Computer calls balls, strikes in pro league
“Robot umpires” have arrived.
The independent Atlantic League became the first professional baseball league in the country to let a computer call balls and strikes in its All-star game on Wednesday night. Plate umpire Brian debrauwere wore an earpiece connected to an iphone in his pocket and relayed the call upon receiving it from a Trackman computer system that uses Doppler radar.
Debrauwere crouched in his normal position behind the catcher and signaled balls and strikes. It didn’t appear that he had any delay receiving the calls in the first inning.
“Until we can trust this system 100 percent, I still have to go back there with the intention of getting a pitch correct because if the system fails — it doesn’t pick a pitch up, or if it registers a pitch that’s a foot and a half off the plate as a strike — I have to be prepared to correct that,” debrauwere said before the game.
The umpires have the ability to override the computer, which considers a pitch a strike when the ball bounces and then crosses the zone. Trackman also does not evaluate checked swings.
The experiment with radar-tracking technology to call balls and strikes was originally expected to begin at the start of the season but experienced delays.
Atlantic League President Rick White said it’s going to be implemented leaguewide over the next few weeks.
Scoreboard stumbles
The only errors on the scoreboard at the All-star Game were by the scoreboard. At least one player noticed, and he wasn’t pleased.
The giant board at Progressive Field was filled with mistakes Tuesday night, including a couple of misspelled names, a wrong picture and a logo of the incorrect team.
“They had what, two weeks to get ready for this? That can’t happen,” New York Mets sparkplug Jeff Mcneil said.
Mcneil is leading the majors with a .349 batting average, an impressive feat, considering that he made his major league debut less than a year ago.
Mcneil came up to bat for the National League in the eighth inning and noticed that the photo on the scoreboard wasn’t of him. Instead, it was of Mets teammate Jacob degrom.
“That was tough, to see degrom’s picture up there,” Mcneil said.
“I wanted to see my picture up there. I know my family did, too.”
He added that the mistake “gives me motivation to make it next year. Maybe next time, they’ll get my picture right.”
David Dahl fared little better. The Colorado outfielder batted right before Mcneil and was listed on the scoreboard as “Davis Dahl.”
Chicago Cubs catcher Willson Contreras’ first name was spelled “Wilson.”
Big-hitting Cody Bellinger plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Ketel Marte is with the Arizona Diamondbacks, but when the starting lineups were shown, both players appeared with the logo of the Atlanta Braves.