After brief discussions regarding instant replay, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig has let the world know he’s made another decision: baseball will not use an expanded form of instant replay during the 2010 postseason. Selig and the special committee that recommended changes to the 2011 schedule met on Monday night to discuss the possibility, but quickly but a stomp on the idea. In October instant replay will remain limited to reviews of home run balls and nothing more.

Should baseball consider using instant replay for more than just home runs? Absolutely, but they shouldn’t test out the process during the most important time of the season. Umpires tend to get most calls right as it is, so baseball would also need to decide on a fair replay system; one that doesn’t slow down the game. As excellent as the umpires have been, one bad call still stands out much greater than a thousand good calls.

Case in point: Armando Galarraga. He lost a perfect game this season. His was a personal accomplishment that had no impact on the outcome of the game, but had Cleveland rallied after the bad call and won, no doubt fans and those within baseball would have demanded instant replay. As it stands now, a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth of a 15-0 game can be reviewed. It’s hard to convince anybody that a home run in that situation is any more important than the blown call at first base of Galarraga’s 3-0 win.

So while instant replay will continue to review questionable home run balls, the league must continue to analyze the use of instant replay. The technology exists, so why baseball is so hesitant to incorporate it is mystifying. We can watch games on television and see exactly what happened in slow motion, why can’t baseball take a few moments to do the same on the field? If MLB can’t correct the many mistakes of the past, the least it can do is review them.