Major League Baseball could implement instant replay for the 2012 season, reports AP, after Commissioner Bud Selig and a group of umpire agreed in spring training on a plan to make it work with minimal impact on the game.
There’s been talk of baseball using instant replay for years now, but the fear has always been that there would be too many delays interrupting the natural rhythm of a game. (Indeed, the NFL is still struggling with the use of replay: the long delays certainly are a distraction.) Replay has been used, albeit infrequently, in MLB since 2008 to verify home runs.
Nothing is official, though umpires already agreed to instant replay in their last contract. Players would need to sign off on it, as would the 14-member committee for on-field matters. It’s not a given that players would sign off, however.
Replay would not be used for outs on the bases, nor would it be used to second-guess balls and strikes.
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