Technology in Baseball

When one thinks of a world nowadays, there is no way to avoid the omnipresent use of technology. It is nearly impossible to survive life without taking advantage of any of the common technological advances. Now one may think that a tradition or pastime should be done similarly to the way it originated, and have no synchronization with the modern use of technology today; others believe that it is crucial to connect “pastime” with “present” time and sync both worlds together. There is no difference in the world of sports, especially in baseball, America’s National Pastime. Some say that instant replay should not be used because it is just making a very long game even longer, and some say that it is not right to change a game that has been played for over 100 years. There are many instances in which the use of technology during the course of a baseball game is very beneficial. For instance, to replay whether the ball is fair or foul, whether the ball went over the wall for a homerun or not, or even to decide whether a player was fairly called out or not. Critics believe that since baseball is a tradition, the use of technology should be avoided. Instant replay is a crucial way to synchronize today’s game with yesterday’s game. As of August 27, 2008 Major League Baseball approved the use of instant replay, but it has been exclusively utilized for judging whether a fly ball cleared the outfield wall for a home run, or if the ball curved to the opposite side of the foul pole, all consisting of decisive home run calls. Now it may seem that baseball has progressed a lot by accepting these technological advances, but advancing on these advances would be extremely beneficial to the sport. Truthfully, using replay progressively cannot hurt, and it is a major savior for the game. For example, the very famous, very recent, near-perfect-game missed call. Had Jim Joyce been able to replay his call at first base and realize that he made a big mistake that will go down in baseball history as one of the biggest blown calls in history, he would not even be in this predicament, and Armando Galarraga would have a perfect game. In a basketball game, an official is able to use replay to enhance the game or review a shot, football is very proficient in its rules of replay, even hockey uses replay; it seems that baseball is the only major sport in which technology is not being used to the best of its ability. There are different sides to the argument as shown by two CBSSports.com columnists. Greg Doyel says, “Don’t mess with baseball’s perfect imperfection,” meaning that baseball is great the way it is consisting of human error involved with the calls; while Mike Freeman argues, “It’s time for baseball to wake up.” (http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-20006824-10391697.html) The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim manager, Mike Scioscia, is among those opposed to the idea saying, “I think there’s too many plays that are close that could possibly be up for review, and I think it would become dysfunctional.” In a Sports Illustrated poll taken in September of 2008, 72% of baseball players were in favor of reviews exclusively for home runs, while players being asked about reviews on bases, only had 19% in favor. Baseball may be a game of tradition, but it is also a game of the present, which demands for the operation of technology. Once baseball syncs with today’s culture, just like football, limitations for instant replay can be discussed.