ShareThisIsn't this so baseball: Video replay works perfectly, and averts what would have been a travesty, and yet apologies seem to be in order.
It's probably not surprising, because in commissioner Bud Selig's perfect world there would never be a missed call, or if there was one nobody would notice it. Since initiating the use of video replay for contentious home run calls last year, Selig has been on the defensive whenever the matter comes up. He'd rather the issue just go away, but with bigger athletes and smaller ballparks it never will.
Saturday night, in the New York Yankees' 8-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the World Series, video replay was used for the first time in the postseason to overturn a ruling on the field and give Alex Rodriguez of the Yankees a two-run homer on a ball that was originally ruled a double. Rodriguez's fly ball off Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels down the right-field line hit a television camera near the foul pole that was partly in the field of play. Rodriguez stopped at second and then twirled his finger indicating he thought it was a homer.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi asked crew chief Gerry Davis to review the play. "We thought it hit a fan," Girardi said. Right-field umpire Jeff Nelson disagreed, saying it hit something "solid" and he thought the ball hit the top of the fence and bounced back into play. The umpires huddled, disappeared to check the footage -- which was conclusive -- and came back and made the proper call.
In contrast to Yankee Stadium, which has become more corporate and quiet, Citizens Bank Park is a roiling, rude place. But the crowd was remarkably accepting of the call, and later Rodriguez agreed that it only made sense he'd be the guy involved. He was the first player to have a homer reviewed during the regular season and, well, squire Kate Hudson around and the camera's going to follow you.
But in his own ditzy way, Rodriguez put into words the strange taste that the correct application of technology left in everyone's mouth. "It didn't feel like a controversy,'' he said. But by raising the topic, he suggested it sure seemed like one. Now, you can go back and forth all night about whether the umpires really did explain to both coaches during the exchange of lineup cards that the camera was part of the ground rules. Phillies bench coach Pete Mackanin said it never came up. But on this night, the system worked.
So there should be more video replay in baseball, right? I've said no in the past -- now, I'm prepared to revisit it to include fair and foul calls.
Uniformed personnel are not exactly rabid supporters of instant replay. Even those who are, such as Hamels -- isn't that a neat twist of fate? -- apply the caveat that they would not like to see it lengthen the game. The players and managers, it seems, adapt to the human element better than the rest of us. Some, like Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, are more strident. "I feel like, sometimes, you leave something alone if it's working," he said. "I think from a fan standpoint ... it makes for conversation, and I think the fan's happier not knowing sometimes."
Girardi would not mind having a "video" umpire in a booth "that could make a call within 30 seconds, because I think most calls you could make within 30 seconds, which a lot of times would be quicker than a manager running out there." And that is an idea with merit.
The umpire could be in audio contact with the crew chief, but I would put a caveat on it: The video umpire could be used only if the crew chief requested his intervention. Keep the managers out of it. That way the game is still in the hands of the men on the field. So if there's a ball smoked down the line and there is some debate, the crew chief should be allowed to ask for help.
I understand Selig's sentiments, because there really is a slippery slope element to all this. Balls and strikes are sacrosanct, but if fair and foul, why not plays on the basepaths? Increasingly, it is emerging as an issue because it's difficult to make a make-up call after a play has been blown on the bases.
At any rate, it's time to have a full-blown debate about replay's place, and instead of hiding, the commissioner needs to get in front of it.
(Contact Jeff Blair at jblair(at)globeandmail.com)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnCanadian clients may not useMust credit Toronto Globe and Mail(All currency U.S.)
