Something big will happen today.
Major League Baseball will begin using instant replays to look at home run calls. For now, that is the only way it will be used -- to see if a fan interfered with a home run, whether a ball really cleared the fence, or if the ball is foul or fair.
Three games will have instant replay today,
according to the San Francisco Chronicle. It will be in effect for all 15 games Friday and for all games through the postseason.
MLB explained how the system will work. For starters, all of the games are recorded at Major League Baseball Advanced Media headquarters in New York. From there:
If the crew chief determines that instant replay review is necessary on a particular disputed home run, then he will call the MLB.com technician, who will transmit the most appropriate video footage to the crew chief and the umpire crew on site. The umpire supervisor or former umpire will not have direct communication with any of the umpires on site.
The decision to reverse a call will be at the sole discretion of the crew chief. The standard used by the crew chief when reviewing a play will be whether there is clear and convincing evidence that the umpire's decision on the field was incorrect and should be reversed.
Once instant replay review is invoked, whether or not the call has been reversed, neither club will be permitted to further argue the decision. A player, manager or coach who continues to argue will be treated in the same manner as one who argues balls and strikes and subject to ejection from the game.
Any decision regarding the placement of runners, should a home run call be reversed, will be made by the crew chief. As is done in cases of fan interference, the crew chief will place the baserunners where he believes they would have been had the call been made properly.
MLB.com's Harold Reynolds and Seth Everett give a video presentation on the system.
USA Today offers these examples of how it might be used:
Fan interference •The call: A fan interferes with play and keeps a ball from entering the stands for a home run or takes a ball out of play for a home run.
•The example: Jeffrey Maier, 12, reaches over the right-field fence in Game 1 of the 1996 American League Championship Series to turn Derek Jeter's fly ball into a home run. Jeter's homer tied the score and the Yankees won in 11 innings. Right field umpire Richie Garcia said after the game there was fan interference.
Over the fence?
•The call: An umpire can't determine whether a batted ball clears the outfield fence. This most often happens in stadiums where there is a railing, staircase or wall behind the outfield fence.
•The example: On May 21, Alex Rodriguez hits a ball off a staircase beyond the fence in right-center field, but it bounces into play and the umpires rule it a live ball with the result being a double. "I felt terrible," crew chief Tim Welke says. "That was embarrassing what happened. I'm sorry."
Fair or foul?
•The call: An umpire mistakes a ball that hits the foul pole or goes to the left or right of it for a home run or foul ball.
•The example: On May 18, Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado hits a ball that bounces off the left-field foul pole, which should be a home run. It is ruled foul.
See examples from MLB.com:
