Computer plate umps allowed
in new labor deal
Associated Press,
by
Staff
Original Article
Posted By: Imright,
12/23/2019 9:52:28 AM
NEW YORK – Computer plate umpires could be called up to the major leagues at some point during the next five seasons. Umpires agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball in the development and testing of an automated ball-strike system as part of a five-year labor contract announced Saturday, two people familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.The Major League Baseball Umpires Association also agreed to cooperate and assist if Commissioner Rob Manfred decides to utilize the system at the major league level. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because those details of the deal, which is subject to ratification by both sides, had not been announced.
Reply 1 - Posted by:
earlybird 12/23/2019 9:58:09 AM (No. 269806)
Considering some of the calls we saw last season, I’d say it’s about time. Some of those guys are so porky, it’s hard for them to get down to where they can actually see the ball accurately.
4 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Safari Man 12/23/2019 10:04:09 AM (No. 269819)
Mechanical pitchers... would speed up play significantly.
10 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
MDConservative 12/23/2019 10:04:26 AM (No. 269820)
There are a lot of "great" pitchers who live off the corners, and catchers making a living by framing close pitches. The unblinking eye will put a big hurt on these, and I suspect batting averages and power hitting will have a huge jump as the strike zone is squeezed smaller.
5 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Blue-Z-Anna 12/23/2019 10:05:34 AM (No. 269824)
.....and soon.....the designated robotic hitter.
....just one per team.....at first.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Avikingman 12/23/2019 10:19:30 AM (No. 269846)
Inevitable I guess. But takes some of the humanity out of the game. We all make mistakes, even robots - as Boeing.
3 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
jacksin5 12/23/2019 10:37:46 AM (No. 269865)
Unless it can be proven umpires are corrupt, there is absolutely no reason for this, unless you are trying to eliminate the cost of umpire payrolls to increase the bloated salaries of players.
5 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
HotRod 12/23/2019 11:05:21 AM (No. 269891)
Well, football has already implemented re-play reviews for close calls on the field, so why not override umpires? Sports will become a sterile, uninteresting pastime when there is no controversy. Like a poster said, it takes the humanity out of the game. Do we need human athletes any more? Why not use robots instead. How exciting would that be? Heck, NASCAR could use computers to drive the race cars!
8 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Troutgreen 12/23/2019 11:41:04 AM (No. 269914)
Just get rid of Angel Hernandez and everything would be fine.
7 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
vhs68 12/23/2019 11:46:44 AM (No. 269920)
Expect to see NO Line Umpires in professional tennis in just a few years. They have been working on eliminating line officials for 20 years now. They had a computer calling lines in a lower level pro event in Europe a few months back. It seemed to work out. The Masters Tennis Series the old guys) has no line officials now. That's more money for the players pockets.
Question: With no line officials, who are the players going to whine about now? They need something to cover for their deficiencies and an excuse for losing......
2 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
Tank 12/23/2019 12:00:35 PM (No. 269930)
Not only no, but HELL NO.
4 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
lakerman1 12/23/2019 12:13:53 PM (No. 269936)
I used to be a baseball fan - I can still name the starting lineup of the Cleveland Indians, including the pitching rotation.
But when the MLB exanded in the 1970s, I lost interest. (I also tried to play American Legion ball, but I was pathetic, I even spiked myself from time to time.)
That aside, umpiring - especially balls and strikes - is an art form. Each umpire has a slightly different strike zone, I have read, and each team has to know what that is. Having a computer takes away that variable, which, in turn, changes the nature of the game.
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 12/23/2019 1:56:49 PM (No. 270000)
Makes some sense. MLB catchers have perfected the art of pulling their mitt into the strike zone after catching the ball thus fooling the umpire into calling an obvious ball a strike. The computer ump would take that away.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Pook60 12/23/2019 2:26:06 PM (No. 270011)
When this happens, Bobby Cox will forever hold the record for being ejected from 158 regular season games. He probably wouldn't be challenged anyway, but eliminating the arguments for balls and strikes will cinch it.
1 person likes this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
lakerman1 12/23/2019 2:39:46 PM (No. 270015)
Oops. I can name the starting lineup of the 1948 Cleveland Indians, not the current year. (That pretty, strawberry blonde sweaty girl in the lower right hand corner of my computer screen might have distracted me. Will she forever suffer, trapped for eternity?)
1 person likes this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
Strike3 12/23/2019 2:53:46 PM (No. 270017)
Every pro game could be totally computerized just like tennis has been. The unions would go nuts but then they have become irrelevant for decades everywhere else doing nothing but sucking out money from the earnings of others and funneling some of it to democrats.
1 person likes this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
TLCary 12/23/2019 3:06:37 PM (No. 270024)
Most fans played the same game growing up as they cheer for. For the price of a bat, 9 gloves, and a ball a bunch of kids can play the exact same game as the pros.
A robo-ump might cost more than a good catchers mitt.
1 person likes this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
Venturer 12/23/2019 3:57:50 PM (No. 270048)
Baseball will soon be dying like NASCAR.
2 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
MickTurn 12/23/2019 5:04:36 PM (No. 270070)
Wait for it...a peeved catcher on a called ball whips out a miniature cattle prod (inside his glove) and zaps the Computer Umpire with 30,000 Volts. Game OVER...
0 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
franq 12/23/2019 5:11:52 PM (No. 270076)
It was inevitable.
H. Cosell
0 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
preciosodrogas 12/23/2019 5:37:36 PM (No. 270097)
If that makes sense then having a robo-pitcher makes perfect sense. The coach for the team could call the precise pitch and place it exactly where he wants it at the exact speed he wants. No more bean balls , dustings, revenge pitches or if the coach called for such he could be charged with assault and battery and the evidence would be captured on the computer. /s
Why fool with perfection. They have already done enough damage to the game. The only games worth going to see anymore are the minors. and college.
1 person likes this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
coldoc 12/23/2019 7:58:58 PM (No. 270166)
I gave up on subjective sports judging years ago. There' s too much money in professional sports for it not to be corrupt. Too many "best of seven" events go to seven-a statistical abnormality. Baseball-meh!
2 people like this.
Reply 22 - Posted by:
chefrandy 12/23/2019 9:57:26 PM (No. 270201)
Sad, but needed for two main reasons. One, pitching velocity has increased and so the reaction time of the umpire gauging actual location versus a skilled catcher pulling or framing a pitch causes too many missed pitches. Second, and in my opinion, more important is that the umpires have been allowed to get away with their own personal interpretation of the strike zone which unfortunately, changes throughout a game and based on their "rabbit ears" often for or against one of the teams. Someone earlier made a reference to Bobby Cox of the Braves whose pitchers were the beneficiaries of some of the widest strike zones known to mankind when the likes of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz were toeing the rubber. The hybrid solution posted by someone above with a certain number of challenges might be a suitable starting point in one of the minor leagues.
1 person likes this.
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