The Cubs didn't install lights [1] at Wrigley Field until 1988, but they were on the cutting edge of baseball technology tonight, as the instant replay [2] made its Major League debut at the Friendly Confines.
And baseball may never be the same.
The instant replay system aims to correct a simple problem: Sometimes the ump can't make the right call, especially in ballparks where it's difficult to tell if a home run actually left the yard or if a fan helped his team's cause.
Here's how the new system works:
Instant replay will only be used to determine home run calls in case there is a disputed boundary call, or fan interference, or a question as to whether a ball is fair or foul. If umpires have a doubt, they will huddle and it will be up to the crew chief to decide whether to go with the umpires' decision, or check a replay.
If a play is to be reviewed, the crew chief and at least one other umpire, possibly two, will go into the room and pick up a phone, which is a direct line to a video room in New York run by MLB Advanced Media. Then, the umpires will be relayed feeds from both the home and away teams' television broadcasts, and possibly use the home team's in-house feed, if necessary.
That's it. Sounds reasonable enough, right? WRONG.
I suppose it's fitting that the instant replay system would debut at the scene of one of the most infamous potential fan interference plays [3] in recent history. As a Cubs fan who is severely scarred by that moment (even if Bartman wasn't the reason the Cubs didn't make the World Series), you would think that I might wholeheartedly support a system that could presumably rectify the situation.
But I don't.
One of the best parts about the game of baseball is the human element and the fact that it is truly a game of inches. An inch to the right and that screaming liner down the third base line is a fair ball. An inch to the left and it's a long strike. And who is responsible for making that split-second call? The all-too-human and yet all-powerful umpire. Therein lies the drama of the sport.
Umpires have always been the impartial arbiters of the action on the field. Their say is final and the humanity of their decisions can cut either way on any given play. If you start second-guessing their judgment, you've changed the very nature of the game and begun the slippery ride down a road that removes much of the character and drama from America's national pastime.
Are we expected to believe that the MLB would install this fancy equipment and use it to decide an estimated 18 out of every 3,900 plays? I don't buy it. This is a test case. If no one cries foul, the instant replay review will be expanded and soon the umps will be second-guessing themselves on everything from close plays at first base to whether that crucial pitch was really ball four or actually strike three.
Baseball is a game of built-up pressure and sudden release. That may be boring to some, but to me it's part of the attraction. There's nothing better than a 14-pitch at-bat when the game is on the line. If that at-bat results in an Aramis Ramirez walk-off home run, the beautiful ebb and flow of the game is completely disrupted when the homer needs to be analyzed from multiple video angles for five minutes. It would also delay the victory chorus of "Go Cubs Go" and that's just not OK.
The ump's split-second call is final. It always has been and it always will be. If anyone disagrees, their only recourse is to kick some dirt [4]. Let's keep the video room locked until the post-game show.