Instant Replay is Bad for Baseball

As if baseball games aren’t already long enough, MLB is planning to discuss the expanded use of instant replay in a meeting with a newly formed committee of managers and executives today in Arizona.

While I feel that it is always a good thing when the correct call is made, instant replay should not be a part of baseball. Not only will it slow the game down, but it will also take away from the excitement that bad calls create.

Could you imagine if managers no longer argued with umpires about bad calls? Bobby Cox wouldn’t know what to do with himself. Obviously, arguing with umpires also slows the game down, but this has always been a part of baseball and it would be a shame to lose this tradition.  Adding instant replay would do just that.

Umpires would always make “safe” calls (and not meaning safe as in “safe at first”, but safe meaning “low risk”), and then just ask replay to save their asses.

It would be just like the NFL when there is a possible fumble. It is ALWAYS ruled a fumble and then the officials go to instant replay as a comfort blanket.

Baseball needs to just leave the instant replay as it is. Home runs and that is it.

The human error part of baseball is something that has always been there, so why change it now?

Because we can is not a good enough answer. If MLB changes the rule to include instant replay on fair and foul balls, it will not stop there.

Next year it will be instant replay on safe and out calls, then the year after that it will be balls and strikes.

We might as well have robots as umpires.

Pitchers throw balls.  Batters strike out.  Why not “fix” those too?