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The Screwball Self-limiting replay system sets up MLB for em
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NEW YORK As the first season of expanded instant replay in Major League Baseball steams ahead, everyone continues to learn about the intricacies of the system, and thinks about what tweaks might be made in the future. The problem is that the system itself is inflexible to adaptations that would help achieve the ostensible goal of having replay, which is to get as many calls right as po sible.
On Sa ... ay at Yankee Stadium, Wil Myers batted against Masahiro Tanaka with one out in the second inning. On the 3-2 pitch, the reigning American League Rookie of the Year drove a ball straight down into the dirt in front of home plate. The ball bounced up and struck Myers as he Matt Carpenter Jersey was starting to run to first base. Ruled to have left the batters box when the ball hit him, Myers was called out.
On replays, the out call by home plate umpire Doug Eddings appeared to be correct, but Rays manager Joe Maddon could not even challenge if he wanted to. As stated in Section V of the MLB replay rules, The only calls eligible for Replay Review are set forth in this Section V. Calls not identified below may not be reviewed at any time, but nothing contained herein shall limit the Umpires in their ability to convene the crew on the field to further discu s any play consistent with Official Baseball Adam Wainwright Jersey Rule 9.02.
Maddon tried to make his case to Eddings, but without the play being reviewed, there was no way it had any chance of being overturned. Myers still had one foot in the batters box when the ball hit him, and there was no way that any other umpire on the field would have been able to say with certainty what had happened. The only way to even hope for the call to be overturned would have been replay.
Theres a lot of stuff around the batters box, like foul balls off hitters feet or not off of his foot, thats not reviewable, as an example, Maddon said, referring to a different scenario in which a ball hits a batter in the box, then rolls into fair territory, but should be a dead ball. So, theres things around there that theyre concerned its going to be difficult to ascertain whether or not these things actually did occur. Its under that purview. Theyre just not sure the camera could capture it. But I think thats something thats Whitey Herzog Jersey going to eventually be added.
If something is difficult to ascertain for slow-motion cameras, it stands to reason that it would be difficult to ascertain for an umpire in real time. You would think that this would be a reason to make replay inclusive rather than exclusive, or at least to have a counterbalance. The replay rule, as written, is like the 10th Amendment to the Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. The amendment limits federal powers, but baseball has no equivalent to Article I, Section 8, which grants Congre s the power to make all Laws which shall be nece sary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution.
With limiting language, but no freeing language, the replay rules lock the umpires into calls which may be incorrect, even though the ability exists to at least try to set things right. Only certain plays may be reviewed, and if there is a play that ought to be reviewable, but nobody thought to include it in the replay rules, tough luck. This leads to inconsistent application of technology, where Dexter Fowler Jersey it is allowable to review whether a pitch hit a batter, but not a batted ball.
Eddings appeared to get his call right on Myers, but what if he had clearly been wrong on replay? There would be no shame for the umpire in having fallen victim to an optical illusion on a bang-bang play, and having that play reversed. But if that play was ruled incorrectly and wound up playing a determining factor in the game, and maybe even the pennant race, how could MLB justify it?
The answer is that there is no justification for maintaining a status quo where correctable mistakes are not corrected for the sake of preserving the human element, or whatever nonsense term the strict constructionists want to apply. Baseball certainly is about the human element, but its the human element of the players and their efforts, not those of the umpires, that should determine results. The umpires are there to enforce the rules and do everything in their power to get things right. Aside from fluctuating strike zones from arbiter to arbiter, they do a marvelous job. Fewer than half of replays calls close enough to warrant a second look have been overturned.
Umpires generally doing a good job, however, is not justification for allowing mistakes to stand. On Thursday in Minnesota, umpire Tim Welke called out Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig for leaning toward second base on an infield single. This play is specifically in the rules as not subject to review The Umpires judgment on whether a base runner rounded first base in an attempt to advance to second base. The call may rely on the umpires judgment, but it is not a judgment call. Either a player turns toward second base, or he does not turn toward second base, just as a wide receiver in the NFL either gets both feet inbounds or does not get both feet inbounds. The neighborhood play is a judgment call. A play like Puigs, or a determination on whether a runner left a base early when tagging up also specifically enumerated as not up for review is a matter of cold facts.
There are bound to be growing Roger Maris Jersey pains in the implementation of a replay system, but by writing the rules with an everlasting fear of technology in its heart, Major League Baseball is only setting itself up for embarra sment when a blown call in an important situation is impo sible to correct.
WHAT THE H-L?
For the second straight week, there were two games in which a relief pitcher received credit for a supposedly good performance with a hold, but also was the losing pitcher for his team.
On Tuesday in Kansas City, the Toronto Blue Jays called on Brett Cecil with a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning, the tying run on first base, and two outs. After a stolen base and a walk, Cecil got Omar Infante to ground out to end the inning, but when he came back out for the eighth inning, the southpaw gave up singles to Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler, then struck out Alex Gordon before giving way to Sergio Santos. When Santos gave up a two-run double to Salvador Perez, and the Royals went on to a 10-7 win, Cecil became the first Genesis Cabrera Jersey Blue Jays pitcher to record a hold-lo s since Francisco Rosario in 2006.
Two days later, the Atlanta Braves pulled starter Ervin Santana after six innings with a 4-3 lead in Miami, and brought in Ian Thomas, who promptly allowed a pair of singles, then got a lineout before David Carpenter entered
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