/Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
By Kendall Baker | Axios
An electronic radar system called TrackMan will soon be calling balls and strikes in the Atlantic League, an independent East Coast league that has emerged as MLB’s testing ground for new rules and equipment initiatives.
Driving the news: The first step in this adventure began last Thursday at parks in Bridgewater, N.J. (Somerset Patriots) and New Britain, Conn. (New Britain Bees).
In a simple test to make sure that TrackMan data could be successfully transmitted and understood, home plate umpires were fitted with earpieces that relayed calls to them one-tenth of a second after the ball crossed the plate.
The umpires were told to still call “their” strike zone, leading to some confusion when their call didn’t match Trackman’s. When this goes live next month, they’ll be going with whatever TrackMan says.
The intrigue: Major League Baseball will be watching this experiment closely. A few things they’ll be looking for:
