Instant Replay?
ESPN ran a report today about close calls in the game of baseball. Replay showed that, during a two-week span earlier this season in the Major Leagues, umpires missed 20 percent of the plays deemed “close calls.”
Baseball has gotten the reputation of being “behind the curve” when it comes to replay, with only home runs currently under the sphere of “reviewable plays.” Being a young, technologically-savvy fan, I would love to see more replay. But I understand where the “purists” come from, and I wonder how far baseball can really go with replay.
If a ball down the left field line is originally ruled foul, and replay shows that it was actually fair. How does an umpire rule what base the hitter should get? That may become a little difficult in certain spots. What’s worse, inaccurate calls or inaccurate opinions on the results of missed calls? Well, they are both bad and hurt the game.
In other words, these three paragraphs are designed to say that replay has a significant gray area. Hopefully today’s Bullets don’t have a gray area for you, because here they come.
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BURLINGTON BULLETS:
- While the Royals have fallen further below .500 than ever before this season, it must be noted how close the Royals could be to a much better mark. The Royals have played 16 one-run games in 2010 (a ******** 31 percent of Burlington’s games) and are only 6–10 in those contests. Throw in Burlington’s 4–3 record in two-run games, along with the 14-inning, 12–8 loss to Pulaski, and you can see that the Royals have played in a “close” game once every two games or so.
- Last night, Bristol blanked the Royals for the first three innings, which ran the club’s scoreless streak to a season-high 26 innings.
- Ryan Stovall has been the team’s most consistent hitter in 2010. He is hitting .301 with four homers, 18 RBIs and ten stolen bases. August has been his “off month,” and the Live Oak, Florida, native has still hit safely in nine of his 12 starts. But he can’t place what troubles the Royals’ sticks. “I really don’t know,” Stovall said. “We’re hitting the ball fine, but we’re just not scoring many runs. With two outs, we need to get some big hits, and that’s just not happening right now.”
- Crawford Simmons may not have dominated last night, but he still posted his fifth start of at least six innings and his eighth of at least five. The southpaw still has not allowed more than four runs in any start this season. But he did tie a season-low with only one strikeout, matching his effort July 7 at Danville.
- Daniel Hernandez worked two innings last night and looked much better than he did Wednesday in his first outing since July 1. The righty, who was slated to be Burlington’s number-five starter before feeling some soreness in his right elbow, worked two shutout innings and only gave up one hit. “He’s looking stronger, more confident, more loose,” skipper Nelson Liriano said. “He knows he feels better.”
- This afternoon, it is Leonel Santiago’s turn, and it is not a stretch to think that, in a couple of weeks, Santiago could boast the Appalachian League’s Pitcher of the Year award. Santiago has been lights out over his last four starts: 25.2 IP, 4 R, 1 ER, 22 K, 5 BB. Still, Santiago only has a 1–1 record to show for it.
- Over the course of the season, eight of Santiago’s ten starts are deemed “quality starts,” which is a start with at least six innings of work and three earned runs or less given up. And he has whiffed at least three men in every start. I probably could have saved you the last 20 seconds of your life by omitting the last bullet and simply saying, “Santiago has been awesome,” in this one, but that’s no fun. Sorry for the loss of time in your life.
- The Royals and Braves have played four games this season, and the winning team has scored four runs in each game. Today’s game begins at 4 p.m. And there are four more games between Burlington and Danville at American Legion Post 325 Field. That’s a lot of fours.
Our pre-game coverage begins at 3:30 with my favorite part of the week, the “Royals Rewind.” Then, the Pre-Game Show brought to you by Best Western comes at you at 3:45, with the game at 4. Enjoy the broadcast and the game!
- Brian
