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Alex Rodriguez is known for a lot of things, but many fans may not know he's directly tied to the first instance of replay in a World Series. Nowadays, every single game has at least one instant replay review. They implemented challenges recently, which only added to it.
If you were to watch a World Series game from this year, there would probably be a replay review or two, but that was not always the case. On this day in 2009, that officially changed with Alex Rodriguez.
Before this date 14 years ago, the World Series had never had a replay review. The game didn't really have replay at all for the most part, but that finally changed in the World Series.
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With the New York Yankees looking to capture their 27th World Series title, Rodriguez sent a blast to left field. It was a screamer, initially ruled a double. For the first time ever, the WS crew got together and decided to review it.
They saw clearly on the replay that the ball left the yard and hit a television before bouncing back into the field of play. A clear home run, they granted Rodriguez all four bases against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Alex Rodriguez's replay review changed baseball
It was a bit of a turning point for the Yanks, but it was also huge for the game of baseball. Replay does slow things down a bit, but it has led to plenty of incorrect calls being reversed.
One shudders to think whether or not the Detroit Tigers' star Armando Gallaraga's perfect game would have remained so if they had had replay then. That's not an issue on the modern team's mind thanks to replays like Rodriguez's, which proved to be a landmark for the sport as a whole.
The human element is still part of the game, such as with balls and strikes and check swings- which cannot be reviewed. But missing a home run, calling someone safe incorrectly, and other plays that have a big impact on winning and losing are now more accurate thanks to replay.
