• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Life / Major League Baseball Needs Instant Replay

Major League Baseball Needs Instant Replay

August 1, 2011 //  by James Kratch

FacebookTweet

Major League Baseball needs to adopt broader instant replay, and not because of guys like Jerry Meals. It needs to do so in order to protect guys like Jerry Meals.

Meals, a 14-year veteran MLB umpire, made an atrocious call at home plate to give Atlanta a 4-3 win 19-inning marathon game against Pittsburgh in the wee hours of last Wednesday. 

It was so horrid, it caused all hell to break loose amongst fans and media in a manner similar to, but not exactly like, the Jim Joyce-Armando Galarraga perfect game debacle last summer.

 

 

Everyone who had the benefit of a second look (and, let’s be honest, a first look) knew Julio Lugo was out. But Meals, who later admitted he got the call wrong, didn’t have that luxury, so the call stood as he thought he saw it. Oh well, Buccos.

Poor umpiring has long been a part of the game – I like to think that when the New York Nine and the New York Knickerbockers met in Hoboken, N.J., on June 19, 1846 to play the first game of baseball, there was at least one manager-umpire dirt kicking display – and to err is human, as we all know. But enough is enough.

These mistakes don’t happen in other sports because replay is available. I’m as much a purist as anyone when it comes to baseball, but the truth is undeniable now. If we can correctly award possession in football, we should be able to get safe or out right at home. Especially when MLB makes its officials speak to media members. It’s callous to not give umpires the tools to make their accuracy better and then throw them to the wolves when they screw up.

Balls and strikes shouldn’t be up for review. Nor should fair or foul balls. But everything at home plate and the other bases, when appropriate, should be as reviewable as home runs currently are now

As much as baseball doesn’t want to get with the 21st century – and their YouTube policy is proof enough on that front – it has no choice now. Fans are smarter. Media is smarter. Television cameras have more angles and more opportunities to make hindsight not only 20/20 but better. Umpires are out there on an island, and it isn’t right. The time has come to be fair to the men entrusted to keep the game so.  

FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Life

About James Kratch

Senior > English > University of South Carolina

You May Also Like

cultural identity and language

Language Abilities Don’t Define Your Cultural Identity, Unless?

How I Turned My Personal Journals into a Published Book

songs to belt out

21 Songs to Belt Out in the Shower

15 Alcohol-Free Activities for a Friday Night In

Reflecting on Fall 2020: How to Recover from One of the Hardest Semesters

How to Make Money From Home Without Taking Off Your PJs

15 COVID-19 Safe Ways to Celebrate the Holidays in 2020

Top 10 COVID-19 Safe Activities to Do Near Fresno, California

Breaking the Binary: My Journey into Identifying as Non-Binary

The Döner Project: My Berlin Budget as a College Student

CM’s Guide to the Print and Digital Journalism Major

Away from Home and Feeling Gross: Being Sick My Freshman Year

A Tale of Two Twin Flames

movies to binge over winter break

Battling Boredom: 10 Movies to Binge Over Winter Break

Being an Asian-American: Learning to Accept Both Halves of Myself

How to Become a Published Poet

ADHD or the Enemy? At Least My College Helped Me

berkeley outdoors

10 COVID-19 Friendly Things to Do in Berkeley, California

Top 10 DIY Gifts for Your BFF

Christmas

10 Gifts For Parents That They Want But Haven’t Asked For

friend group dressed up as Big Hero Six characters

Animation Nerds Unite: 10 Gifts for Animation Lovers

gifts for your girl squad

10 Gifts Your Girl Squad Can’t Live Without

10 Virtual Gifts for Your BFF that Will Make Them Love You Forever

Real News: 10 Gifts for the Future Journalist in Your Life

Previous Post: « Blast From the Past: 80s Playlist
Next Post: Universities to Provide Surrounding Towns with High-Speed Internet »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

climate change protest
335

Top 10 Colleges Where You Can Make A Difference in the Climate Crisis

226

The 10 Best Organizations You Should Donate To in 2021

coffee w heart
11

A Barista’s Guide to Making Delicious Coffee Drinks at Home

6

5 Reasons Why You Should Become a Morning Person in 2021

2

Keeping Up with the Coronavirus: How is it Spread?

Featured Chapter: UCLA

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.