As I'm sure all of you know by now, video replay is about to become a part of major league baseball.
Instant replay will be used only to determine disputed home run calls -- fair or foul, in or out of the ballpark, or those possibly marred by fan interference.
I'm not a fan of it, but then again, the Marlins have had some tough luck calls this season.
Just this year, the Marlins have had at least four occasions when home run judgments turned out to be incorrect. Most recently, on Aug. 22 in Arizona, Josh Willingham hit a drive to left that hit the rail just behind the wall, deflected off the top of the wall and came back into play. Willingham was credited with a triple.
In case you were wondering how instant replay will be used, here you go.
If the crew chief decides replay needs to be checked, umpires will leave the field. Technicians at Major League Baseball Advanced Media in New York will show umpires the video, and the crew chief will make the call. Leaving the dugout to argue a call following a replay will result in ejection.
Just like always, the first manager to complain gets to argue and the other manager gets to talk to the hand. I still think that rule is stupid.
While its use shouldn't come up all that often, it will slowdown the games in which it does. I mean let's face it. It takes many angles and very slow motion to sometimes determine if the ball left the park. And another thing, they are counting on MLBAM to deliver a quality replay? Come on, they can't keep MLB.TV running as advertised.
Oh well, it is on the way. Instant replay will be in affect for the Mets series and beyond. Cause, it will never go away, even if it proves to be dismal failure. Such is the nature of the beast. But who knows, maybe it will do some good. We can only hope.