If you were curious about what Mayor Bloomberg thought of Armando Galarraga’s missed perfect game last night, here’s his reaction: institute instant replay.
Unlike basketball or football, Major League Baseball has no real system of video review, except to determine the validity of home runs. In light of the umpire’s poor judgement Wednesday, Bloomberg said that should change.
“If I were the owners I would do it,” he said. “There’s nothing magical about this. This isn’t life and death. It’s entertainment.”
He went on to say that the umpire’s later apology proved him to be “classy.”
The mayor isn’t alone in thinking that the damning video proves the need for a technological review. A spate of bad calls led some to call for such a change in last year’s postseason, though MLB’s Vice President of Umpiring Mike Port said he was opposed to instant replay:
Personally, I’m a traditionalist. I believe the games should be decided by the people on the field.
The call may be overturned anyway, so maybe it’s a question of immediacy. In this case, we’d settle for a “several-weeks-later replay.”
