Recently, Major League Baseball announced that instant replay will be massively expanded for the upcoming 2014 season, giving managers the opportunity to challenge just about anything outside of balls and strikes much in the way NFL head coaches challenge plays.
The rule says managers will get one challenge in the first six innings of a game, and if they win it, they are awarded another, but there's no more than two manager challenges in a game. From the seventh inning on, it's up the umpiring crew to decide what's challenged and what isn't.
Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington, who's often questioned for his in-game management, is excited about the opportunity and said the key will be delegating responsibilities to his coaching staff to keep an eye peeled for plays that could be reviewable.
"I think MLB is just trying to get things right and we want to get the plays right and this gives us an opportunity to do that," Washington told ESPN Dallas. "I don’t think it’s going to slow things down. Either I’ll go out and argue just to argue or argue enough to have him go check it. The key is going to be my personnel on the field. My first base coach will have to be more active in paying attention to calls and my third base coach as well."
