“They say a ball that a person cannot hit becomes a strike.”
Doosan Bears Kim In-tae showed a disappointing reaction to umpire Tae-soo Yoon when a high ball was ruled a strike during the first game of the wild card game against NC Dinos held at Changwon NC Park on the 19th. The ‘Masan guys’ who visited the stadium booed the umpire when a call that felt unfavorable to NC was made.
But starting next year, we won’t be able to see scenes like this. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) made a surprise announcement on the 19th. It has been decided to fully introduce the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS, also known as robot referee) starting next season.
The KBO prepared to introduce robot referees through second-team games, and after trial and error, decided to use them in the first team as well. This is the world’s first attempt, faster than the major leagues. It is not something that the KBO pursued arbitrarily. This plan was passed by the boards of directors of 10 clubs. The clubs also agreed.
But the scene is in turmoil. Because it was a 2nd team game, the problem was not revealed, and I was worried that if the current system were applied to the 1st team game, a huge controversy could arise. Ultimately, the key to introducing robot referees is fairness, but trust has not yet been established as to whether the game can be played fairly.
A baseball player who was a second-team manager and had experience with robot umpires said, “The machine draws a line, and anything that comes within or crosses that line is a strike. The problem is that even if a ball that a human cannot hit enters the zone, it is ruled a strike.” To put it simply, if the curve of the ‘Arirang Ball’ castle touches the top line of the zone, the robot referee gives a strike, which is physically difficult for a batter to hit. The same goes for balls that curve in from outside the strike zone. This baseball player predicted, 토토사이트“Currently, umpires’ strike judgments are based on the zone, but whether they can hit or not is the key judgment criterion. However, robot umpires will make a lot of errors in this area.”
A 2nd team coach from another club also said, “There are many problems with introducing it in the 1st team. From the pitcher’s perspective, I think it is in the zone, but if the machine makes a decision based on too strict standards, dissatisfaction builds up. The system used by the current 2nd team will be used next year. “If it is used in the first team, huge problems will probably arise. It is difficult to say that the level has stabilized yet,” he said.
Of course, there are positive signs as well. Another coach from the 2nd team said, “At first, it took a long time to make a decision, so the players had a hard time with defense or next moves. But it has improved a lot. Now, calls are made right away. I think it’s something we can adapt to. Rather, the machine is better. So, it doesn’t seem like the batters are very dissatisfied with the decision,” he explained.
It appears that there will be differences of opinion among the judges. The umpire’s role is now to announce the decision through earphones. Authority is greatly reduced. You may feel skeptical about the job itself. However, it has the advantage of being able to escape pressure and extreme stress.