I am a huge fan of instant replay in every sport. The delay is worth it if they can get the call right. But one of the trade offs was how that game ended the other night. What a buzz kill it was to hear "hit the pause button" as they reviewed the play.Originally Posted by cp176
I like it!
Do it between innings, instead of the silly character races.
“The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted our spoons.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
"When you're dead, you don't know you're dead.
It's only difficult for other people.
It works the same way for stupid."
Perhaps you and I are two of the older fans here yet we have different opinions on using technology to get the ball and strike calls right. Too darned many wrong calls and too much variabillity between umpires. I would keep the ump behind the plate as there are many other reasons for him there. Just feed him or her the ball and strike calls electronically. What happens if the World Series was determined due to a strike call on a pitch 2 inches off the plate? My view is lets get the call right rather than stick with tradition.
i watch 162 Red Sox games per season (+ whatever ST games are on MLB network + whatever postseason games we play). if there were Robot Umps i would watch all those games + 100 more games of other teams.
Robot Umps Now.
other names i have posted under: none
Making bad calls might make things more interesting, but not in a positive way.
I don't think robo-calling balls and strikes is going to make a big difference in how fans watch the game or like the game. The games will go faster. Pitchers and hitters will now know what they need to do to get things done.
We'll soon get used to not seeing a fat ump standing right over the catcher's shoulder. That alone is worth it. The no mistakes on balls and strikes is just icing on the cake.
I don't know if umpires are any better or worse than they used to be in the days before the K-Zone, Amica Strike Zone or whatever
Is there as much scuttlebutt about robo umps throughout baseball as there is on this site? If so it's time for the Umpires Union to sit up and take notice. The best way they can protect themselves and their jobs is by getting better at what they do. If they don't do that they'll soon be replaced by a machine.
Step # 1 should be to identify the worst of the umpires and either get them retrained or replace them. That will give the umps an incentive to do better.
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
If you just have robo umps call balls and strikes, no umps will lose their jobs. You'll still have an ump somewhere behind home plate to make other calls in that area.
If I were an ump, I'd be happy to have that task taken off my hands. Plus, no more umps getting hurt on foul tips or catcher wiffs.... well mostly anyways.
The real issue here is the quality of umpiring and how technology has caught up with umpiring. The fact is, we didn't know how good or bad some of those umps are until we started having the Pitch Zones on television.
IMO the real and more practical solution is to continually make human umpiring better. It'll never be perfect but the umpires need to be making strides to make it better.
I see the solution as being fairly simple. People respond to an incentive and if the incentive to umpires is keeping their jobs by preventing robo-umps they'll do better. If they don't respond to that incentive it'll be difficult for me to feel badly for them when robo-umps become the norm.
It's a mere moment in a man's life between the All-Star game and the Old Timer's game.
-Vin Scully
not to mention, how are managers going to argue with robot umps? Will they run out on the field yelling "01110000 01101001 01110010 01100001 01101110 01101000 01100001 00100000 01110000 01100001 01101110 01110100 01110011 00001010 00001010 00001010!!!"?
Last edited by notin; 10-11-2018 at 09:25 AM.
How are real umps more practical than robo umps when calling balls and strikes?
No matter how much they improve, they'll never be consistent or perfect.
Why feel badly for umps, anyways, they won't lose their jobs, if all we do is take away balls and strikes.
Nah. Nobody turns in to watch the refs. People are more likely to turn off it they hate refs/umps/officials.
Still keep them for plays at the plate, check swings, time outs, etc.
There are actually fantasy baseball leagues for umpires (true!!) where you score based on their ejections. Do you want to take that away?
In your defense, it might be a step towards helping the participants in those leagues get a life...
Home plate umpires typically defer check swing calls anyway...
Not always tho.
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