, there is someone else who is against it.
For those who are in favor, they have wondered what, if anything, it would take for MLB to expand the replay system beyond the home run calls. The answer has finally come this week: A botched call cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game on Wednesday.
The call, which didn't appear to be that close, came with two outs in the ninth inning. Umpire Jim Joyce quickly became a recognizable name, a trending topic on Twitter - and not in a good way.
Sidenote: As fate would have it, the Twins suffered a loss to the Mariners later that night after a controversial call was made at second base, which allowed the winning run to score in extra innings. And speaking of blown calls, who could forget Phil Cuzzi's call in the playoffs last season?
In the aftermath: Class
While baseball fans everywhere seemed to be ticked at the perfect-game-that-wasn't, what followed that evening and the next day certainly changed a few attitudes. With the exception of a few Detroit players arguing the call with Joyce on the field after the game, everyone involved handled the situation with class, dignity and respect from there on out.
All reports said that Joyce was extremely upset for missing the call, after seeing the video replay. He apologized to Galarraga. I respect Joyce so much more for how he responded afterward. Instead of sticking to his guns, acting arrogantly and not admitting his error, he realized the mistake and felt horrible about costing the young man a place in MLB history.
One of the great moments
The Tigers and Indians finished up their series the next day with an afternoon game. Galarraga met the umpiring crew at home plate, and he presented Joyce with the lineup card. Joyce was given the option to sit the game out, but he stood up and took his place behind the plate.
It was a truly touching scene as Joyce had trouble keeping his emotions in check. As far as Galarraga, he handled the situation with nothing but class. The same goes for his manager Jim Leyland.
Crackin' open the can o' worms
This incident obviously reopened the instant-replay can of worms, which would be expected. I think the thing that surprised a lot of people, or at least me, was the debate Thursday as to whether Commissioner Bud Selig would reverse the call at the first base, therefore awarding Galarraga with a perfect game.
In the continued classiness, Leyland and Galarraga were both humble when faced with questions related to the decision to overturn the call. They conveyed that they were fine with what happened, and that they knew how bad Joyce was feeling. They made sure to say that they did not want to demand the call be reversed.
The good word from Selig was that he would not be overturning the call. I agree with this. It's one thing to change a call right after the fact on the field, but to overturn a call in a game that has already taken place would be disastrous. It's a very slippery slope with undefined standards.
What the commish did say was that he would look into expanding instant replay beyond determining home runs. I am in favor of this decision.
Instant replay. Yes? No?
There's always a heated debate with the topic of instant replay. Some of the arguments? Baseball is too long already, replay takes away the human element, etc. On the other hand, the rare bad calls cost teams games, if we have the technology, why not use it?, etc.
I would like to see instant replay in baseball. I think this particular situation is finally the "ah-ha" factor that will make that happen. The NHL, NFL and tennis all have the use of video replays, and it seems to have worked just fine. When calls are overturned, they are usually correct. That's what's important: getting it right.
Now, of course baseball is a different game which has already been criticized for its slow pace. But there must be a way to try and factor some replay into the game.
Up for a challenge?
I still maintain going with the challenge system used by the NFL and in tennis tournaments. Whenever you have human officials making subjective calls, there will always be human error, so why not try to correct it? I like the challenge system because there's a limit, so you won't have to sit through a challenge every other play.
Video doesn't lie. I think it should be in place for those tough calls, or close calls that might be hard to make in real time. And hey, who wouldn't love to see Gardy all fired up and red in the face, throw a red flag onto the diamond to ask for a challenge?
No matter what MLB decides to do as far as the instant replay expansion, I'm just glad it is getting a closer look. It doesn't need to be taken to an extreme, but it's time to use it in moderation.
I've given you my opinion on instant replay in MLB, now feel free to share your thoughts and opinions with me on the subject.
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