Tie Goes To The Fielder With No Way To Review It

Today my beef is with the disappearance of the tie goes to the runner rule, as well as the lack of replay for plays other than home runs in baseball.

This is my beef today because, last night in the 9th inning of the Yankees-Mets rubber match, Brett Gardner should have been called safe, as he touched the bag at the same time the ball was caught by Mets first baseman Ike Davis' glove. You can say that I am crying over spilled milk, but over the past few years whenever there is a tie between the runner touching the base and the fielder catching the ball, it seems as if the fielder gets the benefit of the doubt from the umpire more often than not, instead of the runner.

The actual rule (Section 6.05) from which the saying "tie goes to the runner" is derived from, actually states that "A batter is out when after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base." The key word there is before, so therefore it is implied that a tie goes to the runner.

There have been numerous debates over the rule, the first being that you cannot use a rule that does not actually address ties. Maybe they are right, but one thing you can most certainly go off of is precedent, and the clear precedent here is that that the tie goes to the runner, not the fielder.

Another argument is that Section 7.01 states that "A runner acquires the right to an unoccupied base when he touches it before he is out," with many emphasizing the before part. But this argument also does not make much sense, because according to Section 6.05 the runner is not out until "he or first base is tagged before he touches first base." So, since he is not out until he is tagged or until the ball beats him to the bag, he has the right to the unoccupied base.

Then there is Section 7.08 which states "Any runner is out when he fails to reach the next base before a fielder tags him or the base." Yes, I admit this is contradictory to Rule 6.05, because of the emphasis again on the word before. But, I submit to you, once again, the precedent rule. Since Sections 6.05 and 7.08 are in clear contrast with one another, the rule which has been practiced is the one that should win. Since one makes as much sense as the other, this is the only way to decide, and therefore the advantage is to the tie goes to the runner rule.

But enough of the rule jibber-jabber and overly scientific reasoning, my head hurts, and yours probably does too. Do I have much evidence that ties are going more to the fielder than the runner as of late? No, because a tie is totally a judgment call, and for many an impossibility, with the idea that there can never be an "absolute tie." After my usual hours of research on the worldwide web, I found a lot on whether the tie should actually go to the runner or not, but little on whether it actually has in the past few years. So sadly, in this sense, since I have about as much evidence as Floyd Landis has against Lance Armstrong for using steroids, I can only say this as opinion and not fact, and make the mere suggestion to pay attention for the disappearance of the rule.

Having said that, let's move onto my next beef, the lack of replay on close calls other than home runs in baseball. Baseball is the only major sport that has been reluctant to use replay, implementing it on August 28, 2008, 22 years after football first had it, and six years after basketball started using it. So far, the usage of instant replay in baseball, has been sketchy. The umpiring crew chief has to decide whether or not to review the contested play - which can only be a questionable home run - and if he does, the umpires intervene in front of a screen somewhere off the field, for what seems like an eternity and come back with their call.

The first problem is that instant replay can only be used for home runs, which seems a bit ludicrous. The main reason for this, is usually the desire to keep the human element of officiating a game, in baseball. But, the human element allows for error, error which can decide the outcome of everything from a game to a championship, which is unacceptable. Why should a call that's wrong, and could easily be corrected, be allowed to affect the outcome of a game? I just don't see why a tradition of allowing for mistakes should trump installing a new rule of instant replay to get the call right every time, like whether an outfielder actually caught the ball, a runner was safe, etc. I realize that this would elongate the game, a game which many say is long enough already, but that shouldn't stop baseball from using replay more often, it should only encourage them that there needs to be a more efficient way to look at replays, that takes only a minute or two, like the replays in football or basketball do.

The second problem is that the ball is in the crew chief's court (or field in baseball) when it comes to calling for the replay. There are numerous problems with this, the first being that the crew chief may not want to go against what his colleague thought happened. No umpire wants to undermine the other. Another problem is that the umpires in today's game will most likely lean towards not looking at the replay, since for years replay wasn't used. Therefore, the MLB should adopt the challenging system that the NFL uses. With so many different calls that could go wrong, a manager should be allowed about two or three challenges a game. No one has ever challenged the challenge system in football, so it seems as if it would be the perfect system for baseball to adopt.

I realize that my reasons for keeping the tie goes to the runner rule and switching over to instant replay oppose one another, with the tie following tradition and instant replay going against tradition. But the reason for this, is that first, baseball needs to do what is most rational in terms of its rules, which means getting calls right, even if it means bucking tradition. If there is a dilemma such as whether the runner or fielder gets the benefit of the doubt, where no answer is more sensible than the other, then that is when the MLB needs to go to what the precedent is, and follow it.

Now that the steroid problem has been solved for the most part in Major League Baseball, it is important that the Commissioner's Office begin to look at other problems in the game, extending instant replay to other plays, and vague rules being two of them.