In light of the baseball instant replay issue, Kevin Murphy from the Kansas City Star has an interesting article on MLB’s new policy called Bulletin D-12.
Apparently, Chris DeRuyscher who is director of game entertainment for the Royals passed on to him the policy for what plays are acceptable (and unacceptable) to be replayed up on the scoreboard.
The big issue here? Not to “show up” the umpire. Here is a snippet:
“Clubs must continue to use good judgment not to ‘show up’ the umpires, incite the crowd or distract players, but this admonition does not preclude showing close plays.”
According to Murphy, “any calls on balls or strikes, brushback pitches and any case where the umpire has clearly made an incorrect call” cannot be shown.
Non-compliance to the policy results in a fine according to DeRuyscher.
I’d be curious to know what the real reason is behind this. The umpire’s union? Crowd control? Just simply MLB’s over-reaching desire to control everything that fans see?