Managers will have at least one challenge to use. If any portion of a challenged play is overturned, then the manager who challenged the play will retain the ability to challenge one more play during the game. No manager may challenge more than two plays in a game. Once the manager has exhausted his ability to challenge plays during the game and after the beginning of the seventh inning, the Crew Chief may choose to invoke instant replay on any reviewable call. Home run and other boundary calls will remain reviewable under the procedures in place last season.

A designated communication location near home plate will be established at all 30 MLB ballparks. There, the Crew Chief and at least one other Major League Umpire will have access to a hard-wired headset connected to the Replay Command Center, which will remain at MLB Advanced Media headquarters in New York. Major League Umpires will be staffed as Replay Officials at the Replay Command Center. After viewing video feeds, the Replay Official will make the ultimate determination of whether to overturn the call, based on the continuing standard of whether there is clear and convincing evidence.

Instant replay will be utilized during some televised games in Spring Training for the purposes of educating on-field personnel on the rules of the new system.

Other protocols of the new system for instant replay are as follows:

PLAY TYPES

The following play types will be subject to review:

•Home run
•Ground rule double
•Fan interference
•Stadium boundary calls (e.g., fielder into stands, ball into stands triggering dead ball)
•Force play (except the fielder's touching of second base on a double play)
•Tag play (including steals and pickoffs)
•Fair/foul in outfield only
•Trap play in outfield only
•Batter hit by pitch
•Timing play (whether a runner scores before a third out)
•Touching a base (requires appeal)
•Passing runners
•Record keeping (Ball-strike count to a batter, outs, score, and substitutions)
All other plays will not be reviewable; however, the Umpires may still convene on the field at any time to discuss the play.

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Clearly the force and tag plays will generate the most challenges...but by limiting the challenges to one or two, I think the games won't be too much longer. However, since all plays can be reviewed by umps after the 7th inning, it will be interesting to see whether the crew chief elects to review plays that he thinks his own crew may have gotten wrong.

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challenges are dumb. if a call is wrong a manager shouldnt have to "pay" to get it overturned. each game should have a replay official whose job it is to make sure plays are reviewed that require it. baseball is a slow enough game where there is plenty of time to see lots of replays before the next pitch, unlike football.

Challenge restrictions definitely make sense to me in baseball. If my pitcher suddenly struggles, let me challenge something and get a guy up in the bullpen and he'll have an extra three minutes of warm-up time. I don't like that there is a restriction on successful challenges... if the umpiring crew is wrong three times and I identify each one, I should be able to challenge them all.

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"All crowds boycotting football games shouldn't care who sings or takes a knee because they aren't watching." - Nas

wasn't there technically replay a year or two ago when there was that god-awful call on a "foul ball" in the stl/atl divisional playoffs? i think it was 2 years ago cuz michael bourn was still on the braves but i seem to remember the addition of extra umps + replay still not being enough to get the call right which led to larussa/matheny/fredi/cox/whoever going absolutely apeshit in the wake of the still blown call.

i should RTFA (read the fucking article) and see if they ended up utilizing a NFL-style "challenge" system or if this is unilaterally gonna come from NYC where MLB has their guys officially watching the game and then they'll be able to immediately chime in and get the call right, as opposed to there being some sort of "challenge system" that tries to add gamesman ship to the timeout. when it comes to instant replay there ideally shouldn't be gamesmanship involved when the endgame is getting the call right. ppl who wanna whine and moan about baseball games taking too long shouldn't be watching baseball in the first place.

* pounds table *

shomer shabbos!

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I agree in general, but sitting through Tony La Russa's interminable cavalcades of relief pitchers was boring as hell.

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The not touching second base on a double play should be reviewable. I hate that shit. Touch the dam base.

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Yuup I was just gonna say goodbye neighborhood play.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

And as I always add, ring up the fuckers who don't slide anywhere near 2nd base as well.

I would like to see a manager review a slide to break up a double play. I think a player has got to be out of the baseline on some of those slides.

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

That's because you've never taken a throw at second with a guy coming at you spikes high.

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The Court will accord substantial deference to the government's immigration policies, particularly those that implicate matters of national security.

Agree with mofo. Challenges are dumb.


NHL has the best system I think.

This seems like a rough compromise between the NHL and NFL. They should ditch the challenges and go with a war room that's watching everything and jumps in when necessary.

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So you shouldnt have to tag a base for the guy to be out on a force? Just go somewhere near it?

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Or just call a guy out if he goes in with spikes high. They changed the rules for plowing over the catcher, so they might as well pussy up the rules for other bases on the field.

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Well, I really am not sure how this will work.

I watched 1 inning of the Sox 'encore' replay last night (why a spring training game gets an encore broadcast I dunno, but I digress) and there were two calls that were challenged in the same half inning. Both calls were wrong on the field, the replays showed both calls were wrong, and both of the calls on the field stood after replay

So I don't get it.

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Why not just steal the NHL's war room and have some all-seeing Umpire God overrule any calls that have to be overruled? Seems simplest.

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It was pretty quick, I'll say that. Two umps went over near the dugout and stood next to a guy who must have been in contact with the replay ump because they all had headphones on. Each 'challenge' only took about 2 minutes from the time the manager came out to argue until the time the play was reviewed and allowed to stand. And I know all of the camera angles aren't there in the Spring like they are in MLB, but both of these were pretty obviously blown calls.

One was a force out at second base in which Marcus Seimien lost the ball in the transfer trying to turn a double play. Ruled safe at second, clearly should have been out.

About two batters later, the Reds hit a single to CF, and Adam Eaton threw a two hopper to third base and the Reds runner trying to advance was called out. The replays showed that the runner was safe and it wasn't even all that close. He was called out and the field ruling stood.

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The only thing I can think of with regards to STL/ATL playoff controversy was the infield fly rule from the 2012 Wild Card game...

That was one where Umpire God should have come down from on high and reversed it. No fucking way that was an infield fly. Fucking Cardinals.

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