MLB to Institute Replay Aug. 1

I found it interesting that after all of the hissy fits commissioner Bud Selig threw after being told instant replay was instantly necessary in MLB, it is now looking like we will miraculously have it working and instituted by Aug. 1.

Two months too late but good progress nonetheless for a league that historically takes the longest to make the least. As I have already written in these four posts, if the NHL could make a brand new rule and institute it during their playoffs, why couldn't baseball get this done as quickly or at least in, you know, a month? Especially considering the league's owners had already agreed to look into instant reply nine months earlier.

USA Today reported Friday on its Web site that MLB had approached the World Umpires Association about implementing replay on Aug. 1. However, it appears that's merely a tentative target date. While it's possible a system could be in place that soon, some baseball officials merely want to get some form of replay system up and running before this year's postseason. -ESPN

All's well that ends well, I suppose. Except, that is, for the outcomes of those ten games that were already affected this year by botched home run calls and the ten more that will occur over the next six weeks.

Home Run Mistake No. 5

For the fifth time this week, a questionable home run call was made in a MLB game that would have been changed with instant replay. Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Luis Rivas hit a long fly ball to left field that bounced off the top of the wall and dropped back into play. The ball was called a home run although, by rule, the ball was in play.

Dear Commissioner Bud Selig, we're waiting...

Porter Brings Heat on Beli-cheat

During an interview with NFL Live and host Trey Wingo this afternoon, Miami Dolphins LB Joey Porter called out the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick and the NFL for the handling of Spygate and the most recent discovery of further cheating by Belichick by allowing players on the IR to practice with the team. Below is my transcription of the interview:

JP: They cheated, there should be an asterisk. They cheated and they got caught. Marion Jones—she got caught they took the gold medals back. Obviously, they got caught. If it wasn’t that bad, why would they destroy the evidence? If you have nothing to hide, why would you destroy it? Why destroy something that doesn’t have to be destroyed? Let everybody see what was on that tape. Why are you going to destroy it so fast? I think it must’ve been that bad to where they didn’t want anybody else to see it. It had to be that bad. And if it wasn’t helping nobody, why did you do it? If Tom Brady wasn’t getting help out of it—why would you do it every week? Everybody wants to wonder how these guys just went from 0 to 60 overnight. That will do it for you.

TW: Is there a lot of talk among the players about that? Whether the Dolphins or other locker rooms around the league?

JP: Anybody I know that lost to them in big games—they’re very upset about it. The slap on the wrist didn’t really fit the crime. I don’t think the $500K fine was really big enough when you make multi-millions and billions off of the championships. He probably didn’t even have to pay it anyway—Kraft probably paid that fine, so it didn’t really hurt Belichick. He’s supposed to be this great coach—but cheating. He’s supposed to be a good coach, a great great coach and he got caught cheating. I don’t understand that. I lost two of those championship games, and if you tell me that happened, there is no way I can look at it and not feel cheated.

Anyone that knows my opinions of the situation will agree that I've been calling for steeper penalties, further investigations and the suspension of Belichick since the original punishment was levied. With further confirmation from former New England Patriots OL Ross Tucker that the Pats did, indeed, cheat in more ways than Spygate--why hasn't Commissioner Roger Goodell done more to investigate and justly penalize the coach and franchise?

Read my thoughts on Goodell and Spygate from February 2008.

Basebally "May Try" Replay in Fall Leagues

I never thought that I would find something, anything to commend the NHL on, until I heard the MLB's possibly planned plans for maybe, possibly trying out instant replay in their fall leagues--after the season has ended.

In a time with betting scandals in the NBA and blatant cheating (and cover-ups) going on in the NFL, why can't a league--or, more importantly, its commissioner--take care of an obviously prevalent flaw in the way its games are run and rules are constructed?

This is what the NHL did when Sean Avery found a loophole in the rules in the current Playoffs and blocked Martin Brodeur with his back to him in the crease while waving his arms in the air obstructing the view of the goaltender:

Incident occured Sunday night, April 13, 2008.
Response below occured Monday afternoon, April 14, 2008.

National Hockey League Senior Executive Vice President and Director of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell issued a statement Monday to make the league's position clear going forward. The statement said:

"An unsportsmanlike conduct minor penalty (Rule 75) will be interpreted and applied, effective immediately, to a situation when an offensive player positions himself facing the opposition goaltender and engages in actions such as waving his arms or stick in front of the goaltender's face, for the purpose of improperly interfering with and/or distracting the goaltender as opposed to positioning himself to try to make a play."

It took the NHL less than 24 hours to change/add the rule and please fans, players and the media. At a time when the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA sports and Pro Tennis all use some form of instant reply, the MLB is letting the FOUR incorrect home run decisions in the last week begin a trend rather than help find an immediate solution to one. This is 2008 not 1908--it is the standard in professional sports in this country.

How about the fact that seven months ago in November, the MLB's own collective general managers voted 25-5 to at least explore the possibility of using a form of instant replay to help decide disputed home run calls such as fair or foul (ONCE this week) and in or out of the ballpark (THREE times this week).

The NHL's problem popped up overnight. The MLB has seen theirs coming and, after seven months, should have done enough research to fix it and be able to do so immediately.

But, they won't. Nah, they'll just wait until one of these ill-fated calls occurs during Game 7 of the ALCS during the bottom of the 9th with a team down by one. And then they'll finally decide to test instant replay in their fall leagues and the World Baseball Classic and institute it on Opening Day next year with some dumb restrictions or decisions the umpires can't overturn--but should be able to. And then we'll have to wait another year until those are corrected and the system is ironed-out.

When it all could be done in a day.

(It is just now being reported by the Chicago Tribune that the system MAY be in place by the upcoming postseason but probably will not. The point is made regardless as the postseason is in six months.)