Instant Replay in the MLB: Pros & Cons

This season is the first season that Major League Baseball will allow instant replays of certain plays in its games. Replays are available for plays that are crucial to player statistics. Debates about the MLB's allowing for instant replays of certain plays began about two seasons ago, and people were certain this allowance would happen very soon following the beginning of these debates. Now that they have been implemented, many pros and cons have arisen. 

Time concerns are the first con to this new rule in major league baseball. Games already take upwards of three hours for just nine innings, and that’s excluding games that go into extra innings. Adding replays can add time to every single play that happens, especially in big games between rivals where the games are hard-pressing. There is no arguing that adding instant replays to the game of baseball would add considerable amounts of time to each game. Where this might not be an issue is that baseball fans already know how slow the game is, so what negative effects would extra time, or “free baseball” have on them?

Instant replays in other sports have led to increased tenseness on the bench and from the coaches toward the referees and now umpires who could miscall the play in the replay. The umpires will inevitably make bad calls, but just how many they make could enrage fans even further than current bad calls. Following this, judgment calls are also a pressing issue while replays could make the proper call more obvious to fans who better know the rules than the umpires might. How an umpire determines pitches will always fall under the judgment category. Unfortunately, this is a way that fans get the most worked up against the referee.

Another issue would be the camera angle. When concerning whether a player has completely swung for a strike or not, camera angle is extremely important. Every ballpark has different cameras which could lead to different interpretations of the play in discussion. This could lead to further controversies about the issue of allowing instant replays in MLB games.

While these are all negatives with hidden positives, more accurately being able to call every game will not have bad effects. Similarly, not too many plays should have to be reviewed, so not too much time should be added to every game.

The argument about whether the MLB should continue to allow replays has become more of a historical argument on big mistakes that umpires have made in the past, big plays they have called incorrectly that have led to sweepingly different results from the season than should have occurred. It will be very interesting to see if instant replays remain in the professional game of baseball forever and if they will in any way be changed.

Leslie Cundiff

Senior Sports Writer