Major League Baseball

Maddon in favor of expanded replay review

Published May. 5, 2011 6:38 p.m. ET

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Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon thinks Major League Baseball should examine controversial calls this season to see whether expanded instant replay would have an impact on those situations.

Maddon was tossed Wednesday night after the umpires got together and reversed Joe West's safe call on a tag play by Blue Jays first baseman Adam Lind on Tampa Bay's Sam Fuld. The call completed an inning-ending double play, and Maddon was ejected when he tried to argue.

West said he had the worst angle on the play, and consulted with the other crew members, including second base umpire Angel Hernandez. After the game, West said the umpires appeared to have gotten the call wrong.

''If you really want to be intelligent about it, technology is a part of our game,'' Maddon said before Thursday's game against Toronto. ''The fact that replay is already utilized, those are moments that you can review at the end of the season. Log them all and then see if there is any kind of common thread and say, 'Now this should be reviewable.'''

MLB is leaning toward expanding replay for the 2012 season to include trapped balls and fair-or-foul rulings down the lines. Only home run calls are currently reviewable - fair or foul, whether the ball left the playing field or fan interference.

Maddon said distance calls could fall into the replay area.

''If you want to incorporate technology, it's just like the ball at the wall in a home run. It's hard to tell,'' Maddon said. ''To change calls from a distance when you have technology, I think should be considered.''

Check swings is another area Maddon would like addressed.

''If there's any way technology can tell us whether there was a swing or not a swing, that would wise, too,'' Maddon said. ''Check swings is probably the one call that gets you kicked out quicker than any other moment in the game.''

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