Baseball starts instant replay
Thursday
By RONALD BLUM, AP Baseball Writer 18 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP)--Major League Baseball reversed its long-standing opposition to instant replay and will allow umpires to check video on home run calls in series that start Thursday.

The start date comes nearly 10 months after general managers voted 25-5 to use the technology, and following MLB agreements with the unions for umpires and for players.

"I believe that the extraordinary technology that we now have merits the use of instant replay on a very limited basis," commissioner Bud Selig said. "The system we have in place will ensure that the proper call is made on home run balls and will not cause a significant delay to the game."

Three series are scheduled to start Thursday, with Philadelphia at the Chicago Cubs, Minnesota at Oakland and Texas at the Los Angeles Angels. For other games, replays will be available to umpires starting Friday.

For now, video will be used only on so-called "boundary calls," such as determining whether fly balls went over the fence, whether potential home runs were fair or foul and whether there was fan interference on potential home runs.

Selig, who opposed replay in the past, said he won't allow its use to expand to additional types of calls.

" My opposition to unlimited instant replay is still very much in play," Selig said. "I really think that the game has prospered for well over a century now doing things the way we did it."

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-I...ov=ap&type=lgns

THE FANS ALL WERE CRYING FOR THIS!!! THANK YOU BUD SELIG!!! BUT ITS TOO LATE FOR MY ORIOLES!!! BECAUSE HIRSHBECK SCREWED US 5 GAMES!!!

it's not like the O's have any playoff plans right now, or had any this season

I'm really interested in seeing the first incident in a game where replay is used. Looking forward to it.

Yeah, they talk about making the game shorter in time, I wonder how long these will hold up the games.

Get the call right.
Thats all the matters.

It really shouldn't because it's not every game you get a controversial Homerun ruling. And as long as the replays don't last about an hour and a half like they do in the NFL, it should be fine.

But let's say five years from now, instant replay may expand and there's no limit to how many "challenges" a manager can have and a guy like Lou Pinella challenges everything. I know it's entertaining for us as fans to see him blow a fuse but what happens when a manager challenges a call, delays the game for two minutes then the umpire reverses the call and the opposing manager comes out to protest?

Yeah yeah, I understand that, but I'm talking about the game today, and the limited replay system.

More opportunities for Fox to add over-the-top graphics and show the instant replay several dozen times (several thousand if its a Red Sox-Yankees game)

And sponser them by a new sponser every frame they replay.

I just hope as it has been said, that this doesn't evolve into Football.

Actually, to correct my point, I read almost the same story on ESPN and they mentioned that managers would receive an automatic ejection if they step out of the dugout to argue a replayed call.