MLB's revised instant replay rules aren't in play yet, but replay certainly played a role in a critical situation during Game 4 of the ALDS between the Detroit Tigers and Oakland A's Tuesday evening.
With Sean Doolittle on the mound for the A's and no one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Tigers designated hitter Victor Martinez hit a towering fly ball deep to right field.
A's right fielder Josh Reddick leaped for the catch, but it was clearly out of reach of his outstretched glove, giving Martinez the home run to tie the game at 4-4.
But wait!
In Jeffrey Maier-like fashion, a fan reached over the yellow line at the top of the wall to grab himself a souvenir.
But unlike the 1996 incident, the umpires had a chance to get the call right with the use of video replay. And Twitter was abuzz with speculation as to what the call would be.
In the case of Jeter's home run in the 1996 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles, it was clear that the umpires got the call wrong; Maier did in fact interfere in the play.
But video replays from several angles clearly show that the umpires did indeed get this call right at Comerica Park.
It was only the second home run of the entire series for the Tigers; Jhonny Peralta's three-run shot earlier in the game put the Tigers back in the game at 3-3.
In this case, the A's can't say they got robbed by a bad call.
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