Major League Baseball announced on Thursday that players, owners and umpires all approved a new instant replay system that will take effect for the 2014 season. Last year, MLB initiated instant replay on home runs to review whether a ball was a home run or not. This year, MLB is going all-in with instant replay.
The only thing that can't be reviewed now is the "neighborhood rule" at second base on double play attempts, where a second baseman or shortstop will often not actually touch the bag before throwing to first to avoid being taken out by a sliding baserunner. That was said to be a safety concern, which is a valid point. Obviously, balls and strikes aren't up for discussion, either.
But everything else is pretty much fair game now. Managers will get one challenge per game, and if they successfully challenge a call, they get one more, but no more than two in a game. After the seventh inning, the umpire crew chief can request a review.
Reviews will be conducted by current MLB umpires in the MLB offices in New York, much like the way it is done in the NHL, and the stated goal is that they hope to have every review done within 90 seconds.
Time will tell. No pun intended.
