Instant Replay

In light of recent events involving the Pirates and Braves, as well as an undying loyalty I have to instant replay, I am deciding to finally express all of my opinions on the use of replay.

First of all, if you missed the call last night to end the 19-inning Braves-Pirates game, you should click on the link above to get a look at it. It was a horrendous call; the worst I've ever seen. I stayed up to watch all of the extra innings because, to me, this series is a win-win. If the Braves win, I'm happy because Pittsburgh loses. If the Pirates win, I'm happy because the Braves lose. Usually I'd see this situation as a lose-lose, but I've developed a much more positive outlook on this specific case. Last night was the ultimate example of win-win because not only did Pittsburgh lose, but the Braves also have to feel like total crap for winning in that way. Everybody loses! And, therefore, I win!

For years, in every sport, I have argued that instant replay is completely necessary. It is calls like this that make sports unfair. Rather than even argue why I think it's necessary, I'll just look at some arguments as to why it is a bad idea that I've heard over the years:

Calls this bad are extremely rare

Do I even need to argue against this? This argument is so incredibly stupid. Basically whoever wrote this majoke of an article says that just because someone lost a perfect game or a World Series, it doesn't mean we need to change the whole sport. Those things are "once-in-a-decade events." Uhhh...so? Do they only count perfect games that are thrown by non-Tigers pitchers? Or do the baseball record books decide to randomly eliminate the results of one World Series per decade? No, no they do not. So those things still matter. And they matter a lot. Imagine if the Phillies would've lost in 2008 on a botched call. We wouldn't have made it to the 2009 World Series because THE CITY WOULDN'T EXIST ANYMORE. Philadelphians would have killed everyone associated with Major League Baseball along with lighting the entire tri-state area on fire. We have the means to prevent bad calls from having a huge impact, but we are choosing not to. That's unfair and, honestly, just irresponsible. It's a slap in the face to Alexander Cartwright, the man credited with inventing baseball.

Games would take longer

This is the argument that might make the most sense. Except that it doesn't really. NFL games have taken 3 hours for as long as I can remember. So have college football games. More recently, though, each of them have added instant replay. Check your television schedule for a college football game in the fall. If a game starts at 12, it's scheduled to be over at 3. And it probably will be. Or at least somewhere around there. The game takes 3 hours with or without instant replay. The same would happen with baseball, and it actually makes more sense for baseball as to why. Right now, games are delayed because managers argue calls. The worse the call, the longer the argument and show that goes with it. While that is a fun part of the game to watch, it could be eliminated in favor of the correct calls by adding replay. If a manager can just call for a replay rather than call for the umpire's head, the game takes the same amount of time, if not less. Sure, there's nothing really happening in that minute or 2 compared to the shouting match you would see otherwise. But maybe that'll be good for a society that needs to learn a lesson in patience when everything we want or need is right in front of us immediately. Did I just suggest that baseball reform the modern world? Yes. Yes I did.

The Human Element

Those three words keep me up at night.
Why do we punish players who use steroids in baseball?
Why is holding a penalty in football?
Why are fouls called in basketball?
(Something something something, possible penalty, controversy, etc.) in hockey?
Seriously, what are the causes of all of these things? Easy: it gives one team or player an advantage over the other. OK, so what? Well, if that happens, the game is no longer fair.
The game is no longer fair.
The game is no longer fair.
What do we not understand about sports being fair? Every game is supposed to be fair. As a kid, you definitely accused people of cheating when you lost games because you didn't think you could lose a game "fair and square." Well, the Pirates did not lose fair and square last night. Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game last year, fair and square. Except the Pirates did lose, and it wasn't fair. Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game, and it wasn't fair. But, hey, that's the way baseball has always been! It's a part of the game! Imperfection is awesome!
You are SO WRONG if you think that's anywhere CLOSE to being true. Yes, it's always been a part of the game, but only out of necessity. I doubt that Alexander Cartwright sat down, wrote the rules of baseball out and decided, "You know what? We've got all of these ways to make sure every call is correct, but I'd rather have people just kind of decide completely, 100% based on what they see immediately." He had no option other than "the human element." That's what he was working with. There was no way to slow down a play and look at it again. The same goes for every other sport. These sports were started at a time without the technology necessary for instant replay, so they made the sport as fair as possible IN SPITE of that. So now, we have decided that it's a part of the game. I guarantee Alexander Cartwright would kick everyone's ass who is trying to say the game shouldn't be as fair as possible today. I can't get over how ridiculous of a thought this is. The human element? THE HUMAN ELEMENT? Get a job, man.
I'm not suggesting we get robots to be our umpires. I realize there is a certain line to be drawn here with things like a strike zone and such, but I think that replay should be available to make things right when they are clearly wrong. That play at home plate is not a judgment call. It, like many calls in baseball, is a black-and-white, safe-or-out call that should be made in the right way. I don't think umpires should be perfect, but I think they should get a chance to redeem themselves. It's only fair. Because in today's society, we have a way to make it fair. So why aren't we using it?