In Major League Baseball, there are four umpires on the field: one behind each base, and one behind home plate. The home plate ump has arguably the most important job, calling balls and strikes. A strike is basically any hittable pitch, something over the plate, between the batter’s chest and his knees. And a ball is everything else. Accurate calls are critical. But one study from 2018 found that umpires blow about 14 calls every game. That’s 34,000 bad calls every year. And it makes a difference.
A blown strike call can decide a win or a loss, a championship or long and sad off-season. This year, Major League Baseball has introduced a new system to help improve the accuracy of ball-and-strike calls – now, players are allowed to appeal to a so-called “robot umpire” if they disagree with the original, human call on the field.
The “robots” are actually a camera system called ABS, or “Automated Ball-Strike.” The system is similar to missile-guidance technology, and can pinpoint a ball’s location with startling accuracy. Back in 2023, 99% Invisible first covered this story, when the ABS system was introduced in baseball’s minor leagues. Now, with its arrival in the MLB, we revisit that story, and offer an update from producer Chris Berube on how the ABS system has been working out so far.
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Really disappointed with the reporting on CB Bucknor in today’s 99% Invisible episode. Dedicated baseball fans have known his name for years—not because of one bad moment, but because of a consistent track record of poor performance. The recent attention isn’t random; it’s the result of long-overdue accountability.
The discussion around the human element and the abuse umpires face is valid—there’s no question that behavior has gotten out of control at all levels. But at the professional level, where umpires earn around $400K annually, there has to be a higher standard. Accountability should come with the job.
If anything, the implementation of the Automated Ball-Strike System will help identify and filter out poor performers before they reach the major leagues—which, ultimately, is a positive for the game.
While you are both wonderful people giving CB the benefit of the doubt, and most umpires or sports officials in general are ‘doing their best,’ CB has been famously inaccurate. Not only inaccurate, but belligerent. Everything about the podcast is great for discussion, but sympathy for CB is misplaced
https://youtu.be/D2jcHZS7tjY?si=n5-TEdoxaeKSJ7VA
I attended spring training in FL this year and the ABS system was used. Many of the teams challenged pitches in the first inning, as if they just wanted to test the system and “use up” their challenge, then get on with the game. I found the system very helpful, as it allowed someone in the stands to calibrate their own sense of the strike zone. By our second game, my wife and I found ourselves being able to predict a challenge. I think fans will like the system, as it is quick (unlike the NBA, which seems to call a coast to coast conference for every challenge) and it brings almost a video game quality to proceedings (like tennis has seen for years…and by the way, you still don’t argue with the chair). And in the long run, I think this system will produce a greater respect for the home plate umpires. And if that doesn’t seem to be happening, the MLB should just show a GoPro view from behind the plate.
Technology-assisted officiating has been around in many other professional sports for a while now, as Roman Mars points out at the very beginning. Just like with any story about human-technology interaction, my main takeaway was: “the problem is not the technology, it’s the people.” It seems that players, coaches, and fans who are prone to goad and gloat at officials will do so no matter what solution is in place. So once again, how we react to events says more about us than it does about the events themselves.