Hoping Instant Replay Doesn't Eject the Ejection from Baseball

Throughout the first few weeks of the 2014 Major League Baseball season the biggest discussion topic in the game has been the installation of instant replay into the game. It hasn’t gone as smoothly as the league would have preferred it too with many of the replays taking too long – some upwards of five minutes – and others being blown despite rather obvious replays.

These are obvious problems facing MLB, but I’m sure the system will take time to work out its kinks. I can’t remember how it was when the NFL instituted its instant replay, but I highly doubt it was a 100 percent smooth transition. Hell, today instant replay in football still isn’t perfect.

My biggest worry about instant replay coming into this season was actually that it would cut down on one of the most exciting moments or things in all of sports … the baseball ejection. Maybe it’s because I grew up loving the Atlanta Braves and their MLB all-time leader in career ejections manager Bobby Cox, but I absolutely love watching managers (and even players) arguing their heads off with an umpire and the impending will-they-or-won’t-they be tossed dramatics that ensue. Sure, some of these arguments lasted as long as it does to review an instant replay, but they were far more interesting and exciting to watch.

I thought my theory that instant replay would cut down on these exciting ejections in baseball was well on its way to being proven. Through the first two weeks of the season there had only been two ejections in the entire game: Chicago Cubs manager Rich Renteria and Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus. I don’t have statistics to tell me the average number of persons who normally would have been ejected in a two week span, but I can tell you with almost 100 percent certainty it would have been more than two.

I think this theory will ultimately prove to be right. At the end of the season it’ll interesting to see how many fewer ejections there will have been in 2014 as compared to 2013. However, this week has shown me that the highly exciting act of ejection may never be taken from the game completely. Through yesterday there have already been at least five ejections in the game this week, and likely there have been others that I’ve missed. Part of the reason for this is that ball and strike calls, which can’t (and never should be) reviewed will always lead to arguments between managers/players and umpires. Also, the introduction of instant replay in MLB has led to an automatic ejection for any manager who comes out to argue a reviewed call – which led to quick hooks for both Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell and Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington earlier this week.

This gives me at least slight hope for the ejection, which should never be ejected from the game.