Modernization of Baseball

Modernization of Baseball

The year is 2054 and the Oakland Athletics play the Brewers for the World Series. With the score tied every call counts. A pitch thrown hits what appears to be the corner of the strike zone. What would have been a controversial call with human umpires a mere 40 years ago, is now a called made by a robotics system with confidence. Major League Baseball has made drastic changes since it began with not only modernization with computers and replay, but other things like accepting colored people into the game. Because of the major changes that have occurred in the MLB in its history, I predict that the game of baseball will be completely computerized in the future, Which includes replay, the extinction of human umpires, and the players reactions.

Major League Baseball started as a league in the year 1869. The game of baseball has been played with umpires since the start, but they didn't have the help of replay. Replay was implemented into the MLB on August 28, 2008. The only calls to be made from that implement was; to determine if the ball is fair or foul, to determine if the ball has left the playing field, or to determine if the home run was subject to fan interference.(Instant)

Starting off is replay, which will be used for every controversial call, no matter the circumstances. From the first use of replay in 2008 to the present, replay has been altered completely. Though the basics remain, many replay rules have been added in a short six years. In 2014 the MLB expanded its replay rules to its furthest boundaries. This season, managers have the option to challenge calls anytime before the 7th inning. After the seventh inning, the managers of their respective teams cannot challenge but they can request a challenge from the crew chief. The plays that can be replayed as of 2014 are: home runs, timing plays, fan interference, ground rule double, boundary calls, both force and tag plays, fair and foul, batter hit by pitch, touching of base, and passing runners. If you take into affect the amount of replays added to the system in the short six years it has taken, I expect there to be no calls in the future that cannot be reviewed.(Mlb)

Secondly with the modernization of baseball that is occurring, there will soon be no need for umpires. One tool already used during MLB games is electronic pitch locators. Depending on the network, they can be called "FoxTrax" for FOX and "PitchTrax" for the TBS network. These computer generated strike zones show you where each pitch is located, and if it was a strike or ball. According to Shaun Carrigan of Sportvision, the pitch locators are accurate to the nearest one inch. There is never a game where a behind the plate umpire is perfect, sure they can come close but if you substitute umpires with the computerized pitch location system, it will be as close to perfect as you can get. With that 1 inch you have a little leeway, but it's almost exact. (How) Umpires have been trusted for calling the game of baseball since the beginning in 1869. They're part of the game but they don't have to, you can increase the amount of correct calls and that's what baseball will resort to in the future.

Lastly, players will be effected during the changes. During