Most summer days when I was growing up you’d find a wiffle ball game being played in our front yard. The big tree across the street was a home run to left and center. The neighbors garden was a home run to right. The skinny tree was the left field foul pole, and grandmas back tire was the right field foul pole. The most important part of the field was the folded up lawn chair leaning up against the house. The lawn chair served as the strike zone. Very simply, if the ball hit the chair it was a strike, if the ball missed the chair it was a ball. In the countless number of games played on that field, not once did we have a disagreement over whether a pitch was a ball or a strike. Not one argument over balls and strikes. How was this possible? Because the strike zone never changed, it was never up for interpretation, and it never made a mistake. As a hitter we weren’t wondering what the strike zone might look like on any given day.
MLB can do the same thing. Not with a lawn chair, but with an electronic strike zone. Why should MLB continue to allow umpires to get it wrong when they have the technology to get it right? I don’t blame the umpire . It’s impossible to get every pitch right, only an electronic strike zone can be perfect.
The home plate umpire would still be an extremely important part of the game. He would have all his home plate umpire responsibilities he currently has, with the exception of determining whether or not a pitch is a ball or a strike.
Left Brain Sports 