MLB fans react to Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles finishing spring training game without umpires: "Proof that umps aren’t needed"
MLB has implemented many rule changes for the 2023 season. One traditional rule that umpires stood by on Tuesday was that they won't work the bottom of the ninth in a game that has been decided, no matter what the teams want to do.
The pirates" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-is-sponsored="false">Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles put the umpires' will to the test by wishing to play the bottom of the ninth in spite of the Pirates, playing as the home team, winning 7-4. Rather than call another pitch, the umpires simply left the field.
After a brief discussion between teams, they went ahead with their scrimmage by calling their own game. Baltimore wanted to get work for a pitcher who had yet to play.
omg the Pirates and Orioles wanted to play a bottom of the 9th despite the Pirates leading 7-4 at home but the umpires just left after the top half thinking the game was over so now they are playing without them https://t.co/kWotCYsJBZ
“We were told by the league we could clear it by the umpires and pitch the bottom half of the ninth inning, and I guess Chad Fairchild felt like we couldn’t,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters.
The images from the game caught MLB fans by delight and filled many with joy.
This is the best rule change baseball could implement twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
This will also speed up the game twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/st…
Proof that umps aren’t needed. twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
MLB has informed teams that they could opt to continue games through the bottom of the ninth no matter the score so untested players could see more live action during spring training. However, the umpires are not obligated to remain on the field. In the case of Tuesday's Pirates-Orioles contest, they did not.
Many fans wouldn't mind seeing baseball go ump-less more often.
You may not see it, but this is baseball heaven. twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/st…
I’m no longer a supporter of auto strike zones, I’m now a supporter of no umpire games #banumpires twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
Have to respect it on the part of the umps. Clock in, clock out. Don’t stay past closing just because some weirdo customers won’t leave twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
At the non-professional level, it's not uncommon to see teams taking it upon themselves to govern their own contests. Many youth and amateur games occur without incident without a directing official. Considering how much is on the line in MLB games, they may want to stick with umpires once the games begin to count.
If the coaches can’t double as umps, you can usually find a player’s dad in the bleachers who is willing. twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
“I just wanna do baseball stuff with my friends” twitter.com/cespedesbbq/st…
Big time 9u vibes twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/st…
However, there are many occupations that the world once deemed critical, but are now obsolete. Could umpires one day be tossed onto the scrap heap of history along with leech collectors, lamplighters, alchemists, town criers and bowling pin setters?
Society has evolved past the need for MLB umpires twitter.com/CespedesBBQ/st…
MLB has no plans to get rid of umpires
While MLB continues to toy with the concept of an automated strike zone – commonly known as "Robot Umps" – there are no plans in place to rid the league of umpires as we know it.
As Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich noted Monday when discussing replacing human umpires with robot umps:
"I think there would be a lot of unintended consequences."