By: Ava Eilish Paolino '25
With the rise of artificial intelligence, many are concerned that AI is going to take over their occupation. However, many are quick to turn to technology in situations of uncertainty, especially when human error is involved. In sports, human error is inevitable due to the presence of umpires or referees who may make bad calls. Sports fans and players are the first to call out these mistakes, and have urged each respective industry to do something about it. In Major League Baseball, a huge discrepancy has been the calling of strikes and balls by umpires. Sometimes costing a team a rally at the plate or even a win, fans have been quick to take to social media and complain, going as far as to advocate for the usage of Artificial Intelligent to replace umpires. Although most comments like those are made in a joking manner, how inevitable are robotic umpires?
Umpires have remained a constant factor of professional baseball games since the very first major league game in 1876. They come in groups of four; three on the field and one behind the plate. It's not an easy job, as excessive training is required and the position comes with long hours, a lot of travel, and constant verbal disagreements from spectators. Without umpires, there would be no baseball game. They call every out made on the field, balls and strikes, and even have the power to eject a coach or player. With all of this responsibility often comes a lot of backlash from passionate fans who just want to see their team win.
Human error, as mentioned before, is inevitable in the umpiring world. On average, umpires correctly call 92.4% of strikes and balls. This is a relatively high percentage, though as always, some umpires bring the average up, and some drag it down. If you are a fan of the MLB, you have probably heard of umpire Angel Hernandez. Known for making egregiously bad calls on the field. Last season he was the lowest rated umpire in baseball. As soon as the umpire crew is released and fans hear that Hernandez will be on the field, they let out a collective sigh and head straight to social media. However Hernandez is not the only disliked umpire. If any umpire makes one bad call on the field, chances are that they will get clipped and posted to social media by a company like ESPN or Jomboy Media. This furthers the connotation of horrendous umpiring and seemingly pushes AI takeover's agenda.
The MLB has been open to introducing new technology in the past couple of years by involving the PitchCom, virtual reality, and augmented reality to players. In games, almost everything can be challenged via instant replay, from tag plays to home runs. Contrarily, one major part of baseball that has not been challenged by AI in the major leagues is the strike zone. This is where robot umpires, or the Automated Ball-Strike System, can be used to create a more accurate and more enjoyable game. Essentially, the ABS system would discern strikes and balls through AI technology, and send the message to the umpires for them to then call aloud. The umpire would still be behind the plate, relaying the message from the computer. The calls would be right 100% of the time, something ideal for most fans.
If this is so ideal, why isn't it implemented? Commissioner Rob Manfred seems to be backing the idea, although is vague as to when the ABS system will be executed. The system is currently used in some triple A games, as most new changes do before heading to the major leagues. One problem is the discrepancy of the strike zone between players, as Jose Altuve (5’6) will not have the same strike zone as Aaron Judge (6’7). It seems that the computers cannot effectively perceive these differences, so before it makes it to the big leagues, it needs to be sorted out.
While we probably won't be seeing robots behind the plate within the next couple of seasons, it is something each fan can look foward to. As for now, they will just have to deal with every fair, and not so fair, call made by the umpires.
Photos Courtesy of Houston Chronicles, Battery Power, and ESPN
Sources: TheAthletic.com, MLB.com, BleachReport.com and ESPN.com
Edited By: Catherine Polatidis '26 and Ms. Brilliant
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