The Braves were off Thursday, so they had some extra time to think about the new, extensive system of video review by umpires that Major League Baseball unveiled and plans to have in place for the 2014 season.
A day to ponder it didn’t seem to clear things up for some Braves before they were asked about it Friday.
“I have mixed feelings,” Chris Johnson said. “I don’t want it to slow the game down. But if we’re taking — they said on average is 3 1/2, four minutes — for every review now, and there could be three challenges per team, that’s six challenges times four minutes each — how long is that? That’s a lot of standing around.”
Under the new system, which was devised by a special three-man committee that included Braves president John Schuerholz, managers will be allowed to challenge one call over the first six innings and two after the sixth. Calls that are challenged will be reviewed by a crew at MLB headquarters in New York, where a final ruling would be made, ideally in 75 seconds or less.
A manager would file a challenge with the home-plate umpire or crew chief. Only reviewable plays can be challenged, but non-reviewable plays may still be disputed by managers, who can request that umpires discuss such calls to see if another ump in the crew saw the play differently.
“I wish we had it (last year in the Wild Card game),” Freddie Freeman said, referring to the controversial infield-fly ruling against the Braves in their loss to St. Louis. “I like that you can’t challenge every single play (under the proposed system). Some people are going to have mixed (reaction).
“I think it’s good. Human element is a big factor, but when you’ve got a close play — we saw it last year with us — it can change the course of a season.”
Reviewable plays would no longer be open for argument by the manager, nor would the subsequent ruling.
Challenges not used in the first six innings will not carry over to the later innings, and a manager who wins a challenge retains it and can use it again. Umpires themselves can also decide to review a call if a manager is out of challenges.
“I don’t know what exactly the details are, but I’m not a big fan of replay,” Braves shortstop Andrelton Simmons said. “It just drags out the game. And if you’re going to look at everything (on replay), why do you have so many umpires out there anyway?”
Balls and strikes and hit-by-pitch calls would not be open for review, but all other plays would be. The current replay rules used for home-run calls would grandfathered into the new system.
The new system will be presented to owners for a vote in November and must be approved by the players association and umpires.
“I just think we need to leave the game alone,” catcher Gerald Laird said. “I just feel they’re so much history in the game, and teams have won championships and games, and lost games, on (questionable) calls. I just think that’s part of what makes our game so special total, we don’t have the replay. The human element.
“I know we’re more advanced now (technologically), I understand that, but it’s the purity of the sport. You’re going to miss some things. I think fans like to see the manager come out and argue.”
Batman: For all the nicknames circulating about Paul Janish after he retrieved a live bat from the infield Wednesday night — batman, bat whisperer — and the ensuing video craze, Braves trainers did have a serious question for him after the game.
They wanted to know if the bat had bitten him, concerned about rabies. Janish told them it hadn’t, and he didn’t get a shot, but he did ask for symptoms to look out for just in case.
“It was fine,” said Janish, who held the bat primarily in his glove, touching it with his right hand for just a second. “(The story) got blown up a little bit. It was funny.”
Janish said originally there were two bats on the field, who were “interlocked” and one flew away. He was just trying to speed things up with the second one.
“C.J. (Chris Johnson) wasn’t going to touch it, and the umpire himself, Gary (Darling) was standoffish,” Janish said. “He was going to wait for the grounds crew or somebody to come out. I was like ‘Dude, let’s get this over with. We’ve already had an hour-and-a-half rain delay.’”
Braves bat boy Will Kearney carried the bat off the field in a towel and eventually released it.
“I think we should be safe on the PETA front,” Janish said.
