The Major League Baseball season is about to begin and there are some major league changes going into effect this year. In years past, if there was a bad call you would see the manager from the team that is being wronged run out to dispute the call. Sometimes, if you were lucky, you would have an outrageous manager who would put on a show for you and the other fans by screaming, kicking dirt at the umpire, or even by throwing a base or two. Now the MLB is trying to cut back on missed calls and save managers and umpires voices and reputation. This rule change is a step in the right direction for baseball to make the game less controversial and leave it up to the players to determine the outcomes of the games rather that the umpires.

On August 15, 2013 Bud Selig, the MLB Commissioner, made an announcement that all the owners from the 30 teams would take a vote to determine if instant replay would be expanded into the MLB. This was a historic moment for the MLB and all of baseball because in years past, the umpires were put under so much pressure to make the right call on the spot. Other sports, like football, the coach has two challenge flags to review a play that he disagreed on, when this flag was thrown the play would be reviewed to see if the officials made the correct call. This play however, had to be under a category in which it is allowed to be reviewed. Reviews can also can come from the officials themselves if they wish to see if they made the correct call. This is so that the game can be made as perfect as possible and there is no controversy on a bad call that could affect the game. Even with instant replay there is no guarantee that the call will still be correct after review. This is due to the human factor still being involved in the final decision for the call, and with humans, you know there will be mistakes.

This whole discussion came about the past couple of years when umpires made the wrong call on “bang, bang” plays or fast reaction plays where it is too close to see with the naked eye. But, if the umpires had instant replay for these plays they would be able to make the calls more successfully. This would make the media and fans blame the umpires for multiple calls which affected the game and these calls would cause major controversy. Having the fact that every call they make could be scrutinized, the umpires would be adding more pressure on themselves to make the right call. Having instant replay takes a ton of unneeded pressure off the shoulders of the umpires so they can try to make a good call. This will also save managers money because they will not have to go out to argue with the call and get thrown out of the game and be fined a lot of money for it. Having instant replay will make everyone happy, the upside to having it expanded is greater than the downside of it. It will put baseball into the twenty-first century with technology.

When all 30 owners voted, they decided to expand the instant replay in baseball. When I say expand instant replay, I mean to reinforce it into the game. Instant replay was already in baseball but it was only for during the playoffs and for a few topics, like, if a homerun actually cleared the field or if a ball was fair or foul. These were very minor opportunities for the managers to take advantage of technology that we have now to make sure that a call is correct. Now with the MLB expanding the instant replay, it will be used in every single game that the MLB has, Spring Training, Regular Season, and the Playoffs. The calls for which can be challenged have also gotten larger some include, if a player was safe or out, if the player tagged up or not/if the player left too early, if a fielder actually caught a ball and did not just acted like they caught it, and other calls. They cannot challenge balls and strikes however. In each game the manager is given two challenges and if he argues both the calls successfully he earns another challenge. This is almost like football with their challenges, in football challenges have become a big part in the games and they could be a deciding factor in a game. This looks to be true for baseball as well, manager are going to have to strategize on when is a good time to use a challenge and if they would win the challenge. Players are also going to have to play every play completely out just in case if a play is over turned. It will be a little bit weird at first for the players, managers and fans to have instant replay, but it will become a normal part of the game soon enough. With instant replay you mostly likely see less of managers going off on umpires and being thrown out of the game. The managers will be able to keep their voices and their money. They will be able to focus on how to win the game rather than, “How far can I throw this base?” Instant replay will be good for the MLB, the game of baseball, the umpires and managers voices and wallets.