There was once a time when baseball was the only professional sport that did not have a clock. Now, that has all changed and Major League Baseball means it! We saw the pitch clock during spring training, but did not see any replays because they are not used during the spring. You might not know it, but replay has always had a clock attached to it; actually, two of them.

First, managers had 10 seconds to put their hand up to notify the umpire that they were considering appealing the play. Then, they had 20 seconds to make the final decision, but at the end of the 20 seconds, the umpire would generally approach the dugout, say something to the manager, wait a few seconds and then get the answer from the manager. This season, the new rules of the replay clock will be strictly enforced by umpires, says MLB.

The manager must now immediately put their hand up to notify the umpire that they are looking at the play. Then, they have 15 seconds to let the umpire know that they do want to appeal the play. At the end of that time, the umpire will not approach the dugout, will not delay the game any longer, and will instead signal to start the pitch clock and resume play. No arguing and not even any discussing. Whether that will actually play out the way the rule is written remains to be seen, but with baseball serious about the pitch clock and speeding up games, it stands to reason that umpires will be exacting on the new rule for replays.

The rest of the replay system remains untouched. If the play is appealed, the umpires will go to the headphones and await word from the gurus in New York and then announce the ruling. Teams still get one unsuccessful challenge per game, but retain their challenge should the play be overturned.