{"id":797540,"date":"2019-07-11T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league\/"},"modified":"2019-07-11T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T20:00:00","slug":"robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/local-news\/robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2019Robot umpires\u2019 debut in independent Atlantic League"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.8955823293173\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-368676-46\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, huddles behind Freedom Division catcher James Skelton, of the York Revolution, as the official wears an earpiece during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania,\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"2\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"15\">\n<p><strong>Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, huddles behind Freedom Division catcher James Skelton, of the York Revolution, as the official wears an earpiece during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania,<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95.jpg\" alt=\"Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, huddles behind Freedom Division catcher James Skelton, of the York Revolution, as the official wears an earpiece during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania,\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-1.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, calls a strike given to him by a radar system over an earpiece as Liberty Division's Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, strikes out to Freedom Division's Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"3.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"18\">\n<p><strong>Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, calls a strike given to him by a radar system over an earpiece as Liberty Division&#8217;s Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, strikes out to Freedom Division&#8217;s Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-1.jpg\" alt=\"Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, calls a strike given to him by a radar system over an earpiece as Liberty Division's Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, strikes out to Freedom Division's Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-2.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | A radar device is seen on the roof behind home plate at PeoplesBank Park during the third inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>A radar device is seen on the roof behind home plate at PeoplesBank Park during the third inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-2.jpg\" alt=\"A radar device is seen on the roof behind home plate at PeoplesBank Park during the third inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-3-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-3.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | Ron Besaw, right, operates a laptop computer as home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, gets signals from radar with the ball and strikes calls during the fourth inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"1\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"13\">\n<p><strong>Ron Besaw, right, operates a laptop computer as home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, gets signals from radar with the ball and strikes calls during the fourth inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-3.jpg\" alt=\"Ron Besaw, right, operates a laptop computer as home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, gets signals from radar with the ball and strikes calls during the fourth inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-4-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-4.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | A radar device, top, is seen during second inning action in the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"0\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"11\">\n<p><strong>A radar device, top, is seen during second inning action in the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-4.jpg\" alt=\"A radar device, top, is seen during second inning action in the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-5-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-5.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP | Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, wears an earpiece as Liberty Division's Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, swings at a pitch from Freedom Division's Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"3.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"18\">\n<p><strong>Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, wears an earpiece as Liberty Division&#8217;s Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, swings at a pitch from Freedom Division&#8217;s Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.<\/strong><br \/>Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.summitdaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/07\/Robot_Umpires_Baseball_05357-cdc95-5.jpg\" alt=\"Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, wears an earpiece as Liberty Division's Tyler Ladendorf, right, of the High Point Rockers, swings at a pitch from Freedom Division's Mitch Atkins, of the York Revolution, during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania.\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports-news\/robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports-news\/robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">YORK, Pa. \u2014 \u201cRobot umpires\u201d have arrived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The independent Atlantic League became the first American professional baseball league to let a computer call balls and strikes Wednesday night at its All-Star Game. Plate umpire Brian deBrauwere wore an earpiece connected to an iPhone in his pocket and relayed the call upon receiving it from a TrackMan computer system that uses Doppler radar.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He crouched in his normal position behind the catcher and signaled balls and strikes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cUntil we can trust this system 100%, I still have to go back there with the intention of getting a pitch correct because if the system fails, it doesn\u2019t pick a pitch up or if it registers a pitch that\u2019s a foot-and-a-half off the plate as a strike, I have to be prepared to correct that,\u201d deBrauwere said before the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">It didn\u2019t appear deBrauwere had any delay receiving the calls at first, but players noticed a big difference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOne time I already had caught the ball back from the catcher and he signaled strike,\u201d said pitcher Daryl Thompson, who didn\u2019t realize the technology was being used until after he disagreed with a call.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Infielder L.J. Mazzilli said a few times hitters who struck out lingered an extra second or so in the batter\u2019s box waiting on a called third strike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe future is crazy, but it\u2019s cool to see the direction of baseball,\u201d said Mazzilli a son of former big league player and manager Lee Mazzilli.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The umpires have the ability to override the computer, which considers a pitch a strike when the ball bounces and then crosses the zone. TrackMan also does not evaluate checked swings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Former big leaguer Kirk Nieuwenhuis doesn\u2019t like the idea of giving umps veto power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIf the umpire still has discretion, it defeats the purpose,\u201d said Nieuwenhuis, who batted .221 with 31 homers in 978 at-bats with the Mets, Angels and Brewers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">About 45 minutes before first pitch, the public address announcer directed fans to look up at the black screen hanging off the face of the upper level behind the plate and joked they could blame the computer for any disagreements over calls.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is an exciting night for MLB, the Atlantic League, baseball generally,\u201d said Morgan Sword, MLB\u2019s senior vice president of economics and operations. \u201cThis idea has been around for a long time and it\u2019s the first time it\u2019s been brought to life in a comprehensive way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The experiment with radar-tracking technology to call balls and strikes was originally expected to begin at the start of the season but experienced some delays.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Atlantic League President Rick White said it\u2019s going to be implemented league-wide over the next few weeks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cAfter that, we\u2019re relatively confident that it\u2019s going to spread through organized baseball,\u201d White said. \u201cWe\u2019re very excited about what this portends not only for our league but for the future of baseball. What we know is technology can help umpires be more accurate and we\u2019re committed to that. We think the Atlantic League is being a pioneer for all of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Sword said MLB hasn\u2019t received much pushback from umpires.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOne of our focuses is not to replace the umpire,\u201d Sword said. \u201cIn fact, we\u2019re trying empower the umpire with technology. The home plate umpire has a lot more to do than call balls and strikes and he\u2019s going to be asked to do all of that. We\u2019re in touch with our umpires\u2019 union and this is the first step of the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">DeBrauwere had no issue with it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThis is just another plate job and I just get a little help on this one so I feel very relaxed going into this one,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Strike zones are determined according to the average for players of that height unless there\u2019s already information on a player\u2019s particular strike zone if they\u2019ve played in the majors at some point.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Pitcher Mitch Atkins noticed pitches higher in the strike zone were called.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cTechnically, they\u2019re strikes, but umpires never called them,\u201d Atkins said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said there\u2019s no timeline on when the technology will be used in the majors.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cWe need to see how it works, first in the Atlantic League and then probably other places, meaning other parts of minor league baseball, before it comes to Major League Baseball,\u201d Manfred said. \u201cKind of gets back to the question that I was asked earlier about the baseball, we hear all the time from players, why don\u2019t we have an electronic strike zone, why don\u2019t we have an electronic strike zone? We try to be responsive to those sorts of expressions of concern. We have spent a lot of time and money on the technology. It\u2019s not just to address player concerns. It obviously has broadcasting uses. That same technology can be used in our broadcast, which has value to our fans. But we feel it\u2019s incumbent upon us \u2014 people that play the game raised this as something that could make the game better. We kind of feel it\u2019s incumbent on us to figure out whether we could make it work. And that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/sports-news\/robot-umpires-debut-in-independent-atlantic-league\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, huddles behind Freedom Division catcher James Skelton, of the York Revolution, as the official wears an earpiece during the first inning of the Atlantic League All-Star minor league baseball game on Wednesday in York, Pennsylvania,Julio Cortez \/ AP | AP Home plate umpire Brian deBrauwere, left, calls a strike [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-797540","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 20:13:21","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSMT The Mountain","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=797540"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797540\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=797540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=797540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/ksmt\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=797540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}