Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren voggle Bomb. Here forget about angels in
Speaker 1: the outfield? What about robots behind home plate? Ever since
Speaker 1: the words playball we're first uttered A baseball fans have
Speaker 1: belly ached about the quality of umpires, especially when it
Speaker 1: comes to their calling balls and strikes. But from the
Speaker 1: be careful what you wish for category comes the track
Speaker 1: Man Automated Ball Strike System, also known as the a
Speaker 1: B S System or robo umpires, and Major League Baseball
Speaker 1: is poised to expand the automated strike zone experiment from
Speaker 1: Low A to Triple A, the highest level of the
Speaker 1: minor leagues and just a mere call up from the
Speaker 1: big leagues. The a B S System doesn't look anything
Speaker 1: like we hoped or perhaps imagined it would, which, let's
Speaker 1: be honest, is probably C three p O and dark slacks,
Speaker 1: a black polo and a chess protector. The a B
Speaker 1: S system is essentially a flat black box situated high
Speaker 1: behind home plate. It looks almost like a flat screen
Speaker 1: television that's not turned on, but it's super advanced and
Speaker 1: uses radar and synchronized cameras to track just about everything
Speaker 1: about a pitch, including its release speed and height, a
Speaker 1: spin rate and access extension, and vertical and horizontal release angles,
Speaker 1: and in the strike zone it tracks the home plate height,
Speaker 1: plate side, and vertical and horizontal approach angles. After recording
Speaker 1: these stats on any given pitch, the system determines whether
Speaker 1: it's a ball or a strike, and then relays that
Speaker 1: information to the human umpire on the field via an
Speaker 1: earpiece and smartphone. The human umpire makes the call and
Speaker 1: can override the A B S system if they disagree.
Speaker 1: The idea here is not too welcome an emissary of
Speaker 1: our future robot overlords onto the field, but rather to
Speaker 1: make calling balls and strikes the most precise aspect of
Speaker 1: any baseball game. With a computer picking up the pitches
Speaker 1: within the designated parameters of the strike zone, it presumably
Speaker 1: will be more accurate than relying on a human being
Speaker 1: who may be distracted and fallible at home plate. The
Speaker 1: system has its fans and its detractors. The robo umpire
Speaker 1: tends to call more strikes, including higher and lower strikes,
Speaker 1: and often displays an acute sensitivity to check swings. The
Speaker 1: software appears to have some trouble with breaking ball pitches
Speaker 1: that drop in front of the catcher. But all of
Speaker 1: that is where the human umpire element still comes in.
Speaker 1: And yes, the inevitable has already happened. Back in twenty
Speaker 1: nine one, Frank Viola, the pitching coach of the High
Speaker 1: Point Rockers in the Atlantic Coast League, became the first
Speaker 1: person in baseball to be ejected for arguing the strike
Speaker 1: zone with a robo umpire. More precisely, Viola's anger was
Speaker 1: directed at a human umpire for not overturning the ruling
Speaker 1: on the field. Viola later treated that his biggest beef
Speaker 1: was not knowing who was in charge the track Man
Speaker 1: a b S system or the human umpire regardless. Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame third baseman Mike Schmidt wrote a piece for
Speaker 1: The Associated Press in twenty nineteen advocating the further testing
Speaker 1: and use of robotic umpires and stating that it would
Speaker 1: quote change the game for the good and continue to
Speaker 1: eliminate human deficiency. In announcing intentions to put the system
Speaker 1: in place for testing in low a, Southeast, Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball said it believed track Man would ensure consistency in
Speaker 1: the strike zone and improve the pace of the game.
Speaker 1: The Southeastern Conference announced in March of two that it
Speaker 1: will use the track Man V three stadium system to
Speaker 1: monitor each pitch for accuracy of every Conference Baseball game
Speaker 1: inning with two baseball season. The track Man B three
Speaker 1: will also be used for the SEC Baseball Tournament. There's
Speaker 1: no word yet on when the A B S system
Speaker 1: might be seen in Major League ballparks. The Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball Players Association said no to robo umpires in major
Speaker 1: league parks for the season during its most recent labor negotiations,
Speaker 1: but Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred told ESPN that
Speaker 1: he'd like to have them in ballparks. Today's episode is
Speaker 1: based on the article robot umps will be calling pitches
Speaker 1: at future MLB games on Housta works dot com, written
Speaker 1: by Patty Resmussen. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio
Speaker 1: in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and as
Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Klang and Ramsey Out four more podcasts
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