From iPhones, to computers and just about anything else, technology has taken a firm grip on every aspect of our lives – for the better and the worse. But after reading reports that the MLB will test out robotic umpiring at the minor league level at some point this season, I was equal parts confused and infuriated.
There are a few reasons for my disgust towards this possibility. The biggest being the nature and pureness of the game of baseball.
I love sports. Basketball, football, baseball and hockey. I love it all. But there is nothing like a baseball game for me.
Many may not agree, but besides for golf, baseball is pure. It’s natural. Sure, the game has changed in many different aspects. Players of this generation are different than in generations past. Rules have changed, and so have strategies. But at the end of the day, there is no clock. It is still pitcher against batter. It is still a game of inches, a game of match ups and games within the game.
In the words of the legendary Yogi Berra, the game is still 90 percent mental and half physical. Baseball is the same old game it always has been, just more enhanced, complex and modern.
Taking away or reducing an umpire’s role would ruin the nature and pureness that myself and so many others adore. Umpires make mistakes, but that’s baseball. And when mistakes are made, the game’s nature is at its best.
There is nothing better than watching an intense baseball game in a big situation. That is when an umpire must be at the top of his game. And to have a robot in the ear of an umpire would take that away.
The MLB was established in 1869 in Cincinnati, Ohio. And after 150 years, the MLB wants to look into this? Pathetic.
That’s wanting things to be too perfect. That’s wanting things to be too black and white. That’s wanting complicated science and technology to take over a game that was meant to be simple, natural, pure and compelling.
And what does that teach young fans about the game, let alone life in general? That we should strive to be as perfect as possible? Because that’s always the case. Nobody’s perfect. Sports, just like me, has flaws. There are pitfalls and fallacies, but that’s what makes being a fan and sports writer fun.
And whoever said technology was perfect? Because it sure as hell wasn’t me. In a perfect world, you’d think that technology would never fail. If you haven’t figured this out already, consider yourself behind.
Boston University graduate students released a study recently about major league umpires and how “inconsistent” they are. While it’s hard to refute with data and confirmed facts, I see fallacies.
The study followed 10 seasons of major league baseball (2008-2018). They found that in 2018, 34,000 plus calls were blown from behind the plate. But how many of those calls were close to the strike zone? How many of those calls could’ve gone either way? And what about the other nine years? Is there an upward or downward trend in missed ball or strike calls?
The study also concluded that umpires make incorrect calls one in every five pitches. That’s just 20 percent of calls, depending on how many pitches are thrown in a game. The same questions, asked above, could be asked about that 20 percent. Again, how many of these calls could’ve gone either way, ball or strike?
And, back to the nature aspect of the game, who doesn’t love to see a coach or a player argue with an umpire every once in a while? I certainly do. Every pitch and every moment matters in a baseball game, especially in bigger games, like the playoffs and world series. Automated strike zones and robots would take away a large part of that nature and emotion.
Every umpire has a different strike zone. Some have narrow zones, others have wider zones. Some have higher zones, others have lower ones. No strike zone is perfect. And pitchers know that. Some pitchers, in fact, will use an umpire’s specific strike zone to their advantage. The same could be said about batters, too. Just as players know a lot about each other, they know a lot about the umpires they see frequently.
Having robots and automated strike zones would take all of that away. There would be no gray areas. A strike and a ball would be too obvious – far too easy. The game of baseball would be flat-out boring if everything were up to robots. Umpires have been around since the start, doing their jobs out of pure judgment ever since. And it should stay that way.
Although there is instant replay in the MLB, which gives umpires the opportunity to review bang-bang calls, yet not even that is perfect. It often times takes several minutes for a review to be completed, and the final call still (sometimes) causes a fiasco. But the home plate umpires job remains the same; call the balls and strikes. Those cannot be reviewed by replay.
So go ahead, MLB. Try this in the minor leagues. But as a lifelong fan of the game, it would be a shame to see such a natural game in the hands of a robot. The game should be left as is. Don’t ruin America’s pastime with more technology.
By Mike Hogan, Sports Editor
hoganm17@bonaventure.edu
