Think fast: In 2009 do we really need umpires? Well, for balls and strikes we certainly do not. That’s because there’s a little guy called QuesTec, and it tracks pitches and it knows if a pitch thrown is a strike or a ball. In 2001, these systems were installed in a third of MLB stadiums to track umpires, and to try and get a more uniform strike zone across the board. On the surface, this sounds good.

But, there is some danger in it.

When we take the human element out of ball and strike calls, we take a little bit of the fabric of baseball out of the game — a little gamesmanship. If a pitcher knows an umpire likes to call strikes six inches off the plate, he’s going to throw his outside fastballs a taste off the plate to gain an advantage over the hitter. This is the tradeoff between computer accuracy and human preference.

But, MLB is upping the game this year, installing a new, more accurate system called Zone Evaluation into every single park this summer.

The new system, called Zone Evaluation, relies on pitch-tracking data already collected by cameras in all 30 parks and distributed through applications on MLB.com and iTunes. Zone Evaluation software will rate umpire performance more quickly and accurately than QuesTec, according to Mike Port, baseball’s vice president for umpiring.

“It’s an upgrade from where we were,” Port said in a telephone interview. “The umpires, they don’t want to miss a pitch any more than a batter wants to strike out. Where the Z.E. system will give us a lot of help is more data to help identify any trends: ‘The last three plate jobs, you missed seven pitches that were down and in. Here’s how one of the supervisors can help you adjust your head angle or your stance to have a better chance of getting those pitches.’”

You know what? If this eventually takes over for good, I don’t know how I’m going to feel about Lou Piniella arguing a strike call with a computer. I have a feeling that’s going to be sort of awkward to watch.

HT: Fornelli at FH.