“We still have some technical issues in terms of the operation of the system that we haven’t made as much progress in the minor leagues this year as we sort of hoped at this point,’’ said Manfred. “I think it’s becoming more and more likely that this will not be a go for 2025.
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If I were a betting man, I'd say the likelihood of something else being part of this decision is high. They've had years to work on this implementation as the technology has been available for almost 20 years. It is in use for professional tennis and cricket at the highest levels including the major tennis tournaments for the ATP and WTA. Tennis players are used to it, and trust it. I don't believe the excuses Manfred offers as the reason for the delay.
Anybody with an IT background knows this is about managing resources of people, process and technology. Did the MLB slow this down or not make this a priority? Again, they've had many, many years to make this operational. Am I going out on a limb suggesting this is a more cultural thing that they can't wrap their heads around? This is the one thing I wanted Manfred to do, and he's not doing it. He's useless.
As always, JMO.
That’s good news. The Yankees are always better off without Aaron Boone, and this robot ump change would’ve lessened the occurrences of him being thrown out of games. 🤣
It is a bit different than tennis because each player's strike zone is different. My son like it so far because at least you know what the zone is. They have made small adjustments over the season. For a while his zone was too low and they adjusted it.
@PTWood posted:It is a bit different than tennis because each player's strike zone is different. My son like it so far because at least you know what the zone is. They have made small adjustments over the season. For a while his zone was too low and they adjusted it.
Agreed. The implementation is different than tennis. Everything else is the same. You still need people, process and technology. We know the process is there because it is in the minor leagues as you point out. The technology is the same...it uses some degree of artificial intelligence called reactive machines which are task specific and can be modified just as it has been with tennis and cricket. So, that leaves us with people (decision makers) as the weakest link. I recall years ago when they were first introducing robo umps, they had each minor leaguer measured for strike zones. They made a big deal about it. Has that level of difficulty changed? No. Inches are still inches, feet are still feet. This is what leads me to believe Manfred has changed the priority of this initiative, and something else is going on.
If one of my customers can use artificial intelligence to distinguish between free range chickens on a farm, I think MLB can modify a strike zone for an MLB player. Should be a slam dunk.
PS...Really looking forward to James getting called up. Its going to happen. Our family follows the Nats as our national league team, and we go to a bunch of their games.
Teams get $$$ incentives for calling up players sooner than later.
I am waiting for it to happen!
