MLB Clubs Vote to Expand Instant Replay; MLB to Establish Replay Command Center

Major League Baseball has just announced that all 30 clubs have approved the instant replay system. And it went from being the most archaic to one of the better systems along with the National Hockey League’s War Room.

First, MLB will establish a Replay Command Center in New York and staff them with MLB umpires. Managers will have one challenge per game. If the manager sees a play he wants challenged, he’ll request a review and he must specifically state what portion of the play at which he wants the Command Center to look.

The field umpire crew chief and one other ump will go to a designated area near home plate that will have a head set that will be wired back to the Command Center. The replay official back at the Command Center will then issue a decision and then relay it back to the crew chief. Once the replay official has made a decision, that will be final. The field umpires cannot argue or change the decision.

If a manager is successful, he’ll get one more challenge, but he can only ask for no more than two reviews. After the 7th inning, reviews will have to be initiated by the field umpires.

The MLB press release states what type of plays are reviewable and how all stadium scoreboards can play the replays to the crowd.

MLB CLUBS UNANIMOUSLY APPROVE EXPANSION OF INSTANT REPLAY

Major League Umps Will Serve as Replay Officials, Who Will Make Final Call;
All Replays May Be Shown In-Park

PARADISE VALLEY, AZ – The 30 Clubs of Major League Baseball have unanimously approved the expansion of instant replay, which will be in effect for the 2014 Championship Season and the 2014 Postseason. The historic announcement was made this afternoon, at the conclusion of MLB’s quarterly owners meetings.

Both the Major League Baseball Players Association and the World Umpires Association have given their consent to the game’s new protocols for instant replay.

MLB’s new system of instant replay dictates which plays are subject to review, how instant replay will be initiated by field managers and how the review process will be conducted. As a part of the expansion of instant replay, Clubs will now be allowed to show all replays on the ballpark scoreboard, regardless of whether the play was reviewed.

“I am very pleased that instant replay will expand to include additional impactful plays,” Baseball Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig. “The new system will give managers valuable recourse in potentially game-changing situations. The opportunity for our fans to see more replays in our ballparks is also an important modification that the Clubs and I favored.

“I thank the Major League Players and Umpires for their cooperation with this change, which will serve our shared game well. I also extend my gratitude to John Schuerholz, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, Peter Woodfork and Chris Marinak, all of whom worked extremely hard to make this highly complicated task a reality.”

Managers will have at least one challenge to use. If any portion of a challenged play is overturned, then the manager who challenged the play will retain the ability to challenge one more play during the game. No manager may challenge more than two plays in a game. Once the manager has exhausted his ability to challenge plays during the game and after the beginning of the seventh inning, the Crew Chief may choose to invoke instant replay on any reviewable call. Home run and other boundary calls will remain reviewable under the procedures in place last season.

A designated communication location near home plate will be established at all 30 MLB ballparks. There, the Crew Chief and at least one other Major League Umpire will have access to a hard-wired headset connected to the Replay Command Center, which will remain at MLB Advanced Media headquarters in New York. Major League Umpires will be staffed as Replay Officials at the Replay Command Center. After viewing video feeds, the Replay Official will make the ultimate determination of whether to overturn the call, based on the continuing standard of whether there is clear and convincing evidence.

Instant replay will be utilized during some televised games in Spring Training for the purposes of educating on-field personnel on the rules of the new system.

Other protocols of the new system for instant replay are as follows:

PLAY TYPES

The following play types will be subject to review:

Home run

Ground rule double

Fan interference

Stadium boundary calls (e.g., fielder into stands, ball into stands triggering dead ball)

Force play (except the fielder’s touching of second base on a double play)

Tag play (including steals and pickoffs)

Fair/foul in outfield only

Trap play in outfield only

Batter hit by pitch

Timing play (whether a runner scores before a third out)

Touching a base (requires appeal)

Passing runners

Record keeping (Ball-strike count to a batter, outs, score, and substitutions)

All other plays will not be reviewable; however, the Umpires may still convene on the field at any time to discuss the play.

INITIATION OF INSTANT REPLAY

Field managers may initiate replay review on one reviewable play per game by verbally indicating his intention to challenge, in a timely manner, to the Crew Chief. Guidelines will be established to determine whether a challenge is timely.

The manager may request that the umpire review multiple portions of the same play, but he must specify exactly which portions of the play he is challenging.

If any portion of a challenged play is overturned, the manager who challenged the play will retain the ability to challenge one more play during the game. No manager may challenge more than two plays in a game.

Once the manager has exhausted his ability to challenge plays during the game and after the beginning of the seventh inning, the Crew Chief may choose to invoke instant replay on any reviewable call. In that circumstance, the Crew Chief is not obligated to invoke instant replay if requested by the manager.

Home run calls that are currently subject to instant replay review will continue to be reviewed at the Crew Chief’s discretion. Managers may request that an Umpire review a home run call, but managers cannot challenge home run calls.

REVIEW PROCESS

Once instant replay review is invoked (either by the Manager or the Crew Chief), the Crew Chief will signal to the official scorer that the play is under review.

The Crew Chief and at least one other umpire will then move to a designated communication location near home plate, where they will have access to a hard-wired headset connected to the Replay Command Center in New York.

Major League Umpires will be staffed as Replay Officials at the Replay Command Center, located at MLB Advanced Media headquarters, for all Major League games.

The Replay Command Center will have direct access to video from most cameras in the ballpark in real-time, regardless of whether they are shown on the live broadcast.

The Replay Official will look at the video feeds and determine if there is clear and convincing evidence to overturn the call on the field. If the Replay Official overturns a call on the field, he will also use his judgment to determine where to appropriately place runners if the play had been called correctly on the field.

The umpires on the field will not have a monitor to review the play and they will not leave the field at any time.

The Replay Official will make the ultimate determination of whether to overturn the call.

On-Field personnel may not argue with the decision of the Replay Official.

CLUB ACCESS TO VIDEO

To determine whether to challenge a play, personnel in the dugout will be permitted to communicate with a video specialist in the Clubhouse who has access to the same video that is available to Replay Officials. This communication will occur via the dugout phone.

Both the home and visiting Clubs will have standardized technology to ensure each Club has equal access to all video.

No monitors or additional electronic equipment will be permitted in the dugout.

SCOREBOARD REPLAYS

Clubs will now have the right to show replays of all close plays on its ballpark scoreboard, regardless of whether the play is reviewed.