Instant replay in baseball remains a buzz-generating topic, three years into its expansion. That’s what prompted me to visit Major League Baseball’s Replay Operations Center on Tuesday to see how the process actually works.
(Or at least a simulation of how it actually works. I would have loved to sit through a game or five with them, but to this point, MLB has not allowed the media in the ROC during games.)
The MLB folks were kind enough to walk me through a multitude of details, many of which I couldn’t fit in my story. The most fun part occurred when MLB tested me on three pre-selected plays.
Let’s go through those three together…
[mlbvideo id=”696866583″ width=”612″ height=”360″ /]
1. On May 14 at Coors Field, David Wright ripped a line drive to left-center field and hustled to second base. It was a close play…
“Safe,” I ruled. So did umpire Gerry Davis. Looked like Rockies second baseman DJ LeMahieu’s tag didn’t get there in time — though, as SNY’s Ron Darling pointed out, it was a little too close given that the Mets were trailing by three runs.
Rockies manager Walt Weiss challenged the call, and the MLB people shared with me what they look for in such a play: Does the second-base bag move at all, indicating that Wright beat the throw? Does LeMahieu pick up his glove, showing that he at least thought that he got him?
I thought the replays absolutely confirmed Davis’ call. But the ruling from the ROC was that the call “stood,” which in baseball lingo means, “We don’t see clear and convincing evidence either way, so we’re sticking with the call of the on-field umpire.” Darling and Gary Cohen agreed with me, though let’s remember they are Mets announcers. They used to play the audio while watching game telecasts in the replay center, but they found the broadcasters’ comments to be so biased as to distract them. So now they watch the games with no audio. I heard Cohen and Darling, and the broadcasters in the plays that follow, only after calling them up on MLB’s @MLBReplays Twitter account.
By the way, roughly 80 percent of replay challenges are either force plays at first base or tags at second base.
[mlbvideo id=”668920883″ width=”612″ height=”360″ /]
2. On May 7 at Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ Addison Russell sliced a shot to right field. Nats right fielder Bryce Harper, wary of Wrigley’s unforgiving right-field wall, stuck out his glove and couldn’t hold onto it. The ball hit foul territory from there, but the ruling rested upon whether the ball was fair or foul when it hit Harper’s glove. First-base umpire D.J. Reyburn ruled the ball fair, and Russell had himself a double.
Once again, the broadcasters were on it. As the Nats contested the call, Cubs commentator Jim Deshaies said he couldn’t see how the call would be overturned unless they had an angle right down the line. They didn’t. I sure as heck couldn’t tell anything for sure from the replay. So it was not surprising, nor was it offensive, when the call stood.
[mlbvideo id=”605699983″ width=”612″ height=”360″ /]
3. On April 20 at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets’ Asdrubal Cabrera smashed a shot to right field. I thought it hit the top of the wall before bouncing into the stands.
“Home run,” I said.
First-base umpire Dana DeMuth ruled it a home run, too. The replays showed something different, though.
The ball, it turned out, first struck the glove of a Phillies-jersey-wearing fan who was leaning over the railing. Then it hit the top of the scoreboard, which is in play, before jumping into the stands.
This was not a manager’s challenge. This was a home-run review, something MLB has been doing since 2008. The replay umpire correctly overturned the call, as there was clear and convincing evidence to do so. Then it became a matter of where to put the runners, which wasn’t too difficult, either. Lucas Duda, who was tagging up on third base, scored. Neil Walker, who began the play on first base, went to third.
What did I learn? The standards to overturn a call are high. And many plays just can’t meet that standard, no matter how much the technology improves. Nevertheless, most calls — nearly 75 percent — are either overturned or confirmed, with more of the former than the latter.
I learned a few other tidbits, too:
- Each work station, as I detailed in the story, features an umpire and an operator. The umpire reports to work about a half-hour before first pitch of his first game. The operator? Try five hours before first pitch. That’s how much time the operator allots to make sure all of the camera angles and headphones are ready to go. They work in tandem with three MLB.com employees situated at each game-day ballpark.
- About those headphones: I have heard the complaint (and am sympathetic to it) that it’s bad optics for the umpires to stand on the field wearing headphones, looking like Sarah Connor’s roommate in “The Terminator.” Your answer: Baseball officials experimented with wireless technology for this process, but found it too unreliable.
- There is an emergency ROC, for lack of a better term, set up in San Francisco, should the Manhattan ROC ever lose power. It has not yet been used. Last year, you might recall, there was a power outage during World Series Game 1. Both ROCs were out due to a problem in Fox’s broadcast truck. Terry Collins and Ned Yost agreed to keep going without replay while the issue was resolved.
- Umpires work the ROC for a week at a time and then head back onto the field. They’re typically assigned a series nearby, in the Northeast Corridor, upon leaving.
- The ROC is dominated by two colors: Gray and black. That was a deliberate design choice to limit distractions.
This week’s Pop Quiz question came from Jeff Drumheller of Hazelton, Pa.: In an episode of “Happy Days,” Howard Cunningham (Tom Bosley) tells Richie (Ron Howard) about a Hall of Fame player who was afraid of the dark. Name the player.
Your Pop Quiz answer is Stan Musial. If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.