“Theatre of sport lost to robotic officiating”: MLB premieres ‘robot umpires’ in Minor League

This season, MLB (Major League Baseball) has launched so-called “robot umpires” in 11 Pacific Coast League Triple-A teams, putting it one step away from reaching the Major Leagues, to improve accuracy and reduce delays. Umpire calls is quite a debate in everyday games in baseball, so much so that it creates a certain level of frustration amongst the fans and the players.

“Jetsons” – style robot umpires on the field, most fans won’t notice the actual device with that eight surveillance looking cameras at the top of the bleachers. This is what the Major League wants to introduce in modern baseball. The system was introduced as ‘The automated balls and strikes system (ABS)’

“Yelling at the umpire, just having a good time. You know, it makes the game feel authentic, makes it feel real,” said Ronaldo Echeverria, a Las Vegas Aviators fan. Umpires do make human errors, but is it one step ahead or is it killing the authenticity?

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Robot Umpires put in place in All-Star minor league baseball

“I think people have the misconception that it’s going to be a robot behind the plate. ‘Lost in Space’ is one of my favorite shows. It’s not the robot umpire from ‘Lost in Space’ back there,” Jim Gemma, the Aviators’ media relations director, told Fox News Digital. “The umpire is going to have Air Pods in, and the ball comes over… That basically tells them instantly if it’s a ball or strike.”

Cameras located at the top of the bleachers detect the strike zone based on the players’ height. Once it determines whether the pitch was a ball or strike, a robotic voice tells the umpire through an earpiece.

“At the core, sport is a human endeavor, and we like to cheer for our fans. We like to vilify the umpires,” said Rayvon Fouché (studied technology in sports), a Purdue University professor of American Studies. “It’s a theater of sport and part of that would be lost if we moved to robotic officiating.”

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“It’s good in some ways, but not in baseball. Baseball’s an old-fashioned game,” David Baird, an Aviators fan, told Fox News Digital.

“In real high stakes situation like the World Series, we need the most accurate call possible you know,” Damian Young, another Aviators fan, added.

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