The Atlantic League of Independent Baseball has captured headlines in recent weeks after adopting an automated system to call balls and strikes. The new system uses Doppler radar to detect whether a ball or strike is thrown and then the call is relayed to the home plate umpire via a bluetooth equipped earpiece.
Baseball history was made last week when the new TrackMan system made its debut during the Atlantic League All-Star Game, and two days later, more baseball history was birthed when former Cy Young Award winner and current High Point Rockers pitching coach Frank Viola become the first coach or player to be ejected for arguing robotic balls and strikes.
The incident occurred in the first inning of a game between the Rockers and the York Revolution when High Point pitcher Dominic DeMasi became visibly upset when the home plate umpire failed to call some of his pitches strikes. Or should I say the robot failed to call his pitches strikes? From the dugout, Viola became vocal in support of his pitcher. After a warning, Viola then uttered the words, “Do your job.” As a result, Viola was subsequently ejected and stormed the field in protest. Here’s the video.
Some baseball fans welcome the new technology, while others are against it and fear Major League baseball will soon adopt robotic umpires as well. Are you in support of robotic umpires in baseball? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.