Update: Instant Replay

The baseball general managers voted 25-5 today in favor of using instant replays for "boundary calls" -- determining whether a potential home run is fair or foul, determining whether a home run ball hit a portion of the outfield fence and determining whether a fan interfered with a potential home run hit.

It's now up to commissioner Bud Selig to approve the managers' recommendation. If he approves (and he may very well not approve), then the player and umpire unions would also have to approve the rule change. Club owners would also potentially have a say.

And what does the sports journalism community think of all this? Nothing. None of my favorite sports publications had an opinion piece on the issue. There were articles from a week or two ago, but nothing today.

The managers' vote is not earth-shattering news. Everyone was expecting this outcome. But still, I find it intriguing that the instant replays would be limited to home run calls. Are those the only calls worth getting right? What about close plays at the plate? Or strike three calls when the bases are loaded? Once you say that plays involving home runs are worthy of being reviewed, it becomes a slippery slope, because every play truly matters in some way.

But, nope, nobody wanted to talk about it. Either the baseball writers are off taking a little vacation, or sports section editors decided that this is minor news. The World Series did just end, mind you. Now it's football, football, football.

And so this blog experiment of ours must come to an end. See you next season.