The Atlanta Braves and replay reviews: 3 responses

Atlanta Braves fans did not help their case by littering the field.

So what was the result of the fan’s actions?  Nothing.  No volume of debris would have changed any aspect of the call… well, okay:  unless the field had become so messed up that it would be deemed unplayable, which would have forfeited the contest to Philadelphia.

But the point here is that the angst against a perceived wrong-doing was once again directed toward people of groups that had nothing whatsoever to do with the controversy.

People need to stop for just a moment and think through the process before acting out.  Maybe there can be a better result and a better means to try and affect change.

2.  Don’t scrap the replay review system

There are a lot of calls today to dump the entire system “since it’s obviously not working”.  That is akin to throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Sometimes, the system still works.  I recognize that this seldom feels like it’s the case — particularly when the Atlanta Braves end up holding the short stick in cases like last night — but it’s true (though it’s likely Don Mattingly and Brian Snitker will share a few comments on their recently respective encounters tonight).

So what happens if there’s no replay review?  Alec Bohm is still ruled safe and the Phillies win.  That wrong call would never have a chance to be fixed, and that’s exactly why we have the system in place.

Sure:  multiple wrongs can (and do) happen.  We’ve seen that a lot.  We experienced this last night, too.  But that doesn’t mean that the blind squirrel won’t eventually find a nut or that the stopped clock will eventually report the correct time.

I’m not saying to trust the system… far from it.  When failures occur, the fanbase needs to be heard — long and loud.  That’s the only means to get changes accomplished.  Just don’t expect retroactive fixes or instantaneous updates:  baseball still moves at a glacial pace.