It seems Inevitable that baseball would eventually go to this..and is really one of the easiest sports you could. Not to many judgement calls in Baseball. All calls are pretty black and white. I guess if it does happen it will be one umpire for everygame just to be a figure head and annouce the calls the machine comes up with.

Hey, if any team questions a call the manager should throw out the red flag from the dugout...wait...nevermind.

 It's about time...... we've only had the technology for like, 20 years or so!!!

is it because the official didn't have his seeing eye dog on the field when he called that ball foul? that ball was fair by a foot or so...not to mention it went off the glove of the outfielder. it changed the whole game even after minnesota had the bases loaded.

Call me a purest, but I think we have already diluted the game enough with technology. The engineering of the balls alone will make your head spin. Steroids, other PED's, half the crowd using their iPhones and Blackberries throughout the game...

I know we can't stop progress altogether, but it is the simplicity of the game that makes it great. The more we introduce technology, the faster we dehumanize the game. The charm of baseball is in the way teams react to adversity, the way a manager must use logic and experience and make judgment calls. Part of the thrill is the potential for human error.

I am not opposed to using replay for foul balls, home runs or calls where the ump has his view blocked, but this should NEVER be used for balls and strikes. The individual strike zones of umpires is critical to the diversity of the game. If the pitcher and batter always knew exactly what would be a ball or a strike the element of adaptation is greatly diminished and with it, the excitement of the game. I'm not saying the players wouldn't still have to execute, but the approach and preparation for a "set in stone" strike zone is definitely more rote and would certainly eliminate any element of surprise.

If you look at the most memorable moments in baseball history (really any sport) a majority of those moments are a result of some mistake or error in judgment that was exploited by the opposing side. This is what makes sports great, not perfection and script.

The real problem here is the expectation of the fans. Decades of shortcuts in every aspect of life from meals to news to sex has left people with no sense of reality and little patience for imperfections. Accept the imperfections of the game and you take the game from a business back to a game.

 Holding up progress for the sake of posterity is retarded..... if we can use a little technology to make something better it should absolutely be done.  Baseball is literally the last sport on planet Earth to not have replay while the NFL for example has had it, gotten rid of it and then brought it back.

I agree with you that balls and strikes should not be reviewable, but there is absolutely no reason for replay not to be used on fair/foul calls, homeruns and plays at the bases.  We have the technology and the know-how to implement it into the game literally tomorrow..... so just friggin do it dammit!!!

would you like fries with that?? lmao

that would be a great idea but the Nuttings would have to pay for them. if they r robots then they r probably gonna be expensive and the Nuttings don't like to spend their money.  if they did buy the 'bots and the 'bots performed well. the Pirates would trade them away for.................wait for it.................................................prospects. lmao.

I guess it comes down to the interpretation of "progress" and "better". Sometimes simplicity is a form of progress and is better. A game that can already last 4+ hours without replay can only get longer with it, which I guess is fine if the end product is truly and improved experience.

Either way, there are many factors when you start introducing replay. Seems like most of us agree in instances of disputable homerun calls or plays where the umpire was blocked from a call. But it would definitely need to have some controls in place, specifically a limit to the number of replays that can be requested by teams (just like the NFL) and some discretion by the umps for additional reviews. It's a slippery slope without some guidelines and barriers, though I do agree it could be implemented immediately in terms of technological capabilities. Borrowing and learning from the NFL's replay system would be a good start.

I'm pretty sure robots taking over baseball is the plot to Terminator 4.

You could even implement the system used by college football where every play is reviewed and corrected as the game progresses..... but something needs to be done and it's such a simple fix.

could we get a salary cap and have the world series homefield advantage not hang on the outcome of the all star game first? i'd rather see the game keep the human element and become more interesting and less AL Easty first.

maybe they should use some PERFORMANCE enhancing drugs, cause they stink.

i get what you mean man!

If only the manager could call a challenge in baseball like in football when the call is wrong and is challenged or if the call is right and is challenged the that team gets a 5-15 yard penalty. If the call is right and the manager called a challenge wrong then the baseball team that challenged the call gets an automatic out!!!!  there were so many missed calls against the Rays that it's insane!!

 I say go for it...it has to better than what is in place today!!

No, why would you even ask that? The goal isn't to alter the past, but only to improve the future.

I find it ironic that some sports fans equate "purist" with "tolerance of terrible officiating". What could possibly be more pure than an accurately officiated game?

Correct!

Every pitch? every play? No,  Games would take 5 hrs instead of 4. I would like the pitches called electronicly seeing umps are so inconsistant. Plays at first base are look and listen, can't do that by replay

I just can't picture a robot getting animated when there's a play at the plate and the ump yells....."yer out!!!!!"  Can you see Billy Martin throwing dirt on a robot and telling him his mother was a toaster!!

It will always be AL  Easty as long as the dh lives

I think so. They call balls, strikes and strikes, balls. It's about time. Jean Marie

I agree that was a bad call by that umpire, he was right there what was he looking at.

why did we build a new park, and not build a doam on top. nither of the new York team????????

Umpires are stubborn. They ALWAYS think their call is right. Instant replay needs to step up to the NEXT LEVEL! I am f*cking tired of bad calls!

agree...............umpires are human, don't have 4 eyes, and instant replays are sketchy.............

LOL,, RED FLAG IS FOR FOOTBALL..............NOT A SOLUTION

Because, they are stupid. Only a Knucklehead would build a stadium in a state that has snow, rain etc. The Minnesota twins are getting an outdoor stadium, in Minnesota, mind you!

Jean Marie

AND THOSE REF'S ARE BETTER THAN UMPIRES???????  YA, OK..................RED FLAG ON YOUR COMMENT