OPINION
Baseball is moving further into the 21st century after implementing instant replay, and is now considering putting robot umpires behind the home plate.
Major League Baseball will use these robotic umpires to call strikes and balls during every game. Players have argued that umpires now control the outcome of games more than the players themselves, and they are in support of the robots.
This problem became evident in a huge game between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night in their battle for first place.
Giants batter Alejandro De Aza was called out on a pitch that was unhittable and clearly out of the strike zone. This had a direct effect on the outcome of the game because the umpire took away San Francisco’s chance to tie the game.
According to a tweet by Alex Pavlovic, Giants insider for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, manager Bruce Bochy said it was the “worst call at the worst time.”
But it is unfair for the blame to be placed solely on the umpire because the Giants could have scored in any of the other eight innings.
As a college baseball pitcher myself, I hope to never see a robot umpire on the field. They would give the hitters an unfair advantage, knowing exactly what would be called a strike and what would be called a ball.
Pitchers have an unspoken relationship with umpires. When the game begins, the umpire reveals how the strike zone will be called for that game and the pitcher adjusts his game plan accordingly.
This is something that hitters have to figure out for themselves during the course of the game, along with trying to understand the pitcher.
If there were robot umpires, hitters would only have to worry about what pitch is going to be thrown. It takes away strategy in the mind of the pitcher.
By putting in robots to call the game, it takes away from the human aspect of baseball, including the ongoing battle between hitters and pitchers to outsmart each other.
If I had to deal with robot umpires there would be added pressure on how to throw strikes. If the pitches are close, but not in the clear-cut computer strike zone, it would be frustrating.
Despite the negative effects of having these robot umpires, the movement has already begun to take shape.
According to csnbayarea.com the Bay Area was the first to ever test out this system on July 28, 2015 during an Independent league game in San Rafael.
The system was run by a computer that calculated if the pitch was a ball or a strike and an announcer told the players and the crowd if the result.
It seems inevitable that this new system might make its way to the major leagues and then in time to the college level as well. If it does, it will change the whole dynamic of baseball and the sport will lose a lot of the game within the game between the pitcher and the hitter.
- See more at: http://spartandaily.com/143133/robotic-umpires-will-ruin-americas-greatest-pastime#sthash.0QBE6KPb.dpuf
Check out my other articles in the Spartan Daily.
