Baseball should consider using instant replay - Reprinted from Boston Globe Letters

Baseball should consider using instant replay

By Martin L. Lebowitz, YI Member

I agree with Dan Shaughnessy's commentary ("Sox - and fans - lose it," Page A1, Oct.18). The fans' frustration with the umpires working that series, and their subsequent outburst at the end of Game 4, was most unfortunate.

However, the loyal fans of both these great cities had every right to expect that the outcome of these highly charged games be decided by the players on the field - and not the umpires! Although I admire the umpires for owning up to their three botched calls, every fan knows that in baseball, it's three misses and you're out!

And while it wasn't practical to change the crew of umpires for the remaining Sox/Yankees series, the owners should consider whether using instant replay in crucial games would be the fair and reasonable answer.

Preprinted from Boston Globe, Letter to the Editor, Oct. 20, 1999
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.