Major League Baseball has always been slow to embrace instant replay, especially compared to the other three major sports. The Associated Press, though, is reporting that the powers that be are leaning towards expanding instant replay for baseball in 2012.
MLB Could Expand Instant Replay in 2012
Major League Baseball is leaning toward expanding replay for the 2012 season to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the linesIt’s hard to believe that MLB started using instant replay over two seasons ago, mostly because the transition has been so seamless. There haven’t been any “Why Getting Last Night’s Home Run Call Correct Ruined The Spirit Of Baseball” articles to spark a debate. Every two weeks or so, umpires in a game huddle for two minutes to see if a ball hit above or below a yellow line. It’s hardly noticeable.
There’s certainly no chance for MLB to approve replays for strike calls or plays at first any time soon, which makes some of these quotes a little amusing:
Said San Francisco's Aubrey Huff: "You're messing with the history of the game when you start messing with too much."
If there’s history that needs to be messed with, this might be it. Trapped catches and fair/foul rulings are about .001% of the game, so it’s not as if every game will be an hour longer because of constant replay checks. Either way, this news hints that baseball is looking to evolve with the times, albeit at the typically slow pace.
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