Last week, the machines came for America’s pastime. During the All-Star Game of the Atlantic League—which is independent of MLB’s minor league system, but now a testbed partner for the big leagues—TrackMan Doppler radar was used to call balls and strikes. The “robot” relayed its decisions via wifi to the human umpire on the field, who heard the call in his headphones and then signaled it to the stadium. Crouching behind the catcher the way he always does, the arbiter of the game was rendered nothing more than a glorified middle manager.
If history tells us anything, the Atlantic League’s experiment is just the beginning.