August 27th, 2023 at 8:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka If you had asked any old-school baseball fan on Friday what their thoughts were on the use of robo-umps at baseball’s highest level, the popular answer might have been something to the effect of ‘No freaking way!’
If you had asked any old-school baseball fan on Saturday what their thoughts were on the use of robo-umps at baseball’s highest level after the Dodgers 8-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox at historic Fenway Park, the popular answer might have been something to the effect of ‘Bring ’em on!’
With two outs in the top of the eighth inning of the then 7-5 ballgame and with the bases loaded, 41-year-old/11-year MLB veteran umpire Jordan Baker singlehandedly cost the Dodgers at least one run and quite possibly the game when he called Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy out on a pitch that was clearly not a strike.
(SportsNet LA)
Immediately after the blown call, Muncy angrily threw his bat in the direction of his team’s third base dugout, and after some words with Baker, he was tossed from the game.
“You can’t get thrown out for throwing your bat, it’s gotta be some words, because there’s a fine for throwing equipment but it’s not an ejection,” former Dodgers great and current SportsNet LA broadcaster Orel Hershiser told viewers after Muncy’s ejection.
As you would expect and as he should have, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts immediately exited the dugout and challenged Baker about his blown call and ejection of Muncy (who hit his 30th home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning), for which Roberts was also ejected and after which he really gave Baker an earful.
As for Baker, this was not his first blown call. In fact, just 16 days earlier in an August 10 game between the Washington Nationals and Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Baker called Phillies right fielder Weston Wilson out at first base when Nationals first baseman Dominic Smith was nearly two feet off the bag. The Phillies immediately challenged the call which, of course, was overturned.
(MLB Gameday)
But balls and strikes cannot be challenged, at least not by human umpires.
Obviously, they wouldn’t need to be with robo-umps.
Play Ball!
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It is a total farce that MLB has not fixed this glaring problem. The means to fix the problem exist. What is taking so long?
When the umpires affect the outcome of the game and players (both pitchers and hitters) are totally frustrated. it’s time to go to electronic balls and strikes. The integrity of the game is at stake.
This stuff gets my blood boiling man. I don’t know if the full on robo strike zone is the answer but SOMETHING has to be done. If this happens in the top of the 3rd or something, a missed call is excusable. But it’s inexcusable for a veteran umpire to miss that call in that situation. It won’t come down to 1 game this year for the Dodgers fortunately but that type of crap is going to inevitably lead to a team losing a World Series game and MLB will deservedly have egg on their face.
My thought is that why does every single person in the world have access to this information except the ONE person on the entire planet that needs it the most?! At the very least these guys need to be held publicly accountable. If a player messes up, he’s held accountable for it. It a coach messes up, he’s held accountable for it. If an FO executive messes up, they’re held accountable for it. If an ump messes up, oh well. It’s madness.
Oh and please tell me how this makes any sense…
– Umpire blatantly misses a call
– Player tells umpire he missed the call and then gets ejected by the umpire who missed the call
– Manager comes out to defend his player and tell the umpire who missed the call that he missed the call and then the manager is ejected by the umpire who missed the call
How does the one person who started that entire chain reaction because he got a call wrong get to continue in the game and the people correctly telling him that he was wrong get ejected??? Make it make sense 🤔
I am an old-timer who has been a “Robo-ump” advocate for years. Same as Jay, my blood boils with every egregious ball-strike mistake. IMO, getting balls and strikes correct is more important than the occasional out-safe call on the bases. If MLB wants to get more offense into the game, then make certain balls and strikes are consistently accurate. To be fair, we fans cannot rely on the TV strike-zone-boxes for accuracy — the SNLA box doesn’t come close to being accurate according to MLB rules. And, there are a few umpires who do an excellent job behind the plate. I think pitch velocities and extraordinary ball movement have exceeded the ability of most umpires vision to make good calls.
However, Max Muncy’s bat remained on his shoulder when the first pitch was a belt-high, center-cut fastball (94 mph). His bad for failing to launch that first pitch.