Over the past few years, there has seemed to be a major outcry for instant replay in Major League Baseball. Controversial calls and missed plays has been the driving force for so many when it comes to replay in baseball. Well, earlier this week many fans and players got their wish when MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that there will be expanded replay starting in the 2014 season.
Since 2008, Major League Baseball contained replay, but it was only limited to home run disputes. Many people saw this as a step in the right direction. Since then though, there has still been game changing and even history changing missed calls by umpires leading to what we have now.
Every manager will start the game with one challenge. If he uses it and wins, he will get one more challenge for the remainder of the game. Many other plays are now allowed to be challenged including: tags, force plays, whether a batter is hit by a pitch, “trap” plays in the outfield, fan interference, etc. Two of the umpires will have access to the Replay Command Center in New York, which is staffed with other umpires. It will be the umpires at the Replay Command Center that make the final call and not the umpires at the game.
I may be in the minority, but in my opinion I cannot stand any form of replay in baseball. Human element is part of the game and I understand this is in place to get the calls right, but this is too much and takes up too much time. Maybe it will grow on me but as of right now, I am not a fan of replay in MLB.