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Remarkably, the television wasn’t the technology that forced the MLB’s hand on this. You would think it would…football and tennis went for challenges a long tim
by iambateman 1y ago
Remarkably, the television wasn’t the technology that forced the MLB’s hand on this. You would think it would…football and tennis went for challenges a long time ago, and viewers can easily see when an ump misses a call. But baseball has managed to stay human on balls and strikes for a long time.
Then along comes sports betting and they basically have no choice but to use robots.
It’s sad to me how much sports betting changes sports. When I watch, I wonder if the referee has accepted a bribe every time a call is a little funky. Considering the millions of dollars riding on every play, some of them must have taken some money at some point.
- 14 1y agoIt is almost impossible to fully remove that voice in the back of your head that will question if you were cheated. Because the fact is at the end of the day sports are played by humans and humans make mistakes, humans are susceptible to bribes, humans are susceptible to threats and there are many other factors that could influence or force cheating by players or bad calls by the officials. There are literally countless incidents of people cheating. So my suggestion is to hope it doesn't happen but also just avoid making bets if you are not comfortable with the fact that you may lose.
- syndacks 1y agoHow did you come to that conclusion that this is a function of betting? As a baseball fan, this feels like a long overdue feature (at least in the world of video review challenge). I think it's simply going to make the game better. MLB is losing to the NFL/NBA, and they need to put out a better product.
- tw04 1y agoThey’ve had the technology for over 20 years. The only thing that’s changed in the last 5 is betting.
- SapporoChris 1y agoI couldn't count the number of things that have changed in the last five years. However, related to Baseball here's a small list to start. https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rulechng.shtml https://www.baseball-almanac.com/rulechng.shtml
- ShroudedNight 1y agoThere's also Angel Hernández retiring.
- snapetom 1y agoI don't know how any baseball fan can be against this. I would bet that man has made at least one season-ending mistake on every team out there throughout his career, and he's completely unapologetic and arrogant about it. Everyone was relieved when he retired, but there's been plenty of others happy to play the king villain now.
- AdieuToLogic 1y ago> They’ve had the technology for over 20 years. The only thing that’s changed in the last 5 is betting. What has not changed since before both of those timelines is baseball umpires have a union[0]. Maybe, just maybe, their union fought the introduction of this to the bitter end. 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Umpires_Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_Baseball_Umpires_...
- lbotos 1y agoManfred (Commissioner) started 10 years ago. He oversaw the last collective bargaining agreement in 2021/22. It’s expiring this year. That’s one of the reasons why the rule change is going through now. I won’t deny that sports betting could be a factor, but Manfred wants faster more engaging baseball. That’s been his stated goal for a long time as he worked through rule changes.
- tw04 1y agoThat makes absolutely no sense. If it’s a chip in the collective bargaining agreement, why would he give it away for free prior to negotiations beginning? Why would the owners? “Good will” has never worked in MLB negotiations and I don’t see that changing.
- bcardarella 1y agoYou may be correct, but the rate of change in baseball is glacially slow compared to the other sports. One of baseball's intrinsic values is it's legacy, tradition, and history. Some may scoff at that, and I think there are good arguments against legacy/tradition as a reason to withhold change, but there are a lot of people out there that believe this. The MLB Commissioner's have largely been tasked with protecting that tradition and history.
- squigz 1y agoIs sports betting new?
- theluketaylor 1y agoBetting as a major sponsor and league endorsed? Yes, very new. We've come a long way from the black sox and Pete Rose being banned for life over gambling https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sox_Scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rose#Permanent_ineligibility_and_reinstatement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rose#Permanent_ineligibil...
- popularrecluse 1y agoIt's only a matter of time before we're right back there.
- theluketaylor 1y agoWe're already there. Emmanuel Clase is under investigation for fixing pitches and can't play right now. I don't love sports betting in general, but I really hate betting on short term events like specific pitches or a strikeout. There is way too much incentive to fix.
- Spivak 1y agoLegal sports betting via app which turned gambling into a casual activity for hundreds of millions of new players. These apps made a market that previously placed 4 billion in bets to 125 billion. This is very new. Their rise and market is so large that only 5% of sports bets aren't placed through one of these apps.
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- mcmcmc 1y agoOnline/mobile sports betting is relatively new, was only legalized in the last decade. It’s grown massively in popularity
- RhysU 1y agoThe current state is such first-order thinking. When will we be able to bet on whether or not the umps have taken a bribe?
- gxs 1y agoYeah - I like how no one ever talks about Tim Donaghy It’s sort of been swept under the rug even though it was initially reported on Professional NBA referee betting on games he was refereeing - what a joke
- edoceo 1y agoWe're so far from The Sandlot the game has lost all passion. (Go A's)
- dylan604 1y ago> When I watch, I wonder if the referee has accepted a bribe every time a call is a little funky. As someone that has been a soccer (makes me throw up a little to say that word), ahem, football referee, I can tell you that not all funky calls are because the ref is rigging the game. Sometimes, you just miss stuff. Sometimes, you just see it differently. Sometimes, you just fuck up. Yes, a few have definitely admitted to taking bribes. Granted, I never was an official on anything professional. Even still, you'd make a call and the fans of the team you call a foul against all go crazy. Two minutes later, you make a call going the other way, and the other fans go nuts. I always laughed when I'd hear comments about needing glasses and "how much they pay you". You can't make 100% happy, ever. Fan is short for fanatic, and it's very appropriate. To that end, I'm surprised that MLB never introduced replays. Cricket has replays and even have microphones that they watch the waveforms to see if there was contact or not.
- comex 1y agoThey already did introduce replays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_replay_in_Major_League_Baseball https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instant_replay_in_Major_League... But replays weren’t allowed for balls and strikes, the subject of the new system.
- bluGill 1y agoThey tried replays 50 years ago and the umpires refused to budge and so they banned them so fans couldn't know. the above is from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Luciano https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Luciano 's book but wikipedia doesn't mention it. Though it was 40 years since I read the book so maybe I don't remember right? I think it makes the game human. also football with replays on ever play is too slow.
- nxobject 1y agoI've always wanted to ask an actual ref (fans are a dime a dozen)... what would have been your takeaway from how Maradona's Hand of God was called?
- dylan604 1y ago
- spindump8930 1y agoIt was mentioned elsewhere in the thread but this article is relevant: https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/guardians-reliever-emmanuel-clase-placed-on-paid-leave-amid-mlbs-sports-betting-investigation/ https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/guardians-reliever-emmanu... The ability to bet on short term individual events (such as a single pitch) means that even a single pitch, otherwise nearly inconsequential, can be abused.
- cameldrv 1y agoGambling is evil. We’ve known that in this country for hundreds of years and that’s why it’s been illegal. Gambling on smartphones is the most evil type of gambling yet invented. The only reason it’s been legalized is that it’s very profitable and the forces of profit in the government are stronger than the forces of good.
- heavyset_go 1y agoI'd go a step further and say gambling on smartphones while pretending it's not gambling is more evil.
- nickthegreek 1y agoAt the very least, I would hope that we could curb their ability to Advertise the same way we do with a variety of other social harms. People, kids especially, do not need to intake 35 DraftKing ads while watching a game with their family.
- asdff 1y agoI don't think the bribe risk is any different as its always been. Sports betting is nothing new in the U.S., people just used to either have to plan a vacation to vegas or find a bookie who would take their action. Wasn't hard to do. I knew a lot of people who had bookies and were betting every weekend. Legalization just meant they didn't have to maintain a relationship with a bookie, kind of like how dispensaries put a bunch of pot dealers out of work.
- Bratmon 1y agoComputer usage is nothing new in the U.S., people just used to find a university or business to buy mainframe time from. Microcomputers just meant that they didn't have to maintain a relationship with a university.
- asdff 1y agoIf you have a point why not be direct with it?
- Tadpole9181 1y agoIt's pretty direct? It went from having to go out of your way to locate and operate with a bookie who had little away with the sports organization to... Pulling out your phone and tapping a couple of buttons, paying a legitimate business who can then apply enormous legislative and financial pressure directly against the teams with billions in backing. It has dramatically changed the state of gambling, sports, and the businesses around them.
- asdff 1y agoI'm talking about the bribe risk for a referee. It was always there. Probably even more so in the past when the mafia controlled vegas and bookies across the country.