Atlantic League Deploys First Robotic Umpire

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The independent Atlantic League became the first professional baseball league to allow a computer to call balls and strikes. 

According to ESPN, a “robot umpire” was behind in the ear of plate umpire Brian deBrauwere during the Atlantic League all-star game.  An iPhone in deBrauwere’s pocket relayed the call upon receiving it from a TrackMan computer system, which uses Doppler radar to distinguish balls from strikes.

"Until we can trust this system 100 percent, I still have to go back there with the intention of getting a pitch correct, because if the system fails, it doesn't pick a pitch up, or if it registers a pitch that's a foot-and-a-half off the plate as a strike, I have to be prepared to correct that," deBrauwere said before the game.

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