Thursday, October 8, 2009

Balls and Strikes without an umpire.

Cable TV channel TBS is showing the MLB division series playoff games. A technology called Pitch Trax immediately represents each pitch on the right side of the screen on a small image of the strike zone. Each pitch in an at bat (AB) is numbered and remains on the screen for the entire AB. Viewers know immediately whether a pitch is a strike and then see the plate umpire's interpretation. I side with the tech call every time over the umpire.
So if MLB has this system in place, what the heck is it doing with an umpire making the calls, using the same basic technique that was used 100 years ago? How stupid is that? Pitch Trax ALREADY exists, so why not use the technology to call balls and strikes and move the pathetic plate umpire out of harm's way to a position behind the pitcher from which he can preside over the AB like the chair umpire in a major tennis tournament.

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