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In the National Football League, a Head Coach has two options when he disagrees with a Referee's call.

- A -
He can allow that decision to stand.

- B -
He can bet one of his time outs against the possibility that a video review might cause the decision to be overturned.  If the review supports the Coach, the Referee's call is overturned and the time spent on the review is treated as a normal part of playing the game.  If the review supports the Referee's call, the Coach has just burned one of his time outs.

The decision on whether or not to review the Official's call is placed exactly where it should be, in the hands of each Head Coach.  The fact that asking for a review might wind up costing him a very important resource prevents a Coach from demanding review after review after review.  It's a system that allows the game to be played in a fair and equitable manner while assuring that it will not be needlessly slowed down by a set of people in a video room having to review almost every single decision the Referees make.

During the past five years, Major League Baseball has consistently had a patented answer for why it won't institute its own type of instant replay system.  In spite of the fact that sports fans and sports writers have been increasingly clamoring for something to be done, the National and American Leagues continue to fall back on the same old tired excuse.

This is not Football.
This is not Basketball.
Major League Baseball is not a game where a Coach faces two opponents ...  The Opposing Coach and the Time Clock.  Unlike an NFL Coach, an MLB Manager does not have a pocket full of Time Outs.  He has no currency that he can choose to gamble on the possibility of a video review going against him.

My response to Major League Baseball is a simple one.

Please stop talking about what a Manager doesn't hold in his hand.  Open your eyes and take a good hard look at the currency he does have there.  While it's true that a Manager has no time outs, each new game hands this individual 27 very important coins.  And each of these coins is called an out.

Taking into account that this is the currency a manager has on hand, it becomes very easy to devise a method for the Manager to protest an Umpire's call and ask for a review.

- A -
The Manager of the team that is currently batting asks for a video review of an Umpire's call.  He takes this action knowing that losing this protest will cause him to be charged an out.

If he has two men on base and his team already has two outs, losing the protest will immediately end his turn at bat.

If he's protesting the call that has caused his final out of an inning, he asks for a video review knowing that losing this protest will hand the opposing Manager an additional out to use during his turn at bat.  When the opposing team steps up to the plate in just a few minutes, they will have the use of 4 outs for that inning instead of the usual 3.

- B -
The Manager of the team that is currently defending the field asks for a video review of an Umpire's call.  He does so knowing that losing the protest will cause the batting team to be handed the use of an additional out.

In this system, the decision on whether or not to review an Official's call is again placed exactly where it should be.  It rests squarely in the hands of each Manager.  And each Manager  is required to balance the importance of overturning an inconvenient decision against the possibility that a failed appeal would hand him a rather severe penalty.

So here you have it Major League Baseball.  An easy fix that would quickly improve the fan's  confidence in the quality of the officiating while ensuring that Video Review would not become a time consuming monster.  Are you going to take a stand up and take a step that will help to advance the best interests of the game?  Or are you going to continue kneeling there with your heads down in the sand?

Travis Clemmons