Should baseball's instant replay start prior to postseason?

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August 14, 6:42 PM

by Paula Duffy, Sports Examiner

 

 

Photo: Blogspot

The only umpire calls subject to review will be those related to potential home runs, including whether a ball is fair or foul. Many of the bad calls this season have resulted from the inability of the umpire to determine if a ball left the park or not.

Some stadiums have squirrly configurations with walls that have ledges with lines on them that are meant to distinguish when a ball is in play or has left the yard.

My problem, and believe it or not I have one, stems not from the overdue decision to clear up that matter but from the commencement of these activities prior to the end of a season.

I have thought long and hard about the traditions of the game and how it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if the sport remains one of the only replay-resistant of the major sports. Even tennis has come into the replay fold.

But the stain of bad calls changing the course of a game, especially one that would determine a play off spot or a World Series winner is just too much for me. The money in the game has changed everything including how players are compensated both on the field and off in the form of merchandising and endorsements. A World Series winner will make more than one that just didn't make it.

But start this experiment after the season please, if for no other reason than consistency. Start it in the playoffs after testing it in the minor leagues to work out the kinks in the technology. I believe teams that lost games as a reult of bum calls earlier in the season have a gripe about it all and in my opinion it is unfair. What's yours?

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