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Major League Baseball still has less than a year under its belt when it comes to the use of instant replay. Two specific instances this past week outline that the league is still ironing out the kinks in the system. Last Friday, the umpiring crew in Tampa Bay went to review whether or not a ball off the bat of Pat Burrell -- which had already bounced -- legally went into the crowd for a ground rule double. Under the rules of instant replay, though, this was not a reviewable situation. Thursday afternoon, Miguel Cabrera hit what replays show to clearly be a home run. The umpiring crew ruled it stayed in the playing field, and Cabrera ended up with a double. They did not review it.
Neither play adversely affected the outcome of the game.
On Burrell's double, Carl Crawford was rightfully brought back to third base because he started the play on first. Had the umpires ruled fan interference during the review, though, the Rays would have erroneously been awarded a run because Crawford crossed home plate on the play. All that was really lost in the situation was 1 minute and 36 seconds -- the time it took for the umpires to watch the replay and move on.
In the Cabrera situation, though, it cost the Tigers a run. They still won the game, 6-5, but that would have been a major issue had they lost the game. For the record, Tigers manager Jim Leyland took the blame in the situation, but this isn't the NFL. There is no "manager's challenge." The umpires on the field should know the intricacies of each stadium they work. The right-center field area in Comerica Park has a yellow line atop the wall, but some mesh fencing with a railing above the line before the ball reaches the seats. With the naked eye in fast motion, it looked really close. I was watching the game live, and I honestly rewound it on my DVR because it looked like it left the yard.
An umpire from the second base area doesn't have near as good a view as I do on my TV, which is why they should have reviewed the play. I have no problem with the missed call, because that ball is so small and traveling at such a high speed it is damn near impossible to accurate judge where exactly it hit off the wall. But this is why baseball implemented instant replay. If you have the resources at your disposal, use them.
These types of things are mildly acceptable as a fan because it's June. The umpires and league need to start getting issues ironed out by the stretch run, though, because the whole point of having replay is to ensure there aren't errors like in the Cabrera "double."
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