Don’t blame Angel Hernandez. Really. It’s not his fault.
The whipping boy, who is ranked number one among major league umpires by fans and the media, is not even the worst umpire, but this is no match for his actions.
But it’s becoming clear that not only Hernandez, but also the referees, need help with balls and strikes.
It’s not their fault.
They are the best in the world at what they do. If you’ve ever watched a college or Little League game on TV, you know that major league umpires don’t get into their positions by accident. But the job has become too difficult.
Calling balls and strikes with an average fastball in the mid-90s and more dramatic spin and breaks on splitters, sliders, and curveballs, not to mention the new pitches being introduced to the arsenal (sweeper, anyone?) Work is becoming more and more important. Too difficult for most mortals.
Well, it’s finally time for the so-called Robo Amplifier, also known as ABS, the automatic ball striking system. (Incidentally, an improved version of the Robo-Amp could be introduced to Major League Baseball as early as next year. More on that below.)
This time has come for two reasons.
The most obvious is that RoboAmp has a batting average of 1,000. This means that a roboamp is much more likely to be right than the best human being. That’s most MLB referees. Some estimate that more than 70 percent of MLB’s umpires are still fully qualified, with younger players generally considered (and ranked) better than older players. .
The second reason, and this is no small thing, is that RoboAmp lacks emotion, emotion, disappointment, anger, and other things that can trigger an unjust player or staff member to be ejected from the game. is. It happens all too often.
Aaron Boone, who has earned his share of ejections when defending his players (a.k.a. “The Barbarian in the Box”), was hit by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt on the second pitch of a game two weeks ago. Accidentally pointed a finger at me. Everyone could see that the fans in the back of the dugout should have been cheering. But Wendelstedt was too crazy to notice it.
And on Saturday, a bigger issue arose when home plate umpire Ryan Brackney became so enraged by comments made by Yankees superstar Aaron Judge that he ejected Judge. In a hasty verdict (sorry, I couldn’t resist), the judge “said something” as he walked away. [he] I shouldn’t have said that,” said crew chief Alan Porter, who spoke on behalf of the referee/culprit.
The paying fans who didn’t come to see Brackney still don’t know why Judge was put on ice in the final few innings. They just suspect that fraud took place, and they would be right about that.
Even if the judge uttered a compound word that began with “bull,” as lip-readers suspect, and even if, as alleged, he embellished it with harsh adjectives, the judge He shouldn’t be thrown out for a quick remark on the way back to the dugout. The judge then declined to say what he said, but it’s understandable why he prefers to reserve his colorful language for the battlefield.
Boone almost gets his thumb taken off. But he doesn’t have enough reason to eject the judge. 1) He walked away no matter what he said, 2) He’s had the worst strike calls of anyone in MLB since 2018 (Judge leads with 444, Mookie Betts is second with 441), and 3) is the fans. is a big reason to come to the game.
It’s obvious why this was Judge’s first ejection. He rarely protests.
It’s completely unfair that former Yankees captain Derek Jeter (who always expressed displeasure with strike calls) is listed as ejected when he was never ejected.
The fans are getting tougher and the whole country is like that.
Regardless, it’s time to take emotion out of the equation.
MLB is said to be “thoroughly testing” the technology. They have been using Robo Amps in Triple A in some of their parks since 2022 and everywhere since last year. They rely strictly on RoboAmp for his 3 games a week, and use RoboAmp as a challenge system for the remaining 3 of his games.
I’ll take either method.
Robo Amp calls the perfect game, it’s the ultimate.
But I can understand why MLB would prefer a challenge system. One reason for this is that they are more likely to get the necessary approvals from both players and referees. There are also rumors that this system could be introduced as early as next season.
Here’s how they do it. The team receives three incorrect challenges in one game. Therefore, in theory, even if there is a referee who repeatedly makes errors, you can continue to challenge him.
An informal and unscientific poll in the clubhouse on Tuesday found that while players were divided, there was far more support for the challenge system (anonymity ensured to avoid provoking retaliation). (promised). Some people don’t want any changes, which isn’t that surprising since they’re all very successful in their current situation. But some smart people understand that it is inevitable. Someone said, “That’s probably what’s going to happen.”
I say it’s time to get the call right if you can.
