World Baseball Classic: Making The Case For Replays On Balls And Strikes

The USA 2-1 semifinal win over DR was an instant classic, until the last pitch. Much like Team USA hockey visiting Trump after the Olympics, there's always something that screws up international play.

To watch that last called strike that obviously missed the strike zone low end a close game between two WBC favorites, I felt the Dominican Republic got screwed.

Still proud the Americans won, I felt sick for the Dominicans. Not just for the team but for many from that country populating Loan Depot stadium in Miami. It’s a big demographic here, replete with working class folk, many of whom couldn’t afford the astronomical ticket prices.

It was a hard fought game, an instant classic, exhibiting the high skill level of players on both teams.

But like many countries facing the USA in the Trump era, the DR got fucked.

The last pitch of the ballgame is still being debated, and there is fury online. Truth is, it wasn’t even close.

An easy fix, particularly when everything is on the line, would be to institute instant replay for disputed pitches.

Surely, last night’s bad call may have cost the DR the game. Dominican manager Albert Pujlos was diplomatic, saying the game didn’t come down to one strike.

But why ruin an historic game over one play?

Some plays are non-reviewable, so instant replay cannot be used.

These plays include subjective calls, such as check swings, infield fly rule, and balls and strikes. Other calls that are considered non-reviewable are trap plays (infield), foul tips, and mound visit count.*

Ironically, its the purity of the game that may actually contribute to the issue: The MLB became the last of the four major North American sports leagues to use instant replay.

The objections came from baseball purists and commissioner Bud Selig, who believed that replays would break the longstanding tradition of putting each game's fate in the hands of the umpires on the field.*

With the WBC final still to be played, it’s doubtful the uproar will continue.

Unless the same happens to the USA team in the championship game.

Then you’ll see how fast America’s pastime changes the rules.

After all, it’s all about us, isn’t it?

Boca Joe, Meatball Mets

*AI contributed to this report