Cheney Stadium in Tacoma will have robot umpires for this year’s baseball season.
Umpires at home plate will no longer be calling balls and strikes as the Automated Ball and Strike (ABS) system is implemented. Immediate decisions and relays to the umpire will be called using the technology of predetermined strike zone dimensions and pitch arcs to call the ballas and strikes. Plate umpires, however, will still be calling catcher interference and checked swings.
Paul Braverman, Director of Media Relations for the Rainiers, said this was not a decision made by the team but by MLB. He added that the MLB is hiring the needed staff for running the software and will be working with the umpires.
Flyer printing is often used to for such job postings to inform those in the local area of such openings. The ABS technicians will work on the field to support the umpires at the plate with the device and its wiring and train its use. The software is an app on an iPhone supplied by the MLB with a Wi-Fi connection.
Chief operations and strategy officer for the MLB, Chris Marinak, said that it is still not known when the ABS may be employed at the level of the major leagues, but he said it does make a difference in the way the game is called.
