@fenwaysouth posted:Thanks for sharing the article @Senna. I know I'm going to catch a lot of sh*t for this, but I'll say it anyway.....for all that is holy please bring in the robo-umpires to call balls and strikes. I'm tired of this idea that "we've got to keep the human factor alive in the game". No we don't, we really freaking don't!
I'm your typical MLB fan today...I'm 59 years old and I've loved the game since I could say "Rico Petrocelli". At 59 I've embraced technology in my life and made a career of it. It can do very positive things for our everyday lives. Other major and minor sports across the globe have gone in that direction. All major tennis tournament line calls have gone 100% to computers through Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. There are no tennis player line call arguments and play continues. It really is that simple. If a computer can handle service line calls in the 130-140mph range it most certainly can learn and handle anything else with the video technology available today. Baseball is in need of a major overhaul. The money is too big and we've got to grow the fan base as we compete with other sports that use technology. If professional baseball want to appeal to younger generations they have to move forward with the use of technology otherwise baseball is going to become the sport that only grandmas and grandpas follow.
Sorry, end of rant. I'm cranky when the Red Sox lose. I'd be significantly crankier if I was a Giants fan.
I agree. The mlb umps are really good, even the bad ones get over 90% of the calls behind the plate right, but the stuff of the modern pitchers is so good and powerful that even the best umpires are going to get fooled and a single wrong call can have no effect at all (say when it is 2 outs bases empty and a team leads 4-0) but also can have a huge impact (say 2 out with bases loaded at 3-2 count).
We don't need the human element there, just get tech that is getting it 100% right.
I know robo ump as it was in the Atlantic league has problems too, players report very strange strike calls because the machine would call pitches that clip the 3d zone in certain ways strikes that a real ump never would but you can adjust to that by adjusting the zone. The actual rule book zone is probably not ideal for the robo ump as human umps unconsciously have made the zone a bit more hitter friendly (wider but shorter top and bottom) but you can adjust the computer to account for that while still getting the accuracy benefit