By BRUCE WEBER
Getting it right is a necessity in genetic testing, a plus in a spelling bee and a paramount virtue in journalism. But in sports it might just be overrated.
This week, Major League Baseball introduced instant replay as a tool to adjudicate troublesome home run calls, making it the last of the major American sports to use technology to help officials get it right.
Tennis has the electric eye to monitor selected line calls. Basketball lets the referees check the videotape to see if a player released a shot before the buzzer at the end of a period and also to review fights and flagrant fouls. In hockey, they’ll look again to see if the puck did or didn’t sneak entirely across the goal line. And in football it seems they’ll review just about anything.
The chief argument in favor of instant replay is that it preserves the integrity of the game, that athletes work too hard and are too good at what they do to have their skills and the nature of their competition marginalized by the human frailties of ostensibly lesser mortals who sit in judgment of them. Of course, the games existed perfectly well with their integrity perfectly intact before anyone ever uttered the phrase, “Let’s go to the videotape.” And if it was integrity that the replay was preserving, we wouldn’t limit its use, would we?
Instant Replay May Be Moving Into Foul Territory....
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
Major League Baseball will institute the use of instant replay on Thursday to determine disputed home run calls -- fair or foul, in or out of the ballpark, fan interference -- Commissioner Bud Selig announced on Tuesday.
The system, which has been under study since this past November when the general managers voted 25-5 to explore its use, will launch on Thursday when Minnesota opens a four-game series at Oakland, Texas is in Anaheim to play the Angels, and the Phillies are at Wrigley Field to play the Cubs.
Since it was determined that the use of replay should start when a series opens, it will be in use for all games beginning with Friday's action. Musing that implementing replay was really not like dealing with "Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity,'" the Commissioner said the apropos time to move ahead with it was now.
"I believe this is right," Selig said during a late afternoon conference call unveiling the new system. "I think the umpires believe it. I think the players believe it. The evidence [for using it] became overwhelming the more I looked at ballparks. You've got an umpire running out and he's 300-400 feet away, and it became impossible [for him to make the right call]. I'm delighted we're able to make this adjustment.
"As you well know, anytime you try to change things in baseball, it's both emotional and difficult, but this [decision] everyone really thought was in the sport's best interest. And that's why I made it."
Limited instant replay debuts Thursday....
By Alyson Footer / MLB.com
HOUSTON -- Instant replay will serve as a valuable tool to umpires while making home run calls, but that doesn't mean the proverbial "human element" will no longer be a factor.
Instant replay will be used as somewhat of a last resort. According to 24-year umpiring veteran and crew chief Dana DeMuth, the "old rules" of making calls on disputed home run balls will still be very much in effect.
But if after steps one (umpire makes the call), two (manager argues the call) and three (crew convenes to discuss the call) the umpires cannot conclude whether a home run is indeed a home run, they'll turn to the newest step -- instant replay -- to help make the correct determination.
In the past, when an umpiring crew would gather to discuss -- and sometimes, overturn -- a call, they would use a democratic system of sorts. If they were split 2-2, they'd stick with the original call.
Now, if they're split, they'll turn to instant replay to serve as the tie-breaker.
Umpires see replay as an aid....
BRISTOL, Conn. (AP) — Major League Baseball and ESPN signed a new digital rights agreement that will allow the sports network to put baseball content on multiple platforms, including video game consoles and portable players such as iPods.
The deal announced Thursday extends and expands the agreement through 2013. The previous agreement could have expired as early as this year. Terms were not disclosed.
ESPN said the deal will allow for live game streaming and highlights packages on the Internet and mobile platforms. It also will allow ESPN to develop interactive television programming around baseball content.
ESPN will be able to put MLB content on download services like Apple's iTunes Store and console game systems such as Microsoft Xbox Live.
"Our goal is always to deliver sports to fans across any platform, and this is yet another agreement that fulfills that strategy," George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN and ABC Sports, said in a statement.
ESPN signs digital rights deal with baseball....
by FOXSports.com
The Los Angeles Dodgers have acquired veteran right-hander Greg Maddux from the Padres to bolster their rotation for the stretch run, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Associated Press confirmed the trade, citing a person familiar with the deal who spoke on condition of anonymity Monday night because no announcement had been made. However, sources with both teams are saying no deal has been finalized.
Maddux, who is 6-9 with a 3.99 ERA this season, is expected to join the team in time for their series opener against the Rockies on Tuesday. The Dodgers are currently tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the NL West lead.
Report: Maddux off to L.A. to bolster Dodger staff....
By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
WASHINGTON -- Commissioner Bud Selig said after the closing of Thursday's joint meeting of the 30 club executives that he could implement instant replay for disputed home run calls before the end of the season.
"I'm hoping we can get the bugs out sometime before the postseason," Selig said. "Whether we can make that timetable or not really hasn't been determined."
The owners, eight of whom sit on the executive council along with Selig, were briefed about the replay plan on Wednesday and the full body of executives heard the details on Thursday morning.
Selig: Work continues on instant replay....
By Mark Newman / MLB.com
BEIJING -- Baseball at the Summer Olympics begins Wednesday at the Wukesong Sports Complex with Chinese Taipei facing Netherlands at 10:30 a.m. local time (10:30 p.m. ET) on Field 2, followed by China vs. Canada at 11:30 (Field 1), Korea vs. United States at 6 p.m. (Field 2) and Cuba vs. Japan at 7 p.m. (Field 1).
There is a lot to know about how the baseball competition works. There are three fields at Wukesong, and two of them will be host to all of the games through the gold medal contest on Aug. 23. Here are the details:
Olympic game similar, but not identical....
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
ATLANTA -- The Braves family lost one of its most beloved members on Sunday, when Skip Caray passed away at his Atlanta-area home. He was 68.
Caray, who would have celebrated his 69th birthday on Aug. 12, went to take a nap Sunday afternoon and didn't awake. He is survived by his wife, Paula, two sons, Chip and Josh, two daughters, Shayelyn and Cindy, and seven grandchildren.
"Our baseball community has lost a legend today," said Braves president John Schuerholz. "The Braves family and Braves fans everywhere will sadly miss him. Our thoughts are with his wife Paula and his children."
The two sons will carry on the family's rich broadcasting tradition, which began with Skip's father, Harry Caray, a Hall of Fame announcer who remains one of the most popular figures in baseball history.
Baseball mourns loss of Skip Caray....
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Think of it: Mark Cuban as the Chicago Cubs’ owner, bonding with the Bleacher Bums at Wrigley Field, splurging for rounds of Old Style beer and screaming at umpires. The concept is almost Veeckian, as if Bill Veeck, the populist former owner of the Browns, the Indians and the White Sox, had had zillions of dollars.
Buying the Cubs is the latest project for Cuban, the owner of the N.B.A.’s Dallas Mavericks, but he is not alone in the expensive quest. Four other individuals and groups have given the debt-laden Tribune Company nonbinding offers of at least $1 billion for the team, its stake in Comcast SportsNet Chicago, and 92-year-old Wrigley Field.
Cuban is reported to be the top bidder, at nearly $1.3 billion, but the auction will begin soon, after the applicants and their bankers delve further into the assets books.
Cuban Wants Cubs, but Will Baseball Want Him?....
