And secondly, I stand by my statement that it wouldn’t take long to do it. It took Joe Morgan 30 seconds to see that Delgado hit a Home Run. Add about a minute or two to realy that to the field ump from an eye in the sky and voila – they get it right.

And the argument between manager and ump might even go away or be lessened.

It’s time.

Whether somone was “inbounds or out of bounds” or “in the end zone or not” or whether a player hit a ball “out of the playing field, in fair territory” are things that ought to be “guaranteed-accurate,” especially with advances in technology! Refs and Umps shouldn’t even be the ones putting their faces in the booth to “review” the call … that should be done from upstairs and relayed down, to move the game along quicker ….. they’re all over 2hrs as it is!!!

Now whether players were “tagged or not” or “held by another player” or “completed their swing” are things we can let traditional means handle!

I’m sure if I’m capable of writing it, and I not being an expert, that an “Expert” or a union (since they do have those) would be much more capable!! It’s not astrophysics, it’s a game … currently understood and played by middle and elementary schoolers around the country.

The NBA has pretty tight control on instant replay, but I think the NFL reviews are generally too long and disrupt the pace of the game (which is saying a lot, since pro football takes a commercial break every time a punter changes socks). Even worse is college football – it takes those people five minutes to review even the most blatantly obvious call.

That said, I think home run calls are important enough to merit instant replay, even if there is some delay. I just don’t trust MLB to effectively handle what should be a simple, straightforward process.

Honestly, instead of video replay, I’d rather MLB try to use that same technology they’ve started using in tennis to instantly detect line faults. I’m not sure how that works though, and I’m not sure you could effectively use such a system in a ballpark with all of the varying angles and possible crowd interference.

But, man, I don’t want to have to start watching a home plate ump disappear under that little veil around a replay monitor.

That argument is pretty lame. The NFL clearly has rules when Replay can be used and when it can’t. The NBA uses it at the end of a game or half to see if a shot counts and no time else. Those leagues have been able to effectivley govern the use of replays, and the MLB can as well.

As for your 3-5 missed home run calls a season, I love to see your source on that, because we just had 3 this week. And sometimes they can make a difference in games that really mean something. In game 3 of the 2005 World Series, Jason Lane hit a “home run” that should have been ruled a double. That game went 14 innings and could have changed that entire series had the Astros pulled it out. Without that Home Run, the games never goes to extras.

Richie’s right, replay needs to be put in for Home Runs. It is faster and a hell of a lot more accurate than the two minute “umpire conference” to share what the other umps saw. In fact, I would call that lo-tech replay. If the ump who made the call needs help, what would be a better solution. Ask the three other guys on the field what they saw, or go to conclusive video evidence. It’s a no brainer.

Oh, one other plus, I wouldn’t have been cheated out of an Arod Home Run in the derby contest.

For the 3-5 missed home run calls we get a season (on average), almost none of which affect the game’s outcome, it’s not worth the expense or the disruption. Plus as I mentioned, it’s a slippery slope that has no end until there are no more umps.