Expansion of Instant Replay in MLB?

Less than 24 hours after the historic blown call by Jim Joyce, the Tigers and Indians were set to play the final game in their series with Joyce behind the plate. The fans, Armando Galarraga, and Jim Joyce showed a lot of class. Galarraga brought out the lineup card to Joyce and they shook hands. Joyce clearly was distraught over the terrible call he made and showed a lot by admitting his mistake. I cannot get over how much class Galarraga has shown throughout this whole ordeal and I really respect him now. I think everyone is going to remember him as the pitcher who threw a 28-out perfect game.

I agree with Bud Seilig's decision to not overturn the call. It would've altered baseball. I mean, it would suddenly make it seem OK to start overturning calls in crucial situations such as in the World Series, etc. That would not be OK, in my opinion. It happened, it was unfortunate, but nothing should be done to change the situation and Galarraga was obviously OK with how things played out (I mean as much as anyone could be).

The blown call has led to increased discussion for the expansion of instant replay in baseball. A huge step was made when it was allowed for umpires to go to instant replay for disputed homerun calls. So far, it has worked and does not take much time out of the game. Plus, how often do they have to go and look at replay? It doesn't seem like it happens that often. Some traditionalist baseball fans are opposed to instant replay, but I think it should be implemented into the game, but it should not overtake the integrity of the umpires and the calls they make. I think there should be a human element in the game, and umpires' mistakes are part of the game, no matter how heartbreaking they can be for a team. However, I think that the instant replay should occur only on the basepaths -- nothing with strikes/balls. I think that managers should be given 1 or 2 challenges per game and the decision to challenge should be acted on quickly. Obviously it's stupid if the managers use up their challenges on calls that don't alter the game, so I think they should be used sparingly. The manager would challenge a call, the umpires would go check it out on the TVs, and allow the call on the field to stand if they were correct, or change it if it wasn't. Simple as that. Hah. I would compare the implementation of technology in baseball to that of tennis. Tennis has a huge human element, with the chair umpire and linesmen making calls on whether or not balls are out. They obviously can make mistakes, with the balls being hit as hard as they are. I mean, players are serving at 130 mph and they have to make sure that the ball was in. In the grand slam events (except the French Open where they can see where the ball was hit because of the clay) they have allowed the players to have 3 challenges, so if they do not agree with a call, they can challenge and see if they were correct, then either win the point or replay it. So we will have to keep an eye out on what happens in the future for baseball. If we have the technology, we should use it, while not completely altering the game.

Anyway, enough of that. What's the state of the Yankees been like? Recently they were going through a tough stretch of games. They played a 2-game series against the Red Sox then another 2-game series against the Rays. They split the series against the Red Sox then got swept by the Rays. Actually, they had been on a tough stretch from May 7-May 28, facing the Red Sox, Tigers, Twins, Red Sox, Rays, Mets, & Twins. They won the first series against the Red Sox, lost the series to the Tigers, and won both series against the Twins, and lost the series to the Mets. Now they are going through an easier part of their schedule. They won 3 out of 4 against Cleveland and are just coming off of a sweep of the O's. Now they face the Jays, which will actually be pretty tough considering the Jays are still hanging around in the AL East (the AL East is the only division, except the NL West, that can boast of having 4 out of 5 teams being over .500) Even still, the Rockies are 3 games over .500. The Jays and Red Sox are each 7 games over .500, the Yankees 14 games, and the Rays 18 games. The Jays have good pitching and they can hit homeruns, that's for sure. Then the Yankees face the O's again, who just fired their manager Dave Trembley. They then face the lowly Astros.

ARod has been heating up with the weather. He's been hitting more homeruns and is up to 8 on the year. Robbie Cano has been unbelievable this season and is riding a 2010 major league best 17 game hitting streak. He has 12 homeruns on the season and is battling with Morneau for the best batting avg in the league. The Yankees' lineup is finally back to what it was at the beginning of the year, minus Nick Johnson. Curtis is back and has a hit in every single game since he's been back. Posada is back too, but has not caught yet. Nick Swisher has been hitting well since he's been back. LET'S GO YANKS!

Baseball's Back!

Baseball's back and we're already 11 games into the season!! Only 6 more months until playoffs start :) Which hopefully the Yankees will be in! So far, they look very good at the season's start. Usually the Yankees have slow starts, but so far so good. They have also had one of the hardest schedules to start the season in the MLB. So far they have played only top teams -- Red Sox on the road (won the series 2-1), Rays on the road (won the series 2-1 & Rays are tied with them for AL East lead), Angels at home (won series 2-1), and they just swept the Rangers at home. They have scored 69 runs and given up 44 (most notable runs given up: 7-9 loss to Sox, 3-9 loss to Rays, and 5-7 loss to Angels). The starting pitching has been great (especially CC & Pettite [hello, 1.35 era] ) minus Javier Vazquez, but hey he's only their 4th starter. Hughes had a good start against the Angels. He gave up 5 walks, which obviously you want to see less of, but they came on 3-2 counts, so he just needs to learn how to put hitters away when he has the opportunity. He also had 6 strikeouts and was worked up to over 100 pitches. The bullpen was a little shaky at first, but Joba has been doing well, Mo is Mo, Park has shown glimpses of good pitching but is on the DL with a hamstring injury and the Yankees are being cautious. Robertson has been good as well. Boone Logan was called up to replace Park, but we have yet to see him.

This start by the Yankees has been great. Let's hope they can keep it up with the rest of their tough schedule this month. They travel to Oakland (who lost to the O's today...the now 2-1in O's...but they also have a 9-5 record), then onto Los Angeles to face the Angels. It will be interesting to see how they face up against the Angels again. They never play well on the road against them and the Angels are coming off a sweep as well. The Yankees finally get to play an easy team in the Orioles.

Random Observations/Notes:

-Way cool that Jeter/Cano became the first teammates in Yankees history to both have a 10-game hitting streak.
-Jeter's looked great defensively this year and already has 3 homeruns!
-Cano has been great as well. At one point he was hitting .400. He's been getting hits with runners in scoring position in the 5-hole, just what the Yankees fans want.
-Tex finally hit his 1st homer of the year. Although his batting avg is hideous, his defense has been great, saving a potential no-hitter for CC and saved Pettite from having a disastrous inning that could've potentially determined the game. His offense will come around, we all know that after last year.
-Gardner has been great so far this year. Hitting in the lead-off spot today after Jeter was out with a headcold, he went 2 for 3 with a BB. He's also 7 for 8 in steals.

Basically everything is clicking right now and sending the Yankees to a hot start and the AL East Lead. Keep it up, Yanks!

Playoffs? Check. AL East? Check

I guess the Yankees decided to take my letter seriously :) Everything I asked of them, they did! Including Joba having a great start against the Red Sox. We just won't remember the fact that he sucked last night against the Royals of all teams. In one game the Yankees a) got 100 wins b) clinched the AL East c) tied up the season series against the Red Sox. BTW, the Red Sox are the only team to win the first eight games of a season series and lose the series. HAHHH. I was happy they swept the Red Sox because then I got to see them celebrate on tv :) On ESPN, nevertheless. And the Red Sox are now reeling going into the postseason - they have lost six straight matching their season high. And sucks for them that they clinched a playoff spot because the Rangers lost. (Ok the Yanks clinched because the Rangers lost but they at least won their game that night).

So the final series of the season is against the Rays. The only thing the Yanks are concerned with is a) having CC win 20 games (ok it's not necessary but it would be really nice) b) making sure Robertson is ok to pitch in the postseason and at least for me c) making their record even more gaudy :) OH and d) figuring out who the heck they're gonna play in the ALDS. The Twins, sadly, only split the series against Detroit :( So now they have to sweep the Royals and hope the Tigers get swept by the Chisox. The Twins ARE playing the Royals, but they're also facing Greinke who they lost to just a week ago. GOOO TWINS!

The Postseason begins on Oct 7th for the Yanks (assuming they choose the first series, which they prob will so they can skip Joba's start). CC is taking the mound for the important first game of the series which will be in the Bronx. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!