Coming soon to Wrigley: Instant replay

PITTSBURGH - Instant replay is coming to a ballpark near you. In fact, it's coming to Wrigley Field on Thursday.

Or at least the possibility is there for the Cubs-Phillies game to be the first to use replay to resolve disputed home run calls - those involving fair-foul disputes and whether balls have cleared the wall or yellow line.

"I'd love to be able to throw a red hankie or a green hankie or something," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said jokingly. "Imagine being able to throw something on the field, and (you) can't be ejected?"

Actually, managers won't throw anything onto the field. If there is a disputed call at Wrigley Field, the umpire crew chief will head through the Cubs' dugout to the nearby umpires room and watch a TV feed from the Major League Baseball office in New York. The umpire will then rule.

Piniella said he hopes MLB has thought the procedure through.

"This could turn into a little bit of a fiasco initially," he said with a laugh. "If it takes too long, this is not like football. You've got a pitcher that's standing there. I tell you what, it'll probably be used as a ploy by some managers just to freeze the pitcher for five or six minutes and cool him off if he's going really well. Baseball's got to look at this thing carefully. But I want my red hankie."

Cubs pitcher Kerry Wood said he is for replay if it means getting calls right.

"I'm glad they're going to practice it, so to speak, before they get to postseason," Wood said. "Hopefully, it doesn't take up a lot of time if it comes into play. Ultimately, the goal is to get the call right, and maybe this will help."

No more managing: Lou Piniella reiterated Tuesday that the Cubs will be his last job as a manager. He downplayed any talk of a contract extension.

"I'm signed through next year, so there's plenty of time," he said. "But this will be my last job, I can tell you, my last managing job. I can stay (in baseball) as a consultant."