Torah Ideals

It appears to me that baseball and soccer have more similarities than differences. Both sports, in fact, are experiencing a very similar phenomenon: a struggle between the traditionalists and modernizers [This is a struggle that, as we well know, takes place not only in the world of sports. I would like to limit this comment, however, specifically to the discussion of sports]
Traditionalists want to uphold the purity of the game, arguing that a human error–even if it is perpetrated by the referree–is a part of a game and has been a part of a game for a long time. Subsequently, changing the rules through, perhaps, a more wide use of instant replay, will go against this ‘honored’ tradiion. Modernizers, on the other hand, want to introduce certain changes (i.e. force the referrees to explain their decisions in soccer, have instant replay in both soccer and baseball) believing that these changes of rules will ensure that the best team will, in fact, win.

Interestingly enough, other sports have made a number of modernizing changes in recent years. Football, a primarily American sport, introduced instant replay. Tennis, a sport played in a great number of countries, has done the same. Soccer (which you describe as a primarily non-American sport) and baseball (a primarily American one) are the only major sports where, it seems, the traditional element remains strong.