Commentary: Instant replay would help umps get every play right

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 11:44 PM Sunday, October 25, 2009

It doesn’t bother me at all that umpire Tim McClelland missed a couple of calls in the playoffs last week, especially the easy one where he should have called two Yankees out at third instead of just one.

Umpires, players — even sports writers — make mistakes. Always have, always will.

Before television and instant replay, umpires could get away with it.

No more. Instant replay lets you know exactly what happened.

I’m not talking about the plays you have to watch five times to determine if the right call was made. I’m talking about obvious calls, like Angels catcher Mike Napoli clearly tagging Robinson Cano and Jorge Posada at third with neither of the Yankees runners with a foot on the bag.

The thing is, a replay official in the press box could have reversed the called instantly (get it, instant...ly), and in a shorter amount of time than the resulting argument took.

If that had happened, we’d be talking about the game instead of the controversy. We’d be talking about the players rather than the umpire. We would have felt the game was decided in total fairness instead of making up excuses for how the Yankees won.

It doesn’t hurt the game to use instant replay. And it only takes longer to do it the way the NFL does, making it an excuse to cram in three more commercials.

Commissioner Bud Selig made an instant decision a few years ago to let an All-Star game end in a tie. Let him make an instant decision now — give us instant replay for this week’s World Series.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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To Matt,
How can you call Joe Morgan an idiot. He's in the baseball HOF, was an essential part of the big red machine, kicked butt with the glove & the bat, and is extremely knowledgable regarding baseball.

Tips
4:14 PM, 10/27/2009

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That play hurt nothing, but I don't understand how any umpire could miss it!
I also don't understand how he could miss the call on saying the yankee left early, also an easy call at any level. I umpired for over 30 years and that is one of the easiest calls on the diamond. And it cost a run for the yankees.
But if you have instant replay then do away with all umpires and let a computer call ball and strike!

call hurt nothing in the end!
8:42 PM, 10/26/2009

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c'mon folks....where is your sense of tradition and protecting the integrity of the game. Who wants to replace "hey ump, you're blind" with "you in the booth your got bugs in your software and the camera angle is wrong" Sheesh, does everything have to be sterile and perfect or can we have a little excitement with our game?

Jack
8:26 PM, 10/26/2009

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Getting it correct trumps the short time it takes to review it. An obvious reversal can happen almost immediately. Have the replay official buzz the home plate ump to stop play while he reviews the questionable play. EASY (and fair to all).

Tomas
4:24 PM, 10/26/2009

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The idea that instant replay will lengthen the game is ludicrous (and it's one endorsed by that idiot Joe Morgan, so that should tell you something). Ultimately, there will be less arguing over calls because the ruling will be backed up by video clearly defining the truth. The less arguing will result in far less time than watching the video will take.

Matt
2:41 PM, 10/26/2009

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