Why No Replay Review?

[TussAgee11]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

This has nothing to do with saving face or being stubborn. Washington didn't ask him to go look. Do you ever make a call you don't think is right? Ever? I'm not asking if you're always right ... I'm asking - don't you ALWAYS think your call is right, at the moment you made it?

So ... what would prompt someone, after making a call he believes to be right, to waffle on his OWN call and say, "Hey guys, I'm not sure on that one, let's go watch tv." It doesn't work that way, and it shouldn't.

Of course we make the call we think is right at the time, but you would have to be an egotistical maniac if you've never had a moment after making a call on a whacker, nutcutter, whatever where you haven't said, at minimum, "boy, I wish I could see that one again." And I think we've all had the ones where we say "s***, I missed it" a split second after the call is made.

The problem with the replay system (besides the fact that there is one) is the vagueness and ambiguity in the procedure. Perhaps it is because we have a small sample size of when replay has been used, compared to say football, to really identify the problems with it.

It seems clear baseball does not want it in the managers hands (ie, no red flag). So it is left up to the umpire when to and when not to use it. Which creates alot of different outcomes.

If MLB wishes to use replay in whatever capacity, they should just have the "buzz" system used in college football and hockey. Call what you got, and if something is wrong, we have a chance to go fix it (if the play is reviewable to begin with). Whether it be a war room like in hockey, or a 5th umpire on the crew, if you want replay in baseball, this would be the way to do it.

In the extra umpire system, it may also be beneficial to have an umpire get an "off-day" every 5th day in a 162 game season. It would create more opportunities for AAA guys to be evaluated on the MLB level. Also a day off after a plate day may help some of the veteran umpires recover. May eliminate some of the "next-day arguments" that come out of the holes. May give the umpire some mental rest and allow him to be a bit more patient in a game management situation.

I'd be happy to read about some of the cons you all could come up with.

But most importantly, replay being called for by somebody who actually can see the replay before he calls for it eliminates the wasted time when they do actually get it right on the field. Manager comes out to argue, CC feels the buzz, says "Ron, don't worry, we're already going" and you go look. No buzz, manager wastes 20 seconds giving the booth time (which he currently spends trying to convince the umpire to go to replay anyways), umpire says "Ron, I think I got that right because of X Y Z, and they're not buzzing, so lets play" and the umpire looks good because he got it right the first time.

If you want replay, this is the route to go.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by TussAgee11

Whether it be a war room like in hockey, or a 5th umpire on the crew, if you want replay in baseball, this would be the way to do it.

I like the war room idea. There's not that many chances for review in a day, so why pay an extra $100,000 per crew per year for a guy to sit in a booth with his feet up? You can pay a crew of 5 or 6 $50-60k a year to sit in a war room.

I still think they should have "text in your call" promotions -- the most popular during a commercial break wins the call.

[TussAgee11]

Originally Posted by yawetag

I like the war room idea. There's not that many chances for review in a day, so why pay an extra $100,000 per crew per year for a guy to sit in a booth with his feet up? You can pay a crew of 5 or 6 $50-60k a year to sit in a war room.

I still think they should have "text in your call" promotions -- the most popular during a commercial break wins the call.

From a dollars and cents standpoint you are probably right, UNLESS they go to expanded use of replay. If they put it in for safes/outs, you would see probably 10 replays a night I would guess under a buzz down system. In which you would probably want some camaraderie between CC and the guy looking at the monitor in order to effectively communicate what needs to be communicated. Just a bit of a trust / comfort issue for the crew.

IF they put in replay. I still don't think they will. They may experiment a bit with it in a WBC or spring training though.