Ticket Broker - OnlineSeats.com

Credibility of MLB Rests in Instant Replay

1 January 2006 | C Whitmer

Whether you’re a die-hard MLB fan or just like to catch that World Series fever, then you probably know that as much as baseball changes, it always remains the same. While most major professional sports have adopted instant replay (tennis just joined the ranks of football, basketball and hockey), on November 9 MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and his Cult of Human Infallibility nixed instant replay for the 2006 season.

Have we already forgotten the 2005 World Series, or are we just dumbfounded by Johnny Damon’s defection from the Red Sox to the archrival Yankees? Stay focused baseball fans; MLB needs instant replay.

Game 2 of the 2005 World Series between the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and the Chicago White Sox should have put an end to the debate over instant replay, yet Selig, the majority of GM’s, and Mike Port, MLB’s new v.p. of umpiring, believe that instant replay has no place in baseball. According to Selig, “the human element in baseball is really very important.” Granted, the White Sox made quick work of the Angels, but we all endured for days the endless excuses surrounding a failure of the “human element” in baseball. When White Sox A.J. Pierzynski alertly took first base on a botched drop third strike call by Umpire Doug Eddings, who didn’t shake his head in utter disbelief?

Reacting to Selig’s excuse, Frank Deford, senior writer at Sports Illustrated explained that, “It was the human element that invented television which allows the whole world, except the poor umpires, to see if the ball was really fair or foul … [We must] get rid of the human element and accept the human advance that is instant replay.”

Selig’s desire for the “human element” should focus upon keeping steroids out of the game and fans in attendance. For the sake of integrity, fairness and credibility, MLB needs instant replay.

Catch all the 2006 Major League Baseball season action for your team live with great baseball tickets from OnlineSeats.com.

B Ball Deluxe...Your Fantasy Baseball Research Center