Major League Baseball is testing out its rather controversial new instant replay system — which will be instituted next season — in this year’s Arizona Fall League, an invitational circuit featuring some of the game’s top minor leaguers. The system made its debut Tuesday night in a game between the Mesa Solar Sox and Salt River Rafters, and it went off without a hitch.
It took umpires in the booth — or, in this case, in a video truck beyond the outfield fence — exactly 60 seconds to determine that Angels prospect C.J. Cron was correctly called out on a close play at first base.
If replay can be conducted this quickly and efficiently at the major league level, it won’t take long for many of the new system’s detractors (the “the game is long enough already” crowd) to change their tune.
Check out the review process in action in the video below.
