Instant replay creates confusion in place of clarity

Rob-Dibble_Blogshot.jpg Instant replay was supposed to review possible game changing home runs. What it did last night in the Nats' 5-2 Loss to the NY Mets was anything but. Gary Sheffield apparently hit a three-run HR in the bottom of the sixth inning off of Nats lefty John Lannan; Adrian Johnson who was working third base in the game called the fly ball to left field a home run. As all good managers should do, Manny Acta challenged the call, and the four umpires got together and decided to watch the replay. Now in the NFL, only the crew chief goes under a hood on the field and comes up when he and officials in the booth review the play and give everyone an explanation. So here's where it got a little fuzzy for me. Larry Vanover was the crew chief; he and two other umpires, including Adrian Johnson, exited the field and didn't return for close to 10 minutes. Then they kept the call on the field. I don't have a problem with the call; what I do have a problem with, first, was the time it took to review the play. MLB, fans and even I dislike that Major League games already take too long. Second, John Lannan had to wait on the field the whole time that the umpires were gone--Why do you need the umpire who made the call and another umpire to help you watch the replay? Then, when the game ended, Larry Vanover, the Crew Chief, wouldn't explain why he kept the call an HR. I don't really care about his explanation, but what I do care about is the game of baseball. There is a tempo, a flow, if you will, with baseball; there are no clocks, no quarters or periods - players and fans should not have to be standing around waiting for calls that used to be part of the flow of a game. Dump the replay. It just drags MLB to more confusing places than it needs to be. The Zone Evaluation System, Questech, and any other non-human related devices should go where my old VCR went. Let the umpires, players and fans have their game back, and let other sports try and get clarity, which I'm sure will only create more confusion. The game was great without all this lame technology. Oh and by the way, it wasn't a home run!



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