by DONNIE VAPHIDES Staff Writer
Baseball has considered expanding instant replay for a very long time now. It is being thrown around again because people are starting to complain about the calls umpires are making more than ever.
Baseball games can be won with just one play during a game. Most of the time, it is the right call, but baseball is seeing more and more controversial calls each year. People are growing tired of seeing their favorite teams lose now because we have the technology to review it.
Major League Baseball has been saying for the past couple of years that it intends to extend instant replay. People believe it is time that baseball stops saying they will extend it and just do it.
“It would make more sense because it is a national sport. They should make a sport in that big of a league be correct and fair. If it was a little league, then accidents happen. For professional baseball, it should be made bigger and better. People are paying a lot of money for tickets to see a fair played game,” said freshman Nick Seccondro.
On May 8, the Oakland Athletics played the Cleveland Indians. The score was 3-4 in favor of the Indians. Adam Rosales of the Athletics stepped up to the plate in the last inning of the game with two outs. He needed a run to tie the game. He hit the ball and it cleared the fence for what he, and everyone else, knew was a home run.
The umpires thought differently.
It was called that the ball never got over the fence and he would only get to second base. On TV, the replay was shown at multiple different angles over and over. No one could figure out why the call was not a home run because it was the obvious call. The score would end with the Indians winning 3-4 in a game that should have been tied and going into extra innings.
“Our whole team thought it was the wrong call. The replays showed it hit the railing. With six eyes on it (three umpires), you would have thought they would make the right call,” said Rosales.
After the call, the manager of the Athletics, Bob Melvin, came storming onto the field to confront the umpires. He was thrown out immediately after approaching the umpires.
“Everybody else said it was a home run, including the announcers when I came in here later. I don’t get it. I don’t know what the explanation would be when everybody else in the ballpark knew it was a home run,” said Melvin.
This blown call is helping the push for the MLB into extending instant replay. Reports are coming in from multiple sources saying that baseball is now working on a project to put a strong use of instant replay into its league. They are still determining if the rule will help or hurt the game.
“Baseball should extend instant replay. It would help the game because the fair calls would have a much bigger chance of being made. It will be more enjoyable for the fans because they will get to see a game called the right way,” said freshman Nick Petrie.
Baseball needs to extend instant replay. Blown calls have happened dozens of times and sometimes in the World Series. Games should not be decided on the wrong call. Fans pay to see a game that is fun and exciting, but the fun is taken out when a wrong call is made.
Hopefully, the latest push will put instant replay in the game stronger making a suspenseful moment as the fans wait to hear the call.
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