When it comes to baseball, I tend to be a pretty traditional guy.
Stirrups should be worn to just under the knee, uniforms should be properly buttoned, pitchers should hit and hell, I’d be happy with just an organ and the announcer standing on top of the dugout with a megaphone shouting out the lineup.
But my reluctance toward modernizing the game has begun to wane over the past couple of years and after at least three incidents of umpires totally blowing calls, I’ve given up the fight.
It’s time to move on. Bring in our robotic overlords so that baseball can survive.
It’s time for “robot umpires”, something that has been tested in the minors and has received positive feedback.
Last week, the Mets won their home opener after home plate umpire Ron Kulpa, who was about to ring up batter Michael Conforto, changed his mind and said he was hit by the pitch, walking in the winning run.
After the game Kulpa admitted that he made a mistake.
Also last week, infamous umpire Angel Hernandez made over 20 wrong calls during an Astros/Angels game.
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On Sunday night, the Phillies Alec Bohm failed to touch the plate in a sac-fly attempted, but the umpire called him safe.
Even after a review, he was still called safe, when everyone except the folks in the MLB decision-making room knew he was out.
These are just the latest in a long line of baffling calls.
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The “robotic umpires” is actually uses a radar and adjusts the strike zone depending on the player’s height.
The ball-tracking system alerts the umpire (wearing an ear piece) behind home plate if it was a ball or strike and the ump announces the call.
While that wouldn’t solve everything, it would be a step in the right direction.
When it comes to instant replay, why do they even have it if bad calls or non-reviewable plays are costing team’s wins.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love to see Atlanta lose (see 1992 NLCS and Jerry Meals in 2011) but this ship has to be righted.
These calls have been so bad; it has fueled speculation that something crooked is going on behind the scenes.
I’m not saying that is the case but when calls are this awful, it’s hard to find any other explanation.
So that’s it, bring in the robots, let players wear their caps backwards, universal DH, whatever.
I am becoming part of a rare breed that wants baseball to remain the same as it was 100 years ago (without the racism), but I am not the future of baseball.
Small children and teens are the ones baseball will need to rely on in the future for the game to stay popular for years to come.