Should Major League Baseball expand use of video replay?
Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
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•Question: On June 2, umpire Jim Joyce blew a call with two out in the ninth inning that cost Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game. Later that same night umpire Dale Scott apparently missed a call in the 10th inning that gave Seattle a win over Minnesota. Do you think Major League Baseball will expand its use of video replay? Do you favor expansion of that tool?
-Dorr: There might be some expansion of video replay but I’m not sure that would be a good idea. Joyce’s call didn’t change the outcome of a game but the call in the Minnesota game kept the Twins from having a chance to win the game in a later inning. To me that’s a bigger deal than the call that cost Galarraga a perfect game, although he might disagree. The pressure for expanded uses of replay will be greater than in the past but it wouldn’t bother me to leave things the way they are. Let’s say the runner in the Detroit game had been safe but had been called out. What would have happened then?
-Marxhausen: I certainly do have mixed feelings on the subject of video replay. It would be nice if the umpires made all the right decisions but they don’t and that is part of baseball. A player knows that constant arguments are made with an umpire on calls and many are revealed to be horrible calls, but it is part of the game and the fact that the expansion has to result in video replay is ludicrous. If instant replay did not exist then the notion of challenging a result on the pure evidence that the umpire is wrong is out of the question and could never be argued against because supposedly the umpire has the best view. I would like the accuracy of instant video replay but I still believe that baseball was founded on the umpire making the last decision and should be kept in that honorable way.
-Larson: Baseball has it right by using replay for home run calls. Expanding the replay will delay the flow of a game even more and, if you give managers those little red hankies NFL coaches use to protest a call, it gives them one more thing to think about when many already have too much to ponder the way it is.
Besides, would you rather watch your team’s manager toss a hanky onto the field or watch him go jaw-to-jaw with an umpire? Some of baseball’s best moments have taken place when managers like Billy Martin, Tommy Lasorda, Leo Durocher and Casey Stengel expressed their differing views to umpires.
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•Question: There was some talk that given how badly Joyce missed the call at first base, commissioner Bud Selig might overrule the call and award Galarraga a perfect game. How do you feel about that?
-Dorr: I never thought that was an option. The can of worms that would be opened up with such a call by Selig would prove to be a huge mess for years to come. Think of the possibilities. It was an unfortunate happening but it didn’t cost a team a win.
-Marxhausen: Overruling a call is totally up to the commissioner and I believe if he thinks that it’s OK to switch a call then I think it is OK. I would personally not like to have seen the call switched due to the constant relying of instant replay and the continuous growth of dislike towards umpires and the calls they have to make. I would hope that Selig would understand the nature of the game, but if he decides otherwise then there is no stopping his decision.
-Larson: Selig made a bad call when he halted the 2002 All-Star Game, calling it a tie, and he doesn’t need another one. The call on the field, while a costly one for Galarraga, should stand. The incident did give us a lesson in good sportsmanship, both by Galarraga and Joyce. The pitcher accepted the call as a human error and the ump quickly acknowledged his mistake and didn’t walk away from it. It was nice to see Galarraga hand Joyce the Detroit lineup card and shake hands with him the following day.
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•Question: On May 29, Philadelphia’s Roy Halladay pitched a perfect game in Miami against the Florida Marlins. A few days later the Marlins began selling left over tickets from the game (at face value) to fans who might want a “souvenir” from the game. If a pitcher tossed a perfect game against the Twins at Target Field, would you purchase a ticket from a game that had already been played, with your home team on the losing end?
-Dorr: I probably wouldn’t buy such a ticket but I have no problem with a team selling such tickets if there is a market. I don’t think it makes much difference who won or lost the game because many of those buying the tickets are probably hoping to turn a profit on them.
-Marxhausen: That would never be the deciding factor in my reason to buy a ticket. I would like to see a game that will provide adequate competitive baseball that would be worth paying for a ticket. To go and see a shutout match is not the equivalent to a barnburner that causes everybody to sit at the edge of his or her seats waiting to see what will happen next. I don’t think the Twins are at that stage in selling tickets either. Target Field is sold out constantly because of the wonderful new venues and sights to take in for Minnesota Twins baseball.
-Larson: Why would someone other than a collector buy, at full price, a ticket to a game that’s already been played and he or she didn’t attend? Even if you live in Philadelphia, do you tell your friends, “I made a quick trip down to Miami and boy was I lucky to catch a perfect game?” It’s probably an ego thing. I’d certainly want to frame my ticket stub if I was AT THE GAME. Otherwise, I’ll save my money for hot dogs.
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•Question: Soccer’s premier event, the World Cup, begins Friday in South Africa and continues through July 11. ESPN has a crew of over 300 covering the event. How much will you be watching? Give us four countries that might be the last ones standing heading into the finals.
-Dorr: I’ll drive around central Minnesota to watch a granddaughter play but I won’t be tuning into ESPN to watch any coverage unless there’s no baseball on that night and the United States is playing. I don’t even know the odds of the U.S. playing very far into the event. How about Brazil, Germany, Spain and Italy? We can at least find comfort in the fact that England’s coach has imposed an abstinence ban on his team.
-Marxhausen: I’d like to see the prominent European teams such as England and Spain reach the finals and represent their country proud. I think their attitude and mentality towards soccer make for a fierce opponent. The same could be said about the last World Cup winner in 2006, Italy. I would venture to say that they would complete all the way to the championship as well as Brazil and the phenomenal talent that stems from that team.
-Larson: I started to somewhat follow soccer when Edison Arantes do Nascimento dominated the sport in the 1960s. The Brazilian superstar is better remembered as “Pele” and other nicknames like “The King.” A recent article in Time magazine said that more people in the world watch or play soccer than do engaging in any other social activity, with the possible exception of eating and drinking. That enthusiasm hasn’t caught on in the U.S., yet, but interest is rapidly growing, even right here in Milaca.
Soccer is said to be the great equalizer, where dirt poor countries can compete against the “have” countries. Interestingly, though, just seven countries have won the World Cup, with Brazil’s five titles leading the way. Italy has won four and, surprisingly, no Asian or African nation has claimed a title.
You have to love match-ups like Australia vs. Serbia or Japan vs. Cameroon (which may have the present day Pele in Samuel Eto’o) or Brazil vs. North Korea. I’ll be watching ESPN highlights and more closely when the U.S. is playing, starting Saturday against England. For four semifinal picks I’ll go with the usual suspects – Brazil, Italy, Argentina and Germany.
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