by Tom Stewart

Created on: March 19, 2009   Last Updated: August 20, 2009

Isn't it about time we took umpires out of baseball? Bad calls have overshadowed too many important games in recent years, and it just seems unfair to the players and especially the fans. It is becoming more and more obvious how difficult it is for umpires to make accurate calls as commentators in the booth and fans at home see the correct calls through modern technology. In this day and age of high definition television cameras and computer software, we are past the need of relying on the human eye to call baseball games. Athletes have become bigger, faster, and more talented with every passing season. Don't we owe it to the athletes who work so hard and the fans that spend so much money to make sure the better team wins?

We have the technology to make every call accurate, so let's use it. Major League Baseball has already started using instant replays for calls on homeruns and foul balls. Why not take it further? With today's amazing camera angles and high definition television capabilities, there is no reason to have an umpire on the field, yards away, trying to make the call in the sun or the rain and with so many distractions around him. These days we're able to zoom in on each play with dozens of different camera angles almost instantly. We've also got other technologies that could easily eliminate the need for a home plate umpire. Commentators and play-by-play announcers are already using computer software that is able to accurately pinpoint the exact spot of strikes and balls. Why not incorporate this technology into the game and have no doubt as to whether a pitch is a strike or not? And while we're at it, let's install sensors in the baseballs and on the bases, to digitally pin-point the location of a thrown ball and whether or not a base runner has indeed touched the base before the ball was caught.

All of these proposed changes would be beneficial to the sport in other ways too. It would make games faster. It would make game play more accurate. There would no longer be any coaches wasting time arguing with umpires leading to ejection and the occasional entertaining tirade. Most baseball enthusiasts will argue, 'Umpires are a part of the game'. But just think of how many times one of those umpires have made a bad call resulting in your favorite team losing. There are too many teams who have had bad calls by umpires ruin the World Series dreams of players and fans. Cubs fans, Red Sox fans, and many others have all been victims of bad calls by umpires resulting in missed opportunities to win the 'big game'. It's time we got these calls right. The athletes make millions of dollars so there's little sympathy for them. But the fans spend thousands of dollars every season going to the ball parks and watching on television. They deserve most of all to have their favorite sport be regulated properly and correctly. Sports like Football, Hockey and even Bowling have been using computers, lasers, and technology to get the calls right for years now, and it hasn't hurt those sports one bit. In fact in many ways it has improved these sports. There will always be a need for on-field judges and referees. But automated umpires are simply the future of baseball. Let's put technology to the job and get these calls right. And let's tell these umpires 'You're Out!"

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