Changes in Baseball

1358 Words3 Pages

Right now in America, the world of sports is constantly changing and growing to make the sports safer and fairer. People want sports to be as exciting and thrilling as before, but without the human error that may turn some baseball fans away. Along with this fear, people also want every sport to be as fair as possible, and by doing this most sports have incorporated an instant replay rule. This spring will be the first that the review rule will be in effect, it is a radical decision and game changing because baseballs history is so rich and its structured has not been changed in so long. These changes are not without skepticism though because people believe that the game has been so successful and before being “fair” was not the biggest priority of the game. By adding this rule, baseball’s fairness will be protected in a way it was not previously, but this set of rules is not without skepticism by people who believe there is nothing wrong with the game now. The official rule is that each team manager has the ability to challenge one play a game, and if the call is overturned then the manager may challenge a second play. If the manager is unsuccessful in his challenge then he may not challenge for the rest of the game. All controversial plays after the seventh inning must go under review to ensure that the correct call was made. The only plays that can be reversed are ground rule doubles, fan interference, boundary calls, force plays except double plays, tag plays on base paths, fair/foul calls in the outfield, catch/trap calls in the outfield, whether a runner passed a preceding runner, timing plays, batter hit by pitch, and scorekeeping issues. Plays that are not allowed to be reviewed include pitches called a ball or strike, ... ... middle of paper ... ...ercent grantees that the best teams will face off in the World Series. Baseball has been a game of adaptation, with the end of the dead ball era by putting cork in the ball, the games populatirty grew because the chance of home runs and harder hit balls made the game more entertaining and interactive. By adding steroid testing, the playing field has been leveled so that no one person has a distinct advantage over another. Both are examples of how the game has developed to benefit both the fans and to the players. The whole world is evolving into a time of equality and fairness and baseball is the last of the major sports in America to adapt this rule of reviewing plays that are controversial. Works Cited Kepner, Tyler. "New Call in Baseball: Previous Play Is Under Review, in New York."The New York Times. The New York Times, 15 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 Mar. 2014.

Open Document