Andy Dunn

Staff Writer

Baseball is a game of inches. If a hitter is an inch off on his swing the difference could be the difference between a groundout and a homerun. The game moves at such an incredibly fast speed, so umpiring the action can be nearly impossible at times.

During virtually every single baseball game some crucial bang-bang calls are made that the players, fans, and coaches disagree with, and sometimes the umpires just get it flat out wrong.

The idea that baseball should stay true to its roots by not having instant replay in full is preposterous. Why would anyone want a call to stay wrong? The whole concept of having referees in sports is to correctly call the game-if the umpire isn’t doing that then that has to change.

Instant replay would eliminate all of the questionable calls in baseball. There would be no more second-guessing the umpires; no hated umpires who blew an important call would exist. It would take a few seconds on each close play to confirm the call on the field.

No team would unfairly lose a call due to a bad call by the umpire. The main idea is to get the call on the field right. That’s first and foremost. That’s the reason the NFL, NHL, and NBA all incorporate instant replay into each game. Even the Little League World Series used instant replay in the last Little League postseason.

The MLB needs to catch up to the other major sports and fast. It can’t go another postseason with no instant replay; it may cost a team their chance at winning it all. The idea that bad calls are a part of a game is ridiculous. They don’t have to be a part of the game, and everyone would be better off if they weren’t.

The Rangers-Giants World Series was relatively quiet with only a few bad calls, but there were still bad calls like in every game. For instance when first base umpire, Jeff Kellogg, made an awful call at first base that extended the inning by 11 pitches, it made a huge impact later on in the game. With pitcher Hunter having to throw 11 pitches more than he should have, it ended in a blowup third inning, leading to the Giants’ win.

Remember Galarragga’s near-perfect game, where umpire Jim Joyce blew a call in the 9th inning robbing Galarragga of perfection [see the blown call here] ? That was the clearest reminder this year that the MLB is playing in an inefficient umpiring system. He handled it with grace and dignity that is unmatched. But next time in that same scenario it may be more ugly. The pitcher may go berserk, throw a tantrum, and get ejected from the game because of the umpire leaving a sour taste in everyone’s mouths about the incident. Will people then look at the rule and say it isn’t broken?