Robot Umpires Are Now a Real Thing

It was just a matter of time until we made the move to robot umpires. It's been needed for awhile. Sorry for the quality of the video, but just watch this footage from the 1997 NLCS when umpire Eric Gregg moved the strike zone damn near a full foot outside.

Now baseball has taken the first step in ensuring a more consistent strike zone. It introduced a doppler radar system (yes, the same thing that checks the weather) to the Atlantic League.

Basically, the system reads where the ball crosses the plate and says whether or not the pitch was a ball or strike. But don't worry, the robots aren't completely taking our jobs yet. An actual human umpire was needed just in case the computer makes a massive mistake, reading the pitch incorrectly, and was also there to call out the result.

There was a bit of a delay though. There were a few times the call wasn't made until after the ball had already been returned to the pitcher.

Self driving cars. Robot umpires. Pretty soon, your job will be automated, no matter what you do.