There have certainly been ups and downs with the implementation of Major League Baseball’s new instant replay system this season. What appeared to have been blatantly missed calls have not been overturned and vice-versa, some challenges have been denied by a manager taking too long to come out of the dugout while others haven’t.
Things have been far less than perfect.
But in the second inning of the Blue Jays’ series opener in Oakland on Thursday night, we saw a different aspect of replay rear its ugly head.
With the bases loaded and one out, Anthony Gose hit a ground ball to first. A’s first baseman Nate Freiman fielded it and tagged Munenori Kawasaki as he ran past. The tag of Kawasaki meant there was no longer a force play on any base other than first, but first base umpire Vic Carapazza signalled “safe” to say that, in his view, Freiman missed the tag. Freiman threw home to try to force Edwin Encarnacion at the plate and Oakland catcher Stephen Vogt, having seen the safe call, just caught the ball with his foot on the plate, making no effort to tag Edwin because he thought he didn’t have to. Encarnacion was called out on the field.
It made for a unique and interesting replay challenge. John Gibbons came out to ask that the umpires review the play to see that Kawasaki did, indeed, get tagged. He wasn’t saying that one of his players should be safe, but that one of his players was out – just a different one than the one the umpires said was. And he was right.
After a lengthy discussion among the four umpires and then an even lengthier review, the right call was finally made. Kawasaki was out which meant no force play, which meant Encarnacion was safe at home with what turned out to be the Blue Jays’ only run of the night.
The problem is, of course, that if Vogt knew that he had to tag Encarnacion, he more than likely would have. There was certainly enough time, but that’s also because Edwin thought he was out on the force. Who knows what would have happened if the right call had been made on the field?
And therein lies the rub.
Once replay shows that Kawasaki was out, can the umpires rule that Encarnacion is out at the plate, too, because Vogt had more than enough time to tag him? That’s certainly what the A’s thought, and why they played under a protest that was withdrawn as soon as they won the game. But what kind of can of worms does that open?
Maybe the only thing to do is to tell players to assume that the umpires are wrong with every call, and to continue to play out everything as though all the rulings on the field will be reversed. But what a mockery that would make of the game.
Replay is here, and it’s a great thing that it is. The “human element” of the game should be restricted to the greatness and the flaws of its players. The fact that human beings are officiating the games shouldn’t make a player out when he’s safe or vice-versa (and don’t get me started on the strike zone). But the replay system that’s in place right now is also kind of messed up. It’s better than nothing, but it’s deeply flawed.
Major League Baseball may have dodged a huge bullet because the fact that Oakland wound up winning the game means there’s no protest on which to pass judgement, but they’re not going to dodge every bullet, so this issue needs to be addressed. And quickly.