so what do we think about ***INSTANT REPLAY***???

baseball-reference has been going nuts with awesome new stuff lately <3

Don't get me wrong, I'm always in favour of new data, it just seems weird that the page goes right from the most basic stuff imaginable--wins, losses, divisional rank--to challenges. Is there nothing else about a manager between here and there worth keeping track of? Average innings from a starter, sacrifices, pinch-hitters, shifts, trips to the mound--about a million things, I would think.

"We have begun to examine the Crew Chief Review in tonight's Reds-Marlins game, which resulted in a violation of Rule 7.13, the call being overturned and a run scoring on the play. We plan to discuss this situation further with the appropriate parties tomorrow, and we will communicate with the Clubs after our discussion about this play."

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/8/1/5959739/reds-marlins-instant-replay-review-blocking-plate-rule

I know this isn't exactly enlightened analysis, but this was certainly much more fun than watching guys stand around a phone, waiting to hear back from New York.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx7-8w4QD64

"He's gotta get out the way! He's gotta get out of the way!"

cardinals vs reds

there was a force out play at 2B, the runner appeared to beat the throw, and the fielder appeared to be off the bag when he caught it anyway. call on the field was out. it was reviewed. they declared him to be...out.

he was clearly safe. like, not in that too-close-to-call gray zone, but clearly, without-a-doubt safe. so ???

Pitcher Chris Young otm:

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/why-mlb-needs-to-keep-exploring-ways-to-improve-pace-of-play-021308998.html

"The biggest thing I'd like to see is the automatic strike zone," Young said. "It's the single most important aspect to the game and the most subjective aspect. Umpires do an amazing job, but they're human beings, and there's a margin of error there. To me, that would speed up the game dramatically.

"Half the time now it's guys stepping out of the box, asking where the call was. It doesn't eliminate the home-plate umpire. You still need him for check swings, plays at the plate. It makes his job easier. And you know what you're going to get. I know when I step off the mound, half the time it's to think, 'OK, don't get wrapped up in the call.' I gather myself, compose myself. But it takes a minute. We're human beings. We get focused on what we consider a missed call."

Interesting bizniz at the Cubs-Braves game -- on a passed ball or wild pitch, Camargo came home but was called out on the tag. The replay seems to show him pretty clearly safe, but the call was upheld by the replay official. Joe Simpson flat-out accused them of covering for the ump's shitty call ("protecting the brotherhood"), which had Chip Caray trying to calm the waters in the next half inning.

wasn't there a reversed replay call involving the A's about a week ago that everyone was mad about? i don't think recall umps are "protecting the brotherhood" but the wording about needing clear and definitive proof to overturn (or however it's phrased) gives them a convenient reason to not overturn (i didn't see camargo being "pretty clearly safe" in the replay personally, but i am a cubs fan obv)

That was one of the WORST replay reviews I’ve ever seen.

Conclusive?
Definitive?
Call on the field meant nothing? pic.twitter.com/50Phgtbo43

— Brodie Brazil (@BrodieNBCS) May 12, 2018

that's the reversal i was referring to

“Out” pic.twitter.com/5ahcXzqh4W

— Josh Reddick (@RealJoshReddick) September 10, 2018

starting to think instant replay is bad for the game

I bet the 1985 Cardinals wd disagree

we just had a Very Bad use of replay erasing whit merrifield in kc-bos

Not a fan of this sh1t. You lose a call go cry to your grandma

Red Sox challenge call that Whit Merrifield is safe at 2B in the 1st; call overturned, runner is out. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/MRCn2rvu0z

— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) August 7, 2019

starting to think calstars is Billy Martin

i agree that that's dumb, but it seems like the problem isn't instant replay but the idea that you have to maintain constant contact with the base to be safe

yeah idk if instant replay is really good for the game or not but giving managers the ability to challenge any safe call where it looked like his hand might've briefly slid off for 1/100th of a second is definitely bad

if the replay crew can't tell if you were off the bag while watching at full speed, then you should be safe. none of this frame-by-frame crap. why would you emulate the one thing everyone hates about the NFL

or just change the rule so that a split-second loss of contact doesn't keep you from being safe

this wd be easily remedied by saying there's a "safe zone" above the bag if your foot comes off for a split second, or somesuch

guys i don't know much about baseball but I'm pretty sure one of the rules is that one is "safe" when touching the bag

* at 2nd or 3rd base
* except for a period after the play has determined to have ended but the next play has yet to start
etc etc

there are already exceptions to that rule

i don't want a safe zone, and if you are tagged while off the bag you should be out -- if the ump sees it. make whatever happens after the runner's initial contact with the bag unreviewable

this shit is getting out of hand and really soils the spirit of the game

except for a period after the play has determined to have ended but the next play has yet to start

you mean when time out is called?

etc etc

what is the etc? it's not complicated. stay on the bag!

Yeah I hate replay with the fire of a thousand suns but if the guy's tagged while off the bag he should be out, replay or not

i have to say i think replay works pretty goddamn well in baseball, particularly relative to other sports. Hawkeye in tennis is the only system that's better but that's just because the judgment calls are so much simpler.

Hawkeye is great because it's so fast - what does it take, like 10-15 seconds? If MLB replay was fast I'd love it. But it's unbearably slow.

(better than NBA replay though, that's for sure)

what is the etc? it's not complicated. stay on the bag!

the times when the runner's forward motion causes their hand to slide off the bag for 1/20th of a second. in general I hate the idea of using replay to overturn plays that never would've been called that way in real time.

hawkeye is almost instantaneous iirc

anyway i would like to point out that i was otm four hours ago

btw fuck the spirit of the game, that sounds like George Will

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31240968/braves-rip-embarrassing-call-home-plate-keyed-phillies-win

definitely looks like they fucked this one up

MLB replay system would be a hell of a lot more accurate if the crew in New York didn’t know what the call on the field was.

— Lane Adams (@LA_Swiftness) April 12, 2021