Technology In Baseball

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It’s Time for Baseball to Adopt Instant Replay It is said that baseball is America’s pastime. It is a game that has been played for generations. And for those generations, the game has evolved. Night games, the breaking of the color barrier, the designated hitter, the meaning of the All-Star game, and limited use of instant replay are a few of many changes baseball has gone through in the past 160 or so years (the date is debatable). One potential change Major League Baseball has been flirting with is the institution of instant replay. If baseball were to use the technology of instant replay to the full potential, the risk of a missed call of an umpire factoring into the decision of a game could all but be eliminated. MLB limits the…show more content…
Each games is recorded and players review tapes of future opponents, as well as themselves in order to improve their prospects of success. They use radar guns to judge the speed of pitches. Paige (C1) argues that technology of instant replay was not needed in the past where fans in the bleachers could not interfere with the playing field and no confusing yellow lines (to determine home runs). Helmets and masks improve the safety of players and a lot of technology is put into designing that equipment. Adopting technology is not the only time baseball has gone against tradition. Currently the American League uses a designated hitter, a player that bats for the pitcher and does not play in the field. This was adopted in 1973 (Wulf, para. 3). There is not much tradition in that, and the idea of the designated hitter has been argued since. The All-Star game used to be just an exhibition game played between the best players in the National and American leagues. It meant absolutely nothing. Now the winning league gets home field advantage in the World Series. Where is the tradition in that (Paige…show more content…
Using video technology to get plays called correctly does not take the human element out. When mistakes are made, the human element excuse is often given and that is a poor excuse. If a fielder tags a runner, he is out. The umpire should not determine the outcome (Sheehan 19). Players still have to make the plays happen. They will do their best to make plays and umpires will still do their best to call plays. There is a big difference between players making mistakes and umpires making mistakes. A player’s mistake comes out of competition. They prepare in order not to make mistakes. Umpires mistakes are random and there is no way that players can prepare for those mistakes. The game should be in the hands of the competitors. Mistakes take the results out of the competitors hands (Taylor

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