Are Human Umps Headed to Their 3^rd Strike?

“BALL OOONNNNNEEE,” that’s the sound of a baseball umpire calling a ball on a pitch that was on the outside corner.

The hitter thanked God, the pitcher is steaming red and the catcher is cursing his head off. This could also happen vice versa.

How can baseball reduce bad calls? Is it necessary or do boisterous arguments among umpires, ballplayers and managers add to the “charm” of the game? Does the answer lie in better training for “blues” or in nonhuman devices like robotic umpires?

The most visually challenged ump in the history of baseball is probably Angel Hernandez. He’s missed call after call after call and he’s just one of the umps that glasses won’t help.

I personally had this experience when I was catching a few weeks ago in Little League and our pitcher threw a 0-2 curve. The hitter was completely fooled and I knew it was coming. The ball bounced 2 inches to the right of home (catcher’s view) and I immediately knew it was drop 3rd strike and I quickly got up and picked up the ball and tagged the batter, TWICE!!

The ump didn’t say anything. I was confused so I looked behind me and he said, “No tag.”

So, our furious coach came out and started arguing with the ump, and I also joined the fray. No one realized the play was over until our third baseman yelled that he’s rounding second. Everyone saw that I tagged him, even the other team admitted that I tagged him.

Another instance in Little League (not the majors, Little League). I was on first and our hitter hit the ball to right field and the kid tried to make it look like he was Willie Mays and slid for the ball. Well, it worked for about a half a second. He caught the ball, and then he dropped it. The ump made no call and I was running to second thinking he didn’t catch it. Turns out, he caught it but the ump pretty much whispered “Out.” Then, I was caught in a rundown and was tagged out. Our team’s runner on third was also tagged out, a triple play.

Another piece of evidence for your consideration is that Boston University analyzed 4 million pitches and found out that MLB umpires made incorrect calls 20% of the time in 2018. Keep in mind that one-fifth could be the difference between getting into the playoffs or not.

When the batters had two strikes in the count, the percentage increased to 29%. (Credit: mlbmemes/ig).

I think that robotic umps will never make a bad call again; ejections will go down maybe 80% and the right teams will make it to the postseason. If the leagues and owners don’t want to do all of those things listed above, then using precise technology like Hawk Eye vision or camera’s at eye level to the catcher’s mit, may help reduce bad calls.

I must say, though, it is kind of fun watching Bryce Harper and other players screaming at umps and then getting ejected which add to the charisma of baseball, but, I am all for robotic umps.