MLB Approves Robo-Ump, Pitch Clock Tests for Minors

Major League Baseball will test several experimental rules in the minors in 2022, including a tweaked pitch clock, pickoff limits, shift ban, Robo-Ump, and an umpire balls/strikes challenge system.

MLB's pitch clocks, already a Minor League mainstay, date back to 2015 when Double- and Triple-A adopted a 20-second version after the 2014 Arizona Fall League's 2014 pitch clock experiment.

2022 MiLB Pitch Clocks will vary from 14 seconds with no runners on base to either 18 seconds with runners on (Double-A and below) or 19 seconds with runners aboard (Triple-A). 2021's time limits, respectively, were 15 seconds with the bases empty and 17 seconds with runners on. Batters must be in the box and alert to the pitcher with nine seconds remaining on the clock (eight seconds in 2021).

In a similar vein, all Low-A leagues will have a pickoff attempts limit of two per plate appearance, while High-A will employ a pitcher-step-off rule designed to increase stolen-base attempts by forcing pitchers to fully step off the rubber before attempting a pickoff.

Defensive Shifts will be rendered illegal in Single- and Double-A such that teams will be required to have a minimum of four players within the infield, with at least two of those entirely on either side of second base. The pitcher does not count. If a team has a five-player infield, the fifth player can play on either side of the infield.

Bases Will Be Bigger, increasing from the standard 15 inches-square configuration to an 18-square inch base that is four-and-one-fourth inches in length on each side.

An Automated Ball/Strike System style RoboUmp system will be used in Triple-A West (Pacific Coast League) and at Triple-A East (International League)'s Charlotte ballpark after its use in the Atlantic League and Low-A Southeast MiLB League.

MLB Adopts the Tmac Challenge System...in a manner of speaking. When Tmac suggested a zero-margin-of-error challenge system in 2019, we discussed the difference between a finite challenge system with zero-error called the Trajectory Measured by Automated Caller (TMAC; simpler, but less accurate) vs a challenge system which employs a margin-of-error called the Graphic Inaccuracy Logic system (GIL; more complex, but more accurate). Perchance to be renamed to Latent Information Not Definite, Scientific Accuracy Yielded.

At the time, the proposal that seemed to have a greater chance of being used in professional baseball was the zero-error TMAC system, as MLB has recently trended toward embracing technology without admitting potential shortcomings.

Related Post: Fixing the Strike Zone - Pitch Challenge Proposal (10/28/19).

The MiLB challenge system will follow similar ground rules at its Low-A Southeast testing grounds. After the umpire calls a ball or strike, the old-fashioned way, the pitcher, catcher, and batter (alone) will have the ability to immediately appeal the umpire's call, with a maximum of three unsuccessful challenges per team, similar in theory to existing Replay Review rules.

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Former AL Umpire Terry Cooney Dies at 88

Terry Cooney, an American League umpire from 1974-1992, has died at the age of 88.

Born April 12, 1933 in Condon, Oregon, Cooney officiated his first Major League contest in 1974 (Sept 27: Twins-Angels at Anaheim Stadium), umpiring 2,233 regular season games, 3 League Championship Series, and the 1981 World Series until his retirement 18 years later, following a season- and career-ending knee injury in September 1992.

A multi-sport athlete growing up, Cooney played high school basketball at Sacred Heart Academy in Salem and also was part of Sacred Heart's 1950 football championship.

Cooney came to California for school and to play semipro baseball, eventually moving to the Fresno area and getting a job as a correctional officer, before an inmate encouraged him to pursue professional officiating: "I like to tell people I was conned into umpiring."

After graduating from umpiring school in 1969, he joined the California League, followed by stints in the Texas and Pacific Coast Leagues before his 1974 AL debut and permanent appointment to the staff in 1975.

Cooney is a member of the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2018, we published a Retro Teachable featuring Cooney's ejection of Boston Red Sox pitcher Roger Clemens during Game Four of the 1990 ALCS.

Welcome Back - MLB, Players Agree to 2022 Season

MLB owners and the Players Association reached agreement on a new CBA that will allow the 2022 regular season to begin in early April, albeit after Commissioner Rob Manfred already canceled a week's worth of games. The agreement includes several rules changes, which we detail below.

First, some key dates:

> Spring Training will begin March 17;

> Opening Day is moved to April 7;

> 12-team postseason format (increase from 10 teams);

> 9-inning double headers return (was 7-inn from 2020-21);

> Extra innings begin with bases empty (no runner on 2nd base).

Update: MLB and MLBPA have since reversed course and agreed to keep the extra-inning base runner procedure intact for the 2022 regular season.

Amongst the rules MLB reserves the right to implement beginning in 2023 are:

> Pitch clocks may be introduced;

> Defensive shifts may be banned or made illegal, penalty to be determined;

> Larger bases may be used.

Several of the 2023-and-beyond rules changes that may occur follow testing in MLB's Minor Leagues, Arizona Fall League, or the Atlantic League.

Close Call Sports will publish umpire roster and crew information as the season approaches and will open the UEFL Draft/Registration as well.

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Culbreth & Danley Round Out Retirements (Joining Davis, Gorman & West), with Diaz, Gibson, Hudson, Kulpa, and Welke Promoted to Crew Chief

Major League Baseball announced its final umpire staff changes for 2022, with Fieldin Culbreth and Kerwin Danley retiring alongside Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, and Joe West. Crew Chief promotions and new full-time umpires hires were also announced.

MLB's official announcement confirms the hiring of Ryan Additon, Sean Barber, John Libka, Ben May, and Roberto Ortiz to the full-time staff. The new-hires have worked the following numbers of MLB games prior to 2022:

> Additon: 381 major league games.

> Barber: 693.

> Libka: 371.

> May: 658.

> Ortiz: 412.

Retiring umpires are Culbreth, Danley, Davis, Gorman, and West. They retire with the following experience:

> Culbreth: 29 years, 3140 regular season. 1 Wild Card, 8 Division, 7 Lg Champ, 3 World Series.

> Danley: 30 years, 2656 regular season. 1 Wild Card, 7 Division, 2 Lg Champ, 2 World Series.

> Davis: 40 years, 4849 regular season (5k overall). 3 WC, 13 DS, 11 LCS, 6 World Series.

> Gorman: 31 years, 3430 regular season. 1 WC, 10 DS, 7 LCS, 3 World Series.

> West: 44 years, 5460 regular season. 4 WC, 8 DS, 10 LCS, 6 World Series.

West retires as the umpire with the most games officiated in MLB history; Gerry Davis has the fourth-most all-time. Davis retires with the second-most League Championship Series officiated with 11 (Jerry Crawford 12), and Joe West with the third-most (10). Davis has the most Division Series officiated with 13 and Brian Gorman has the 6th-most. Gerry Davis has the most postseason games in MLB history (151) and Joe West is second (132, presently tied with Ted Barrett).

Promoted to crew chief to fill the five retirements are Laz Diaz, Greg Gibson, Marvin Hudson, Ron Kulpa, and Bill Welke. Of that list, Diaz, Hudson, Kulpa, and Welke served as interim crew chiefs for MLB's COVID-shortened 2020 season (Greg Gibson opted out).

Related Post: MLB Names 7 Interim Crew Chiefs for 2020 (7/23/20).

As Atlantic League Folds RoboUmp Experiment, MLB Steps Up Automated Strike Zone in Minor Leagues

Whereas the Atlantic League last week issued a news release announcing it has abandoned its Automated Ball/Strike System experiment by virtue of returning pitch calling duties to human plate umpires, MLB looks to double-down on RoboUmp technology, bringing ABS to its minor league affiliates, including Triple-A.

According to Axios, MLB quietly announced, through its seasonal jobs board, it may be seeking to experiment with ABS in Triple-A West (formerly Pacific Coast League), as well as certain lower levels: "Major League Baseball (MLB) will be operating the Automated Ball and Strike system (ABS) in select Spring Training venues in Florida, in AAA West and Low-A Southeast, and potentially in other non-MLB games and venues," the posting states.

MLB's minor league ABS recruitment follows Atlantic League President Rick White's explanation of the league's elimination of an automated strike zone: "test rules and equipment are transitional by definition: Some elements remain, others are tweaked and still others are abandoned. That's why MLB and the ALPB conduct the tests."

Now that MLB will look to install the Hawkeye data-powered computer zone technology, we can refer to several recent instances of RoboUmp's use in affiliated baseball, such as its puzzling calls during an October Arizona Fall League game that led teams and umpires to end the game in the 8th inning due to both teams having exhausted their pitchers trying to satiate ABS' 22-walk-producing strike zone.

Related Post: RoboUmp's Odd Strike Zone Gets AFL Game Called Early (10/23/21).

A smattering of ball/strike arguments regarding ABS also befell the 2019 (pre-COVID) AFL, including HP Umpire Jose Navas' October 15, 2019 ejection of batter Jacob Heyward for arguing a computer-called strike three call. Whereas a number of players subsequently complained about ABS following the AFL implementation, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred at the time announced ABS will nonetheless debut in 2020.

Related Post: Arizona Fall Testing Automated Ball/Strike System (9/27/19).

Related Post: Computer Strike Call Prompts Navas' AFL Ejection (10/16/19).

Related Post: Manfred Vows Robo-Umps in 2020 MiLB as Players Complain About 2019 ABS (11/5/19).

Atlantic League Nixes Robot Umpires, Will Return to Human-Called Strike Zone in 2022

After two years of testing MLB's Automated Ball-Strike System, the Atlantic League will revert to having human umpires call pitches, explaining RoboUmp's cancelation as a natural part of the experiment process while stopping short of deeming the test unsuccessful: "Test rules and equipment are transitional by definition: Some elements remain, others are tweaked and still others are abandoned. That's why MLB and the ALPB conduct the tests."

The ALPB's news release also indicated the formerly independent MLB partner league will return its experimental 61'6" mound distance to the "accepted norm" of 60-feet, six-inches for its 2022 season.

News of the Atlantic League's RoboUmp cancelation follows several high-profile instances of peculiar ball/strike decisions from the computer umpire, many of which we have documented at Close Call Sports under the label "Computer Strike Zone" such as Frank Viola's pair of ejections arguing ball/strike calls made by the ABS computer. It also comes one year after MLB described the Atlantic League's ABS test as a "success."

Related Post: History - Baseball's First Ejection Due to TrackMan (1/18/21).

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, currently presiding over an owners-players union dispute and lockout that continues to threaten Spring Training and potentially part of the 2022 regular season, previously cited his support for implementing the electronic ABS zone at the Major League level, specifically citing the Atlantic League experiment as evidence of RoboUmp's success. Meanwhile, then-Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre disagreed, stating, "I don't see the robotic strike zone happening."

Related Post: Citing Atlantic Lg, Manfred Ready for Robo-Zone (8/19/19).

Now that the Atlantic League has scrapped the project, will Minor League Baseball—not without its own set of ABS controversies—follow suit?

Related Post: Computer Strike Call Prompts Navas' AFL Ejection (10/16/19).

MLB Hires Sean Barber & Ben May as Full-Time Umpires

Rounding out its set of early January 2022 hires, MLB promoted Sean Barber and Ben May to the full-time major league umpire staff, joining Ryan Additon, John Libka, and Roberto Ortiz who also got the call.

Sean Barber's perseverance through eight years and 693 games of MLB experience prior to official hiring signifies the longest period of time spent as a Triple-A call-up umpire of MLB's five January hires. Barber's Opening Day (April 1) 2014 debut in San Diego followed a minor league journey that begin upon graduation from the Harry Wendelstedt Umpire School in 2006. Barber has officiated in the Appalachian, South Atlantic, Florida State, Southern, Arizona Instructionl, Venezuela, Arizona Fall, and International Leagues. Additionally, Barber officiated the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifier in Jupiter, Florida (not terribly far from his hometown of Lakeland, FL).

Ben May, who nearly ties Barber's MLB history with eight years and 658 games, debuted on April 17, 2014 in Minnesota. May's minor league career includes stops at the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, Midwest, Florida State, Eastern, Arizona Fall, and International Leagues. Like Barber, May also officiated the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifying round, but did so in Germany.

With MLB's five new-hires, you might be wondering who in addition to those previously reported (Davis, Gorman, West) have retired. Stay tuned for future announcements, which will include crew chief promotions to fill the new vacancies.

Roberto Ortiz Hired to Full-Time MLB Umpire Staff

Major League Baseball hired Roberto Ortiz to its full-time umpire staff. This makes three hires (Ryan Additon, John Libka) and three retirements (Gerry Davis, Brian Gorman, Joe West), with a couple of more announcements to come in the next few weeks.

Ortiz's promotion, reported by The Gondol, is the first full-time appointment of an umpire born in Puerto Rico. Delfin Colon was MLB's first Puerto Rican umpire, but solely served in a fill-in capacity. Ortiz hails from Caguas, PR, and was a teacher in Puerto Rico before graduating from MiLB's Umpire Academy in 2009.

His minor league experience includes stops at the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, South Atlantic, Florida State, Eastern, Arizona Instructional, Arizona Fall, Pacific Coast, and International Leagues.

Ortiz's first MLB game was May 14, 2016 in Washington DC, and his 2022 hiring to the full-time staff follows 412 total regular season games of major league experience.

MLB Hires Ryan Additon & John Libka to Full-Time Staff

With Gerry Davis and Brian Gorman's retirements, MLB has hired call-up umpires Ryan Additon and John Libka to its full-time staff. Joe West leads a short list of additional veteran umps whose retirements have created vacancies on the MLBU roster and we will announce both those retirements and additional new-hire replacements in the coming weeks.

First publicly announced by the Wendelstedt Umpire School where Additon and Libka serve as instructors, the first two hires of 2022 during the uncertainty of both COVID and an ongoing lockout and contract dispute between MLB team owners and the players' union are two young umpires who score highly on a number of baseball officiating metrics.

For instance, John Libka, according to UmpScorecards, once again took the crown as the most accurate umpire, overall, in calling balls and strikes during the 2021 season.

Ryan Additon made his major league debut on May 21, 2017 in Minnesota and joins the full-time staff with 381 games of big league experience. Additon has worked the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, Midwest, Florida State, Arizona Instructional, Southern, Arizona Fall, and International (aka Triple-A East) Leagues.

John Libka made his MLB debut just one week following Additon's, on May 27, 2017 in Chicago alongside Tom Hallion's crew, and has just 10 fewer games in the league (371) than Additon. Libka, long regarded as MLB's most accurate plate umpire dating back to the Boston University umpire study, journeyed through the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, Midwest, Florida State, Eastern, Arizona Fall, and Pacific Coast (Triple-A West) Leagues.

Both Additon and Libka officiated the 2017 AFL Fall Stars Game.

2021 UEFL Rules Summit Results

The 2021 Umpire Ejection Fantasy League Rules Summit is now complete with voting concluded in accordance with UEFL Rule 8-3. The 2021 Summit's results are listed below.

Visit the 2021 UEFL Rules Summit Discussion page to read detailed descriptions of the propositions listed herein.

Items agreed to and Appeals Board retentions are indicated in green highlight below and items that failed are listed in red highlighting. Proposals that gained a majority of votes, listed in green, will become rules for the 2022 Umpire Ejection Fantasy League season upon Commissioner approval. No vacancies exist on the UEFL Appeals Board as all members have been re-elected.

Rule 1 - Selection of Umpires

Prop 1-2: Two Crew Chiefs - 61.1% NO, 38.9% Yes.

> Would have added a second Crew Chief to each member's crew in Crew Division.

Rule 4 - League Scoring

Prop 4-4: Qualified Nomination of Most Disappointing Season - 55.2% YES, 44.8% No.

> Restricts this postseason award to umpire(s) mentioned & explained in comments.

Prop 4-8: No-Hitter Bonus - 51.6% NO, 48.4% Yes [17.7% +1, 16.1% +2, 14.5% +3].

> Would have assigned a bonus to umpires who call no-hitters and perfect games.

Prop 4-9: Accurate / Inaccurate Umpire Recognition - 52.4% NO, 47.6% Yes.

> Would have assigned points to umpires with exceptionally high or low reg season plate performances.

Rule 6 - Challenges and Appeals

Prop 6-2: Irrecusable Replay Review Ejections - 50.8% NO, 49.2% Yes.

> Would have assigned all post-Replay Review decision ejections a default QOC of Irrecusable.

Prop 6-4: Appeals Board Decision-making Process - 59.7% NO, 40.3% Yes.

> Would have instituted +1 Confirm / -1 Overturn / +0.5 Uphold points basis for Appeals decisions.

Rule 8 - Umpire Odds & Ends and Community Issues

Prop 8-1: Community Guidelines Standardization - 52.5% NO, 47.5% Yes.

> Would have instituted additional posting guidelines applicable to all commenters for discussions.

UEFL Appeals Board Retentions/Re-Elections

Arik G: 95.7% YES, 4.3% No. (Retained)

cyclone14: 91.1% YES, 8.9% No. (Retained)

jvick2017: 88.9% YES, 11.1% No. (Retained)

MarkCanada: 91.3% YES, 8.7% No. (Retained)

Scott C: 87.0% YES, 13.0% No. (Retained)