Replay blues for Sixers, Phillies

The lack of an instant-replay review system in baseball hurt the Phillies on Sunday.

The instant-replay system used by the NBA wound up hurting the 76ers last night.

Either way, Philadelphia teams lost.

Almost everyone knew that third-base umpire Adrian Johnson had blown the call when he gave the Chicago Cubs' Mark DeRosa a home run in the sixth inning against the Phillies on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

But almost everyone didn't matter. Not leftfielder Pat Burrell. Not manager Charlie Manuel, whose vigorous protest that the ball had gone foul got him booted from the game. Not the shivering 40,000 or so spectators. Not the many others who saw the play and the replay - and many other replays - on television.

Unlike in other sports, instant replay is not allowed in major-league baseball. Too bad for the Phillies. They ended up losing in 10 innings, 6-5.

The referees turned to the instant-replay system at the end of the Sixers' game at the Wachovia Center last night, and it cost the home team in a 91-90 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

With Cleveland trailing by a point, Devin Brown missed a follow-up shot toward the finish and the buzzer sounded. Players headed for the locker room after an apparent Sixers win.

However, one official had whistled Philadelphia's Samuel Dalembert for a foul on Brown, and the referees went to the courtside monitor to determine whether the foul had occurred before the final buzzer. After a lengthy discussion, they ruled that Brown was fouled with two-tenths of a second left in the game.

Brown made both free throws, and the Sixers lost. After a last-gasp attempt fell short, Sixers point guard Andre Miller punted the ball toward the stands in disgust.

The call hurt the Sixers, but the referees used instant replay to get it right.

Baseball does not have that option yet. In November, baseball's general managers voted by 25-5 to recommend the use of instant replay for disputed home-run calls. The recommendation was passed on to commissioner Bud Selig, who, after years of saying he opposed replay, is now considering it.

"It remains under advisement," MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said yesterday.

Other sports routinely use replays.

NFL officials, when coaches protest, head for a private viewing screen to examine replays.

And last week's NCAA men's basketball championship game included a pivotal play in which an official checked a replay and changed a three-point basket to a two-pointer by a Memphis player late in the game against eventual winner Kansas.

Even more advanced technology exists. The Hawk-Eye Officiating System, used in many sports to track a ball, was first used in cricket, in 2005. It was used in tennis last year - at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open - to determine whether a ball hit a line or missed it by millimeters.

But all that doesn't mean that Hawk-Eye or instant replay is coming to a ballpark near you this season.

First, Selig needs to approve any changes.

Second, any implementation would require the approval of the players' association.

Third, there would be logistical and technological matters to work out. If MLB were to use replay, it would likely have a league official review a call away from the field and then communicate his decision to the officials on the field.

Plus, before implementing instant replay, MLB would likely want to use it on a trial basis, possibly in the minor leagues. There are no plans to use replay in the minors this season.

If MLB does use instant replay someday, it would be limited to disputed home runs. Specifically, replay would be used to determine whether a ball was fair or foul, whether it had cleared an outfield wall, or whether a fan had interfered with it. Replay would not be used on ball-strike calls, plays on the bases, or other judgment calls.

Selig has said many times that he doesn't want to lose the human element in the game, a sentiment that his right-hand man, Bob DuPuy, echoed in November.

"I don't think there is a significant impetus toward destroying what has been 150 years of the human aspect of baseball," said DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer.

The Phillies were among the teams that supported replay at the November meetings.

"You see so much replay in other sports," general manager Pat Gillick said. "From a technical standpoint, why shouldn't we use it if we want to get the play right? It seems like we're behind the times."

Astros general manager Ed Wade is among the few general managers opposed to instant replay.

"I do have faith in umpires," Wade said. "I know they don't get every call right, but when you start down that road of instant replay, I think it quickly becomes a slippery slope. You're into a whole different environment with regard to calls. . . . On one hand, you say get the calls right. On the other hand, you have pressure from baseball saying to speed the games up. You're still going to get the argument, and you're still going to get the replay, and the next thing you know, you're playing 3-hour, 40-minute games. I think maybe in time, if technology changes, it might make some sense, but I'm not in favor of it at this point."

Former Phillies general manager Ed Wade returns to Citizens Bank Park tonight as

GM of the Houston Astros. E7.

Astros at Phillies

Time: 7:05. TV: CN8.

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