Major League Baseball launched the expanded replay era Monday and saw instant results — a pair of missed calls by umpires got fixed fast, without any arguments.
Opening day showed off the game"s newest nod to modern technology in a sport that long relied on the eyes of its umpires.
From now on, most every call can be challenged by a manager. When that happens, the final decision will come from a replay booth in New York, rather than the field. And instead of out or safe, fair or foul, disputes will be settled with two words new to baseball"s lingo: confirmed or overturned.
MLB Commissioner Bud Selig was at Miller Park in Milwaukee for the first call that got reversed. Minutes later, another ruling got changed at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.
“You know what? They got the play right. That"s the bottom line,” said Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez, who won his challenge in Milwaukee but lost the game.
Baseball was last among the four major American sports to use video reviews. Even though fans had access to high-tech television screens, MLB stuck with tradition and let umpires make the calls.
In 2008, after a series of missed calls in midseason, baseball went to replay to resolve disputes on potential home runs. A few months ago, extra replay was added.
Baseball hoped the reviews would come quickly, and that they would cut down on the wild, arm-waving arguments between managers and umps that often delighted fans.
Of the first five reviews Monday, none took longer than 2 1/2 minutes.
“I think that it sure felt like it was out there 10, 15 minutes,” Gonzalez said. “Before tonight"s over, I"m going to put a clock on it and see exactly how long it took.”
“It"s a process that they"re looking at two to three years of working through the kinks,” he said.
The first use of the increased system occurred in Pittsburgh.
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