Sep 20, 2008

baseball joins the 20th century

Instant replay, for the first time in baseball history, has overturned a call.
Pena's drive to right field off Boof Bonser appeared to be touched by a fan before bouncing off the top of the fence. First base umpire Mike DiMuro signaled fan interference, and Pena stopped at second base for a two-run double.

The umpires huddled immediately and decided to look at the video for the third test of the system since Aug. 28, when baseball allowed umpires to begin using it to determine boundary calls.

The crowd of 28,306 broke into cheers when the umpires returned to the field after a delay of 4 minutes, 10 seconds, and crew chief Gerry Davis signaled home run, giving Pena a three-run shot that made it 9-0.

"I was glad they went and checked ... and I think they got it right," Pena said. "I always thought it was a home run."

Twins right fielder Denard Span wasn't sure what happened, but said he definitely heard the ball deflect off skin.

"The whole thing is getting it right," Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said. "They got it right. That's all we care about."
Weep or rejoice as you must.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It is the 21st century right? We didn't make that up 8 years ago?

Jim Anderson said...

The NFL began using instant replay for overturning missed calls back in 1999.