Instant hit

For the first time, Major League Baseball is going to consider something the rest of us have wanted for decades: instant replay.

It’ll only be used to address so-called “boundary calls:” when there is a dispute over a ball being fair or foul, if its hard to tell if it got out for a home run or just bounced off the top of the wall, if a fan interfered, etc. It won’t be used for balls and strikes, even though the only good thing (if you can call it that) to come out of FOX’ playoff coverage was the “Fox Trax” feature showing us just how often home plate umps are off.

One of my favorite things about baseball is the inherent unfairness of it all: the blown calls, the total reliance on flawed human beings. But I’m still in favor of this. The biggest argument against instant replay in baseball has always been that the games are long enough as it is, and it would be ridiculous to use IP for every pitch. But using it for foul balls and homeruns shouldn’t take any more time than it already does for the manager to run on the field and kick up dust in protest, and you’ll get the right call more often. I say let’s got to tape!