Robot Umps Have Arrived, TV Deals, Cornhole DRAMA, and Other Bullets

I watched the Bob Lazar/UFO documentary on Netflix last night, and it was definitely interesting. Although I think it is fairly irrational to believe we are alone in the universe among intelligent life, I also think it is extremely unlikely that intelligent life from another planet has visited ours during this tiny slice of intelligent human existence on Earth. There are just so many mathematical and cosmological headwinds to actually putting together a scientifically plausible story of such a visit. I guess I’m just a skeptic.

That said, at least in the way the doc was presented, much of what Lazar offered was compelling. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who wants to watch, but I would say only that, as a skeptic, I was … intrigued, and I want to do more reading.

We have crossed the Rubicon: robot umpires have been deployed in a professional baseball game. No, it’s not MLB just yet, but in the independent Atlantic League, MLB is testing various new protocols and rules changes in a live environment, and the latest was an electronic strike zone:

The “robo-umps” officially arrived last night. It still looked like a baseball game. https://t.co/X3Mv4GWu1a

— ((( Jacob Bogage ))) (@jacobbogage) July 11, 2019

“Robot umpires” have arrived.

The @AtlanticLg became the first American professional baseball league to let a computer call balls and strikes.

Our @robmaaddi was there >> https://t.co/lPgk3ak05v pic.twitter.com/wtgyywq7oI

— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) July 11, 2019

There it is, the first pitch in professional baseball history officially called a strike by a computer. pic.twitter.com/a33Lkmsu3K

— ((( Jacob Bogage ))) (@jacobbogage) July 10, 2019

The league had been getting the system ready to go – using Trackman technology – for the first half of the season, and unveiled it last night for their All-Star Game. The home plate umpire, who is still tracking pitches for times when the system goes down, had an AirPod in his ear so he could be relayed the balls/strikes and then call them on the field. Apparently, for one night, the whole thing went off pretty seamlessly, *despite* the system going down for an inning (the ump just called balls and strikes), and *despite* some pitches not looking like strikes to the batter (tough noogies).

There is little doubt in my mind that, over time, the strike zone will either become entirely electronic, or partly (through reviews or corrections or whatever).

Pfft. Boring:

From @EliasSports:
Houston at the All-Star break
2017 60–29 (.674) 16.5 lead
2018 64–35 (.646) 5.0 lead
2019 57–33 (.633) 7.5 lead
HOU is the first team since ATL in the 1990s (1996–1999) to have a first-place lead of at least five games at the break three straight years.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 11, 2019

I laughed:

This is who Joe Maddon has to send when he wants to take Jon Lester out of a game early … pic.twitter.com/pVWOLAxmOa

— Baseball is Fun (@flippingbats) July 10, 2019

Kerry and Sarah Wood, doing good:

https://twitter.com/NBCSChicago/status/1149309113073131524

A notable little bit that underscores something we’ve hypothesized – i.e., that the Cubs being partnered with Sinclair on their new channel Marquee is going to help them in any carriage negotiations:

Manfred cheers the outcome of Sinclair getting Fox RSNs, says it was next-best outcome for the league beyond MLB prevailing themselves. Cites Sinclair's negotiating leverage with distributors from retransmission rights. No plans for changes, though, re territorial map/blackouts.

— Eric Fisher (@EricFisherSBG) July 9, 2019

The rub, of course, is that this does not do anything to help move the broadcasting of the games forward in a world where cable bundles are dying. There’s still a ton of money in that space, so I understand why the Cubs (and other teams, and MLB, and Sinclair) are sticking to it, but medium term, there simply has to be a broader shift to some kind of a la carte streaming option.

Our latest episode of the ‘Onto Waveland’ podcast.

Bryan got into a breakout prospect:

Wrote about a guy we’ve been chatting about a lot on here lately, and the recipe behind his success. Mix of GBs, K’s and recent command is big-time. Turns 24 in 3 weeks.https://t.co/2piGdDklaJ

— Cubs Prospects – Bryan Smith (@cubprospects) July 11, 2019

Maybe it’s because there was no baseball to watch, but man, this was awesome:

Can't lie – this is surprisingly enjoyable and intense. pic.twitter.com/nKX0eq0xn7

— Brett Taylor (@Brett_A_Taylor) July 10, 2019

Hoverboards and clothes aplenty are among your deals today at Amazon.

Can’t say I’m confident they can pull this off, but it IS the right way to think about things, IMO:

The Newly Improved 2021 Free Agent Class Could Align Perfectly with the Bulls Plans https://t.co/PJyCU0mkZE pic.twitter.com/1pNAFclIj8

— Bleacher Nation Bulls (@BN_Bulls) July 10, 2019