VIDEO: 'Robot Umpire' Makes Ridiculous Strike 3 Call in Atlantic League Game
By Michael Luciano
Is the Atlantic League even baseball anymore? It looks somewhat like baseball and calls itself baseball, but they have implemented some bizarre new rules over the last few weeks. While their rule that allows a player to advance to first on any pitch that gets away from the catcher borders on sacrilege, their implementation of robot umps has been encouraging, but still flawed. Look no further than this York Revolution/High Point Rockets game, in which a strike was called on a pitch that was almost over the batter's head.
Automated strike zone rings up hitter on called strike 3 in the Atlantic League.
— CJ Nitkowski (@CJNitkowski) July 14, 2019
“Let’s get this system in MLB tomorrow!” - every MLB pitcher. pic.twitter.com/arb214RLxk
Looks like robot umpires aren't the answer to everything. Gotta obey the bot!
The Atlantic League has been organized chaos in the last few days, with the new rules leading to some comical moments that included a player advancing to first on ball 2 and a manager being ejected for arguing with a computerized ump.
Atlantic League player becomes first professional to steal first base days after new rule is introduced https://t.co/FZkEp4OUov
— CBS Sports MLB (@CBSSportsMLB) July 14, 2019
Maybe this will cause the Atlantic League, once a proud bastion for independent baseball, to reconsider. If they somehow decide these ideas are a success, they could morph the game into something totally unrecognizable.