Renck: Baseball's instant replay has issues to fix before it's ready

Colorado Rockies manager Walt Weiss listens as umpire Chris Guccione explain his call on a play at third base during a game last season. (Associated Press file)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. Baseball could no longer resist progress. It made no sense to avoid instant replay when the technology was available to get disputed calls right.

Passing the legislation in January wasn't the only hard part. Implementing it will present many challenges based on conversations with multiple front-office executives and managers this past week.

Big-league stadiums have not yet been wired to provide the same camera views for both teams. It would create a bad look for baseball if an electrician is getting a work order signed at home plate before the season's ceremonial first pitch.

The simple mechanics of the challenge also are creating questions. MLB officials will hold multiple workshops this spring to help soothe concerns and explain the process. Teams are facing a pair of salient issues: the time allotted for confirmation from a club employee and which employee will fill that role.

"I hear that we will have enough time, but we don't know," said Oakland manager Bob Melvin, whose team lost a game in Cleveland last season when the umpiring crew incorrectly viewed a replay on a potential home run. "Hopefully that's the case, so we aren't blowing challenges."

Several teams say they will use their video coordinators to challenge. Others suggested that they will hire someone specifically for the job.

"We will use somebody in-house. And what I do know is that it won't be the same person for all 162 games," Rockies assistant general manager Bill Geivett said.

That person will be planted for those three-plus hours. Rockies manager Walt Weiss joked "that person will have to wear diapers because they won't have time to go the bathroom." It creates a scenario where a person unknown to 99 percent of the fans could decide a game's outcome.

"The way I look at it is, it is never going to be that guy's fault. Ultimately, I am the one that (challenges). It's on me, not on you," Weiss said. "With anything new on this scale, I am approaching it knowing there are going to be issues early on."

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Renck: Baseball's instant replay has issues to fix before it's ready