The Ball/Strike Challenge Needs To Be Called Up From The Minor Leagues ASAP
Aside from Angel Hernandez falling over each inning from essentially playing Dizzy Bat and constantly having to turn around every time he umpires behind the plate, I cannot think of one negative of calling this Ball/Strike Challenge up from the Minors to the Major Leagues. That took what, 2 seconds? Quickest replay I've ever seen in my life. Call was made right, and we move on.
The way the rule works in the Minors right now is that you get three ball/strike challenges, and you retain the ones you use if you're correct. Seems simple enough. My question is that in the big leagues, wouldn't the managers have easy access to the same technology that is making the decisions? Or at least television / replay in their own booths? Point being, how could you ever lose one of these challenges? Or does the batter have like 1 second to issue the challenge? I think that would make it more risky and more fun.
Either way, at least it will get these types of calls out of the game:
I guess the main question is with technology that can tell us instantaneously whether it was a Ball or a Strike, what's the point of umpires in general anymore? Tennis has shown how quickly and accurate calls can be made via technology, so why not just put a graphic up on the Jumbotron and let both teams and the whole crowd immediately see if it was a Ball or Strike right away?
My stance might be a little unpopular, but I feel that if we're going to have human umpires out there, let them make their calls. And I feel that way about all sports. I truly do love the human element of the game. You win some, you lose some with human officials, but I do think it makes it interesting. But if you want the computers to do it, get rid of the puppets and let the computer do it instantaneously.
I absolutely hate watching sports on television and they slow it down via zoomed in replay to show that the ball ACTUALLY grazed the finger nail of the player, or that ACTUALLY the runners foot left the base by a millimeter for a nanosecond while the tag was still on him. To me, that's not a part of the game. That's just my take on the issue, but if you're understandably on the side of always getting the calls right, just let the computers do it.