Our chief in command commissioner Rob Manfred recently said that robot umps are coming as early as 2024. i guess every commissioner has to make a name for himself, create a legacy or whatever, make baseball more digestible to the younger generation, to speed up the game. I’m not sure how these robot umps will work. Will it eliminate the ump behind home plate? That would be a shame. I like the fact that pitchers have to consider who is umping the plate when preparing their game strategy – does that day’s ump have a reputation of calling low strikes or high strikes? and then there’s the in game adjustments the pitcher has to make depending on what kind of game the ump is calling. i like that added strategy. makes a pitcher’s job even harder. but if the home plate ump must go the way of the Dodo bird, at least we’ll have the Mark Grant gallery.
brewers baseball and things 
August 17, 2022 at 8:54 am
For dozens of decades, before it sold out and became partners with the gambling industry, baseball was content with having human error, or judgment if you will, be part of the experience. Now, the whores on both the owner and player sides, eager to swap the last shreds of integrity for more and more dollars, cater first and foremost to the sports betting books. They fear too much gambling money is at stake to risk on an incorrect call determining an outcome. It’s a business, not a sport, tasked with relentlessly tapping revenue streams, and baseball owners and players willingly allow the gambling industry to dictate the terms.
August 17, 2022 at 5:04 pm
Mark, you have an incredible skill of breaking down a topic into its essential parts. Wonderful insights. Thank you. I had never thought that MLB was in such cahoots with the gambling industry, but now it makes complete sense.
August 17, 2022 at 9:45 am
I agree with Mark wholeheartedly on this issue, and that’s exactly why (for the most part) I only get my gear second hand and I gleefully watch games through illegal streaming. MLB may get my hard-earned cash every couple of years if I attend a ballgame. (I bring my own food and booze) They make money hand over fist and really don’t give a toss about the “old school” fans who have remained die-hards and dedicated to their institution and this great game.
That was a funny ass video and brought a smile to my face. Man, I miss TWIB. It was a big deal to me as a kid. Such a big deal that I used to record them on something called a VHS tape.
August 17, 2022 at 5:00 pm
Thanks Gary. They should have old-timers games for old time fans, not players and they should let us in for 1.50 with 25 cent beers. We deserve it.
TWIB was special to me too and before we had a VCR, we had no choice but to tune in Saturday morning or run the risk of missing it, a memorable baseball ritual followed by the game of the week.
August 17, 2022 at 12:13 pm
This video is great. I’ve never seen it. I too like the human element. I mean who are the people like myself and all of the working class Joe’s sitting in section 330 going to yell at when there’s no home plate umpire missing strike/ball calls, because even though we’re a hundred miles away from home plate, we all know the previous pitch was a strike and the homeplate ump blew it.
We all know this robot ump thing is headed for disaster, because computer geeks/hacks everywhere will know how to manipulate this thing within hours/days of implementation to favor their team (if they don’t already know). I predict it will start in Houston… “well it appears the computer strike zone has been altered and is apparently sixteen millimeters smaller for the visiting pitcher than it is for the home pitcher of record!!!”
I’m trade-marking #robotgate right now.
August 17, 2022 at 4:54 pm
Well put Double K and funny too. That bit about hackers manipulating cracked me up. You also make a great point about who are we going to yell at. Such a big part of the fan experience – yelling at the authorities, fighting the power, wrestling with god. I will miss it.