9/15 vs. Yankees: The Final Nail in the Coffin

[User Name]

Even though the A's shouldn't particularly intimidate anyone mind you. They're good, but they are in large part a product of their division.

[Thunder]

Even though the A's shouldn't particularly intimidate anyone mind you. They're good, but they are in large part a product of their division.

 

They play a lot better on the road because they have a good offense. imo they don't have as good of a rotation as in recent years.

[Navafan29]

I didn't post my reasoning. A post can be well written with a point that makes very little sense, with your post being the poster boy for such an occurrence. You are saying that keeping a clearly unfair aspect of the game as it is instead of upgrading it and making it fair is bad for the game because it "brings down entertainment value". I'm sorry, that's just dumb bro. The point about having too many challenges may be somewhat valid, but that is only the proposed system, certain to be hashed out before being implemented, and it will probably mean more than two challenges, but it will depend on the situation.

 

Your ideas are quite simply logically unsound, no matter how well they are presented. I bet if the Sox lost the division by one game this season because of a clear mistake by a member of the umpiring crew that could have been amended with expanded replay, you would be singing a different tune, regardless of "challenge numbers".

 

Baseball has a special feel to it that's different than any other sport. It makes sense for everything to be real as possible, but at the end of the day, you watch the game to be entertained. I don't know why you guys watch baseball, but that's why I do. Making the game more fair obviously makes sense to do, and it makes sense to enjoy a 100.0% fair game, but it's not worth it if it sucks the life out of the game and causes a drop in its popularity over the years. We might end up gaining a little and losing a lot. There's a chance that the system Selig and friends come up with will add enough strategy (deciding when to use challenges) to make up for the loss of depth, but it's risky because once you go through with this thing, there's no going back. I guess I'll have to wait and see how they actually decide to expand replay before I complain about it any more though.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

How does replay suck the life out of the game any more than the umpires getting together.

 

Just stop.

[Navafan29]

Because without drama/controversy, the sport will seem like the same thing over and over through the years, and fans could lose interest. We'll just have to wait and see how the popularity of the sport changes over the years after the replay decision.

[Jacoby_Ellsbury]

Are you kidding me with this ********.

 

How does replay extract drama or controversy from the sport. If you need the umpires to bungle calls in order for your sport to be engaging then you're f***ed anyway.

[Navafan29]

I'm not talking completely about me in particular, but I'm predicting an effect that expanded replay will have on the feeling of the game and thus the size of the MLB fanbase over time. I doubt it's going to make the game more popular. Replay will remove tons of controversy from the sport, which could spark a permenant mundane era. Sorry I can't prove this, but you can't always talk about logic and proof when looking at how the game feels. That's like saying humans are nothing more than an arrangement of atoms, or something like that. And for your information, a lot of people have the same opinion as me. I'm not just some nutcase.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I think baseball has enough controversy that it can withstand getting safe/out and fair/foul calls correct.

[User Name]

I just don't understand how you can stand there and say "you know what? f*** implementing a process to help remove the arbitrary and unfair nature of the game". That's like hitting logic in the face with a shovel. What did logic ever do to you?

 

And the cherry on top of this crazy pie is that MLB, and its "set on their ways, stubborn ass owners and officials" are actually doing this in response to fan backlash from missed calls and s***** umpiring. So basically what Navafan is saying here is that what fans are actively clamoring for is going to negatively impact the popularity of the game. That's like saying that if half the world asks Domino's Pizza to start selling bacon-flavored crusts through massive petitions, that selling the crust would make people buy less pizza. You're killing me here.

[Bellhorn04]

Because without drama/controversy, the sport will seem like the same thing over and over through the years, and fans could lose interest. We'll just have to wait and see how the popularity of the sport changes over the years after the replay decision.

 

The NFL has already paved the way for this. Their challenge system works pretty well and certainly hasn't affected popularity.

[a700hitter]

I'm not talking completely about me in particular, but I'm predicting an effect that expanded replay will have on the feeling of the game and thus the size of the MLB fanbase over time. I doubt it's going to make the game more popular. Replay will remove tons of controversy from the sport, which could spark a permenant mundane era. Sorry I can't prove this, but you can't always talk about logic and proof when looking at how the game feels. That's like saying humans are nothing more than an arrangement of atoms, or something like that. And for your information, a lot of people have the same opinion as me. I'm not just some nutcase.

I don't think you are a nut. This is a pet peeve issue for a lot of people. The technology has been available for a long time, but the baseball establishment has been resistant to implementing and expanding instant replay precisely for many of the reasons that you have raised. They certainly are taking into consideration the good of the game. If they thought that there would be no negative implications, they would have already expanded replay and had balls and strikes called by a machine.

 

I personally I would rather have every call be correct, but look at other sports. The officiating of basketball is horrendous. In football, you could call holding on every play and pass interference or illegal contact on every other play. In boxing if there is no knock out, it comes down to a beauty contest in the words of George Foreman. Some people would like balls and strikes call by technology, and the technology exists to do it very accurately. In addition to the counter arguments that you have set forth, what happens if the technology goes down in a big game? The umpire would have to call the balls and strikes the old fashion way, how reliable would he be if he hasn't called balls and strikes in 5 years? It would be like asking kids to do math after using a calculator for their entire lives or navigate using a map after years of depending on GPS. The skill would be lost. If this was such a black and white issue, instant replay would already be in place.

[a700hitter]

The NFL has already paved the way for this. Their challenge system works pretty well and certainly hasn't affected popularity.

And yet they still get plenty of stuff wrong. I think that wrong calls are much more crucial and can unfairly impact a season when you only play 16 games. When you play 162 games it is not as crucial as the good and bad calls tend to even out. Edited September 17, 2013 by a700hitter

[Bellhorn04]

The challenge system in the NFL does provide some entertainment. I mean it's a classic moment when Bill Belichick tosses one of those red beanbags in disgust.

 

They should also use the red beanbags in baseball. The manager will throw it out of the dugout toward the ump. Tell me that won't provide some humorous moments.

[Bellhorn04]

And yet the still get plenty of stuff wrong. I think that wrong calls are much more crucial and can unfairly impact a season when you only play 16 games. When you play 162 games it is not as crucial as the good and bad calls tend to even out.

 

'Tend to even out' is not exactly a strong statement. How about a blown call in Game 162 with a playoff spot on the line.

[a700hitter]

'Tend to even out' is not exactly a strong statement. How about a blown call in Game 162 with a playoff spot on the line.

They probably got some calls in their favor throughout the season. I'd say that each team probably gets screwed on around the same number of calls over a 162 game span. You can't bitch and moan about a bad call in one game changing the entire trajectory of your season when you play 162 games and probably benefitted from some bad calls.

[User Name]

The poster child for poor reasoning: Justifying the unfairness and inefficiency of the system by saying that "every team gets around the same number of calls wrong". That is preposterous. The system should be fixed, period.

 

And for the record, the "baseball establishment" is now open to expanding replay because of the opposite of the argument navafan is making. It's 2013. Get with the times.

[a700hitter]

'Tend to even out' is not exactly a strong statement. How about a blown call in Game 162 with a playoff spot on the line.

I think that they should expand the program for the post season as bad calls can change the trajectory of the playoffs. I am not sold that instant replay is needed in the regular season. I am not sure that it is worth the effort.

[redsoxrules]

I like the idea of instant replay. It will eliminate most of the arguing from the Manager after a close play where they can simply challenge and be done with it. A lot of times Managers argue for about 5 minutes. If there was instant replay it would take less than 5 minutes to resolve the issue.

[VA Sox Fan]

Pitching matchups for the Orioles series

 

Posted by Peter Abraham, Globe Staff September 17, 2013 08:45 AM

 

Tuesday: RHP Scott Feldman (5-4, 3.62) vs. RHP Ryan Dempster (8-9, 4.70), 7:10 p.m., NESN, MLB Network.

 

Wednesday: LHP Wei-Yin Chen (7-7, 3.99) vs. RHP Jake Peavy (11-5, 4.03), 7:10 p.m., NESN.

 

Thursday: RHP Chris Tillman (16-6, 3.70) vs. RHP John Lackey (9-12, 3.56), 7:10 p.m., NESN, MLB Network.

[mvp 78]

I welcome our umpiring robot overlords with open arms.

[Navafan29]

Time will tell how good Selig's decision will be. Time will tell.