Early thoughts on replay?
Posted: Fri Apr 04, 2014 12:28 pm
Because baseball wasn't slow enough already, we went ahead and added replay this season.
Yesterday at the Cards-Reds game a play that was inches from being probably play-of-the-year was challenged. Billy Hamilton tracked a deep drive from Matt Holliday all the way to the right center gap and lept, nearly making an impressive catch... but then the ball ricocheted back where Jay Bruce dove to catch the ball before it reached the ground. Three results could have occured. 1. the ball may have actually gone over the wall for a 3 run home run. 2. the ball may have actually hit off of Billy Hamilton's glove, meaning it was a "live" ball and would have been an out, or 3. the ball may have hit off the wall and been a base hit.
The ump called out, then safe. The end result was Matt Holliday hit what may have been the deepest single in the history of baseball.
So what do you guys think of replay so far?
All I could think during that review is how pissed I'd be if I was a Reds fan watching my pitcher stand on the mound during a cool, damp afternoon for a long time while the play was reviewed. They ended up changing pitchers anyway, but these long pauses in the game are annoying.
Then you have out in San Francisco where a failed challenge left Bochy empty handed when in the 6th inning the Dbacks scored a run and he believed it was a blown call, but he could not challenge and he was 1 inning shy of the umps being allowed to review.
All I can say, is I'm glad Tony LaRussa didn't have replay when he managed. I can only think of how annoying he'd be strategically using the reviews. He'd review obvious plays just as a stall tactic, either to freeze the other pitcher or to allow him to get a pitcher warmed up in the pen.
Should there be a different penalty for failing a challenge? In the NFL, they lose a time out if they're wrong, and that keeps coaches pretty honest with their challenges. How about in baseball, if you fail, the rest of the game, if you take a trip to the mound, the pitcher must be removed. Also, how about allowing umps to review scoring plays regardless of inning? A run in the 6th is worth just as much as a run in the 7th.
Yesterday at the Cards-Reds game a play that was inches from being probably play-of-the-year was challenged. Billy Hamilton tracked a deep drive from Matt Holliday all the way to the right center gap and lept, nearly making an impressive catch... but then the ball ricocheted back where Jay Bruce dove to catch the ball before it reached the ground. Three results could have occured. 1. the ball may have actually gone over the wall for a 3 run home run. 2. the ball may have actually hit off of Billy Hamilton's glove, meaning it was a "live" ball and would have been an out, or 3. the ball may have hit off the wall and been a base hit.
The ump called out, then safe. The end result was Matt Holliday hit what may have been the deepest single in the history of baseball.
So what do you guys think of replay so far?
All I could think during that review is how pissed I'd be if I was a Reds fan watching my pitcher stand on the mound during a cool, damp afternoon for a long time while the play was reviewed. They ended up changing pitchers anyway, but these long pauses in the game are annoying.
Then you have out in San Francisco where a failed challenge left Bochy empty handed when in the 6th inning the Dbacks scored a run and he believed it was a blown call, but he could not challenge and he was 1 inning shy of the umps being allowed to review.
All I can say, is I'm glad Tony LaRussa didn't have replay when he managed. I can only think of how annoying he'd be strategically using the reviews. He'd review obvious plays just as a stall tactic, either to freeze the other pitcher or to allow him to get a pitcher warmed up in the pen.
Should there be a different penalty for failing a challenge? In the NFL, they lose a time out if they're wrong, and that keeps coaches pretty honest with their challenges. How about in baseball, if you fail, the rest of the game, if you take a trip to the mound, the pitcher must be removed. Also, how about allowing umps to review scoring plays regardless of inning? A run in the 6th is worth just as much as a run in the 7th.