A PREDICTION ON HOW INSTANT REPLAY WILL CHANGE BASEBALL.

A PREDICTION ON HOW INSTANT REPLAY WILL CHANGE BASEBALL. One of the reactions to increasing instant replay for baseball is that it will change certain conventional rulings by umpires. Most mentioned is the phantom touching of second base by the fielder on double plays. My father always said that the rule was not enforced strictly because it reduced the chance of injury. I think it happens less than announcers think, but if there’s replay, the fielder will have to touch the bag.

I also think that tag plays at bases will be overturned surprisingly often. Umpires and announcers still tend to make the call based on whether the throw beat the runner, and to forget the importance of where on the runner’s body the tag is made. On a headfirst slide, if the fielder is in the usual position near the bag and tags the runner on the head, the runner is likely safe because his hand will have reached the base before the tag. Similarly, if a runner is tagged on the thigh, the runner’s foot will usually have reached the base before the tag. The replay officials will have to recognize this.

I think that there will be a higher percentage of successful steals with instant replay.