We’re currently in the middle of the first season where Major League Baseball has instituted instant replay challenges, and if there’s any knock on the procedure, it’s that the game has slowed down even more as teams debate whether or not to challenge an umpire’s call on the field. Often, a manager will come out on the field to “argue” a call and prevent play from resuming while his coaches call team officials in the clubhouse, who are watching the play on repeat in slow-motion replay, and determine if they should “challenge” the call, sending the umps to the review booth.
Yes, it’s all really fucking exciting.
The downside to getting calls called correctly this way is, of course, the delays that the whole thing causes. And it’s not an ideal situation for a sport dogged by ever-expanding time-of-game issues.
But tonight at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the replay issue actually took a humorous turn, causing Sting’s singing of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” to be delayed while the visiting Cincinnati Reds pondered challenging a play on the field in the top of the 7th inning.
Sting, whose Police played Wrigley back in 2007, eventually sang the traditional song during the 7th inning stretch as the latest in the franchise’s never-ending line of guests. And we hear it went well. But the whole notion of telling Sting to chill for a few minutes while a team stalls to consider a replay challenge is pretty amazing.
The word from Fox Sports’ Jon Paul Morosi via Twitter:
Sting is at Wrigley to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame . . . and had to wait a few moments while Reds considered possible replay challenge.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 24, 2014
Here’s a behind the scenes look at the singer before his appearance…
Sting, Jimmy Nail & Michael Esper (@airstreamrally)warm up for 7th inning stretch at the @Cubs game! @LastShipMusical pic.twitter.com/7qUAXCQ2JJ
— Sting (@OfficialSting) June 24, 2014
Nice job. Sting told us it was nerve-racking. pic.twitter.com/yHUezWI6mN
— Len and JD (@lenandjd) June 24, 2014
Here's @OfficialSting leading tonight's 7th inning stretch: pic.twitter.com/qZVjZ9U3aG
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) June 24, 2014