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Balls and Strikes Were Called by a Computer, Not an Umpire, at a Professional Baseball Game

posted by takyon on Saturday August 01 2015, @09:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the strike-three-for-humanity dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

A small, but notable moment in baseball history occurred this week. In a US minor-league game between the San Rafael Pacifics and Vallejo Admirals, the home plate umpire did not call balls and strikes. Instead, a computerized video system was used to make the determinations, which were relayed by the game's announcer to the crowd cheering on the home team—and checking out the system's performance—at Albert Park in San Rafael, California.

The system, Pitchf/x from Chicago-based Sportvision, isn't new to baseball. It already provides data for evaluating players and umpires, and it helps TV viewers see where a pitch lands relative to the strike zone. But on July 28 it was used to make actual calls, marking the first time that's happened in professional baseball.

Maybe if Major League Baseball can save money on umpires they can lower ticket prices.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2015, @11:26AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 01 2015, @11:26AM (#216723)

    http://m.mlb.com/news/article/2173765/ [mlb.com]

    The balls, strikes and outs are recorded in Major League games by 70 umpires working in 17 crews of four (with two national rovers) working together in both leagues. Most came into the Majors after having worked from eight to 12 years on the average in the Minor Leagues for wages far below what they can earn in The Show.

    A Major League umpire's starting salary is around $120,000, with the senior umps earning up to $350,000. That may sound like a lot for what seems to be six months' work, but the umpire's season is considerably longer than that with Spring Training, All-Star Games and postseason play added into the mix.