Major League Baseball needs to get with the times and use available technology

On April 24, the jig was up, the curtain was lifted, and the shell game revealed once more. When home plate umpire Angel Hernandez called strike three on Philadelphia Phillies OF Kyle Schwarber, on a pitch that was out of the strike zone, we were again witness to the biggest joke in professional sports — the “strike zone” in baseball.

The strike zone is an imaginary box above home plate, and the umpire judges whether or not a baseball has entered it. The dimensions of the strike zone vary according to the batter’s height and stance. The latest copy of the Official Rules of Major League Baseball defines it as “that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants (of the batter), and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the knee cap.”

That is the rule. It is not meant to be altered, bargained, or influenced by anything. But Major League Baseball still just does not get it. They still allow the very powerful umpire union to decide what they feel a strike is. Each umpire has his own definition. Every game we hear about a certain umpire’s own strike zone, and how pitchers and batters will have to manage. Gambling sites have to name who’s behind the plate because it affects the actual betting line on games! In today’s day and age, that should not happen.

When Schwarber went into his tirade, causing him to be ejected from the game, he was also unleashing the frustration of all his teammates, the players of the Milwaukee Brewers (his opponents), and every single player subjected to this joke for years. If a batter or manager dare argue a ball or strike, they get tossed out and possibly suspended or fined. But these umpires, who consistently make bad calls, face no discipline.

Angel Hernandez is rated as one of the worst umpires year after year, yet nothing is ever done. Now, everyone watching the game at home could easily see the ball was inside the legal strike zone. They were able to see this, because of a little thing called “technology”. The MLB has a long history of avoiding any attempt to bring their game into the 21st century. They think, “Hey, we’ve been getting this wrong for over a hundred years. Why stop now?” It is referred to as the “nature of the game.” They refused to use TV’S instant replay for the longest time, but finally relented in the middle of the 2008 season. They allow it now for calling a ball fair or foul, and if a ball is a home run, close plays on the base paths, or if there has been any spectator interference with the play. This is the limited extent to which MLB has allowed technology to sneak its way into the game, and take away the “human aspect” of its game.

This is no longer about the human aspect of anything. This is about getting very important calls correct. These should not be done by “the judgment of a human.” If the technology is available that will allow this to happen, it is incumbent upon the league to use it. This will prevent any argument, and diminishes the chance that the sport may be looked at as illegitimate or the games as being fixed.

There is such a simple solution: finally invest in the Umpire Information System, designed by Questec. The UIS uses Questec’s proprietary measurement technology that analyzes video from cameras mounted in the rafters of each ballpark to precisely locate the ball throughout the pitch corridor. This information is then used to measure the speed, placement, and curvature of the pitch along its entire path. The UIS tracking system is a fully automated process that does not require changes to the ball, the field of play, or any other aspect of the game. Additional cameras are mounted at the field level to measure the strike zone for each individual batter, for each individual pitch, for each at bat.

Done.

Simple.

No questions or arguments. There can be an “umpire” behind home plate who holds a little device that lights up and reads either “strike” or “ball.” It is an impartial system that does not rely on human faults of petty anger, shame, or revenge. We’re able to see the strike zone as we watch a game from our comfy chairs at home through the use of Pitchtrax. This technology was designed by Questec, and nightly, we see how bad the umpires are at keeping a consistent, legal strike zone. Often, the broadcasters calling the game will refer to how bad the call was, and they will show the simple graphic proving the ball was or was not a strike.

MLB may have taken the hint. Robot umps have been given a promotion, and are being used in Triple-a, the highest level of the minors. There is no good excuse why Questec should not be used. It has been proven reliable to half of an inch. If not, Major League Baseball is going to find itself quickly transported back to the future, and knocked out of the park.

“Gambling sites have to name who’s behind the plate because it affects the actual betting line on games! In today’s day and age, that should not happen.”

Darin Ramsay St. John’s