Major League Tech
America’s pastime seems to hold out the strongest when it comes to resisting technology. Something about the game bleeds tradition. Even as it changes and adapts, baseball has remained a classic and authentic sport played by century old franchises.
Slowly, we’re going to start seeing more tech on the field. In February, Major League Baseball announced a partnership with the Atlantic League. The indie league will begin testing an automated umpire system called TrackMan. TrackMan (which is already installed in 30 Major League parks) measures speed and position of pitches to assist umpires in calling balls or strikes. It will look a lot like what we see on our televisions at home.
The MLB isn’t 100% on board with making TrackMan the final judge on pitches yet, but with umpires missing about 20% of calls right now, it may not be a bad idea to get started sooner rather than later.
Does baseball lose authenticity by bringing tech into the game? Or are we better off knowing the correct call was made at the right time? I’m sure New Orlean’s Saint’s fans wish they had some tech on their side during the NFC championship game. Does the spirit of baseball require human error?
