MLB 2020: Josh Staumont pitch video shows worst call in history
A storm has erupted in the United States after a bafflingly blundered call left commentators screaming for a technology revolution.
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There have been worse calls in the history of sport — but not many.
A storm of bewilderment has erupted in the United States over the damning vision of Kansas City Royals pitcher Josh Staumont throwing a sizzling fastball right down the middle of the plate — only for a blind umpire to award a ball.
The bizarre moment in the Royals’ 7-2 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday (AEST) has again breathed new life into the widespread calls for Major League Baseball to adopt robot umpires and kill off the blind bats standing behind the catcher.
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Replays showed the 160km/h fastball landed almost smack bang in the middle of the strike zone as Staumont continued to throw heat at the top of the seventh inning.
It was not even close to a ball — and everybody knew it except the official responsible.
wut pic.twitter.com/fZ1xGZeKQm
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 22, 2020
This is making me so mad...I can’t imagine how Josh Staumont feels https://t.co/YZMC1b9V2e
— Jake Winderman (@jakewinderman) August 22, 2020
The baffling blunder comes at a time when MLB officials are considering doing away with human umpires.
The league earlier this year — before the coronavirus pandemic shut down global sport — experimented with a robotic automated strike zone.
In February MLB commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed the league had been experimenting with the “Trackman” system to call balls and strikes.
The league got serious about robot umpires when Manfred announced the league has also
launched a trial of Hawk-Eye technology being used in minor divisions and state leagues across the USA this year.
The Hawk-Eye technology has been set-up at the home venues for all 30 MLB teams.
While its strike zone technology is yet to be activated, MLB remains confident in the early trials that have shown the system makes live ball tracking estimates to within 0.2mm.
It now seems only a matter of time until the technology revolution makes umpires redundant.
Originally published as MLB 2020: Josh Staumont pitch video shows worst call in history