Instant replay in baseball: Screw homers, use technology for strikes

Baseball has hurriedly started an instant-replay system. But as usual with MLB, they're solving the wrong problem.

Long fly balls that might be fair or foul don't happen very often: 18 times so far this season, according to MLB.

Terrible calls on balls and strikes happen every single day, in almost every single game.

But now we have the technology to fix the problem in such a way that would eliminate arguments forever. I'm not talking about video replay: I mean having a laser-boundary system (similar to that used in tennis) that would determine where the ball crosses the plate and actually make the ball-strike call.

Think about it: the calls would always be right. There would be no appeal, no argument. It would speed up the game, rather than slow it down as viewing a video replay inevitably will.

Moreover, pitchers and hitters alike would love the laser strike zone system immediately. Pitchers could master the corners of the strike zone because they could practice throwing to the strike-calling system. As for hitters, they would never have to expand their strike zone because an umpire just made a poor call on them for strike two. Everyone would be confident in where the actual strike zone exists.

I see one key rule change that would simplify everything. Currently the strike zone is defined by each player's body: where his knees are, where his chest is when he crouches. This rule dates to the 1800s and is an anachronism. Not only that, umpires routinely ignore it.

Why should tall players have a bigger strike zone, and shorter players a smaller one? Taller basketball players don't get a different-sized hoop. Why not define the strike zone the same way for everyone? Define it as a square, say 2 feet to 4 feet high above the front of the plate. Or whatever. Just make it standard.

The umpires' union might resist a laser strike zone, but they could be won over because the system wouldn't eliminate any umpires' jobs. You would still need somebody to watch over every base; no laser system can make out/safe calls. Umpires are generally very good at those.

It's such an elegant idea, yet I haven't read anybody talking about it. So maybe you heard it here first.