The use of instant replay in Major League Baseball has made the game better, on balance, but like any new technology -- and like a lot of MLB policies in general -- it has created a lot of unforeseen consequences as well. This week's brouhaha revolves around slides into second base (or third, although that didn't come up this time around), where a player reaches a base safely by sliding, loses contact with it briefly due to the momentum of his body carrying him forward and over the bag, and is then called out after a review because the infielder wisely kept the tag applied throughout the play.

Such a call was simply impossible prior to replay because there was no way an umpire would see this temporary disconnection with the naked eye -- they have a hard enough time with easier calls -- but slow-motion or frame-by-frame replay have opened up this new, technically accurate call. It is within the letter of the law, but I think it violates the spirit.