Lights. Camera.
Inaction.
On the heels of two controversial play calls in the span of hours on July 2nd, baseball’s most infamous topic of the modern era arises once more: replay review.
The first play unfolded north of the border, where the Boston Red Sox closed out their series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. In the home half of the fifth inning, with an 8-4 deficit against the Jays, Devon Travis hit a sharp grounder through the middle of the infield with runners on first and second and one out. Red Sox centre fielder Mookie Betts fired a strike to home plate to set the stage for a play at home plate, as Jays Danny Valencia slid to score. The initial call: out at home.
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons challenged the play, of course. If the play was reversed, Toronto would be back in the game, with both runners in scoring position and still just one out. The drama then shifted to the replay review location.
According to section III of the official Major League Baseball Replay Review Regulations, “To change a reviewable call, the Replay Official must determine that there is clear and convincing evidence to change the original call that was made on the field of play.”
With that in mind, we return to the game and call in question. All camera angles in replay clearly show catcher Ryan Hanigan missing the tag on a wild swipe, not to mention having blocked the plate with his left foot. The challenge now hinged upon whether Valencia touched home plate on his initial slide.
After minutes of agonizing tension, the Replay Official returned with a baffling decision: the call of the field stands, and Valencia is called out. To make matters worse, Gibbons is ejected from the game for arguing the call. With that, the Jays found their wings clipped, en route to a 12-6 loss and a depleted bullpen for days to come.
Explanation from New York’s Replay Command Center stated that there was not enough “clear and convincing evidence” of Valencia swiping home plate to overturn the call, and thus, the home plate umpire’s initial call stood. However, after Hanigan whiffed on the tag, the umpire signaled that Valencia was out, and the play was stopped as a result of the umpire’s decision.
Referencing the Replay Review Regulations once again, verbatim, from an example attached in the rulebooks, “if the Replay Official determines both that the runner did not touch home plate and that the fielder did not tag the runner, the Replay Official shall rule the runner “safe” at home plate… The Replay Official shall disregard the failure of the runner to touch home plate, declare the runner “safe” and score the run.”
When the play was completed by the home plate umpire’s out call, Hanigan did not tag Valencia. Therefore, regardless of whether Valencia touched home plate, he should have been safe according to the rules.
Unless MLB rules are now made to be broken?
On the same day, a highly competitive game between the Atlanta Braves and the Washington Nationals concluded on a controversial call that exposed another weakness of the current regulations on replay review. Nats ace Max Scherzer pitched his 104th ball of the game in the bottom of the ninth inning, with a runner at second base and one out. Braves outfielder Cameron Maybin bounced the ball several feet in front of home plate on the foul line along third base, which then skipped over the head of Nationals third baseman Yunel Escobar, before landing in foul territory. The ball was called fair immediately, and the Braves walk off with a 2-1 victory and a series win against Washington.
It does not matter whether or not the ball landed in foul ground since it first bounced fair in front of the plate. The determining factor of whether the ball is in play is the third base bag. From the Official Rules, “If a fly ball lands in the infield between home and first base, or home and third base, and then bounces to foul territory without touching a player or umpire and before passing first or third base, it is a foul ball.” Thus, it depended on where the ball crossed third base.
However, like a maze of spiraling complexity, we return to the Replay Review Regulations. Shockingly, with video review available and a crucial intra-division game in the balance, the rules deny the opportunity of a review, since “balls that first land in front of the set positions of the first or third base Umpire shall not be subject to review.”
Basically, because the ball landed in front of the umpire positioned on the line, the rules assume that the umpire has a clear line of vision from 90 feet away and is capable of making a bang-bang call on a ball hit sharply on the dirt at over 100 miles per hour. After all, baseball umpires obviously never, ever, ever make the wrong call, right?
As the Jays are left behind wondering “what if” and the Nationals abandoned on the field without any explanation, baseball fans scoffed at replay reviews for days to come and burning questions arose. Do the umpires themselves remember all the rules to the game? Why are easy-to-miss plays like fair/foul balls not reviewable? Can the results of baseball games truly be determined by the skills and strategy of opposing teams, rather than the systematic errors of the officials or the absurd exceptions of the rules?
One may write off these errors as insignificant in the grand scheme of a 162-game regular season schedule, but both games were intra-division, with potential to shrink or widen division leads and determine eventual playoff berths. After all, we love the sport for the game, not for the decisions made by people who aren’t competing on either team.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred cares about the pace at which baseball is played – a controversial issue that can spark its own eternal debate – so he is likely to be hesitant when it comes to increasing the parameters of replay review. However, his inaction may lead to his demise. As fans, players, personnel, owners, and umpires alike become frustrated with the failure to take advantage of the availability of video replay, the resentment will overshadow the legacy Manfred will undoubtedly leave behind.
Even if you support the idea that baseball should be played as quickly and efficiently as possible, we are all supporters of fair baseball. Yes, video review takes time, but it is all relative. The price of getting the call right far outweighs the minutes saved from denying the opportunity to reassess a call. Let umpires check more calls, such as fair/foul balls and rounding first base.
MLB needs to review its reviews, or risk receiving a primitive status in our Digital Age.