The only problem is that they beat the Major Leagues to it. That's kind of embarrassing for MLB.

As for the Little League aspect, there's still plenty of places to react in a healthy manner to a questionable call (called third strikes come to mind). But home runs and near-home runs are potentially huge plays in the course of a game, so instituting replay to make sure those calls are rightconsidering umpires are stationed some 150 feet from where those big plays unfoldisn't a bad thing in my opinion.

I'm a long-time LL umpire.  Regardless of instant replay, the fact is that all 32 LLWS games are being nationally televised by ESPN and ABC.  So if one of my colleagues on that big stage were to call a batted ball a home run when it was really foul, it's going to be exposed on television anyway.  And that umpire is going to have to deal with the embarrassment that will come afterwards when he is told that his blown call was shown over and over on TV, not only during the game, but also on Sportscenter.

So I have no problem with instant replay from that perspective.  At least it gives the umpire the small satisfaction that his mistake was corrected and no harm came from it.  It's much better to hear from someone after the game say, "You really missed that call, but thanks to replay, it got fixed, so no harm done," than it is to hear that someone say, "You really missed that call, and it affected the outcome of the game!"  Imagine how long that umpire will run through his mind how he gave a team an unwarranted home run if instant replay didn't exist.

I'm just curious if this was more a decision forced upon Little League by ESPN/ABC.  The networks want Major League Baseball to implement instant replay.  What better way to show MLB that it can work in baseball than to display it on national TV during live competition?  The LLWS provides that opportunity.  There are 32 games that will take place August 15th through the 24th.  Surely three or four times during those games, a kid is going to wrap a fly ball around a foul pole.  Maybe, perhaps, in one of those occasions, an umpire is going to miss the call.  And instant replay will save the day!

To those who believe that, don't hold your breath.  The umpires who work these games are no slouches.  True, they aren't at the same skill level as their MLB counterparts, so you see some iffy safe/outs and questionable strike zones.  But with six umpires out there, I seriously doubt you'll see a call in the upcoming LLWS that will be worthy using the instant replay system to begin with, much less one that the system will change.  But ESPN can always hope...

Manny

And we can have robots play the game? Yeah. Call third strikes, Home runs, and bases load singles that by an angle's hair beats out the throw can be recorded. But. In the end, its just a game. I say lets teach the kids that first. There was a time, the whole stadium would creak if a player question an umpire. But now its happens on almost every play. We all agree that we need to do better at teaching the kids to respect the umpires. Why not start here and dump replay...and let the kids play.