The Controversy of A.I. Umpires in Baseball

Should the MLB Make the Change?

By: Toby Tepp, Journalist

The idea of robotic umpires instead of real people has been floating around for a long time. Is it a good idea, or should we stick with the old methods?

If you don’t already know, an umpire is a person in baseball who calls balls and strikes, as well as decides if runners are safe or out. The ‘strike zone’ is an imaginary box in front of the batter. If the pitch lands in the strike zone, it is a strike. However, people aren’t machines, and we all make mistakes. Sometimes it can be frustrating when an umpire makes a bad call. But what if, instead of a human umpire, it is a machine?

There has recently been the development of a perfect machine that replaces umpires and never makes a bad call. Some people think that this technology needs to be introduced to MLB (Major League Baseball) immediately, while others believe that there is no need. So where does my opinion land?

Personally, I can see both sides of the debate. But while umpires can sometimes make bad calls, I think that’s just part of the game. To introduce something this game-changing would deeply affect the feel and flow of the game. I can’t be sure that the players and fans would like that. Also, there would be a huge problem if the bot glitched or had hiccups because that would obviously be very bad. So in my opinion, at least for now, sticking with human umpires is the way to go.