The Three Laws of Robotic Umpires (!)
1. A robotic umpire may not misidentify a thrown ball or, through misidentification, allow a strike to be called a ball, or conversely, a ball to be called a strike. All calls must be objectively correct.
2. A robotic umpire must objectively and correctly interpret the strike zone except where such interpretation would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robotic umpire must make the objectively correct call as long as such a determination does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
(!) Adapted, of course, from Dr Asimov’s famous Three Laws of Robotics.
BRING ON THE ROBOT UMPS
Play ball! pic.twitter.com/Mqinob3dOn
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) March 13, 2021
Here’s Cub Tracks News and Notes. As always, * means autoplay on, or annoying ads, or both (directions to remove for Firefox and Chrome). {$} means paywall. {$} means limited views. Italics are often used on this page as sarcasm font. (In the comments section, use @ before and after your remarks @ to produce sarcasm font. In the text body. It doesn’t work in the headlines.)
“I think it’s my responsibility. It’s my time. “When I was 20 coming into the game, there were a lot of firsts. Just having Tim Hudson, David Ross, Eric Hinske, Michael Bourn, Martin Prado, Chipper [Jones], Brian McCann, Billy Wagner. People like that just kind of gradually give me information.
“Of course, you gotta be willing to be open to it and want to receive that stuff. But yeah, I feel like it’s just kind of my time, my responsibility to be one of those people that pass things along to the next generation of players.” — Jason Heyward, on his role as clubhouse leader.
A few shots from this morning's B game at Sloan Park. Zach Davies got his latest start in, Brennen Davis was among the prospects playing, Jake Marisnick went 3-for-5 in first spring game action. pic.twitter.com/gCOZPC3itE
— Jordan Bastian (@MLBastian) March 13, 2021
- Paul Sullivan (Chicago Tribune* {$}): Robot umpires might be coming soon to a ballpark near you. It was only a matter of time. “It’s inevitable, right?” Chicago Cubs manager David Ross said.
- Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Ross on Minor League rule changes: ‘Trying stuff Is good’. “I think they’re trying to try to maximize the consistency of the strike zone — makes a lot of sense,” Ross said.
- Andy Martinez (Marquee Sports Network*): One year later: remembering the day baseball shut down. “I remember Theo talking a couple of times about it, but it really wasn’t on my radar, because I was busy with the team and trying to organize my things and thoughts and the season,” Ross recalled earlier this week.
- Maddie Lee (NBC Sports Chicago*): Jake Arrieta: 2nd World Series would be ‘pretty damn special’. “Realistically, the Cubs are long shot to win it all this year. Don’t tell them that.”
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Austin Romine, José Lobatón offer Cubs depth at catcher. “Chicago’s depth chart behind the plate appears thin at first glance.”
- 670 The Score*: Ian Happ details hitting improvements of Cubs teammate Nico Hoerner. “He’s just going to keep getting better,” Happ says of Hoerner.
- Russell Dorsey (Chicago Sun-Times* {$}): Brennen Davis learning as much as possible in first big league camp with Cubs. “I’m taking everything that I can from this experience,” Davis said. Being cut probably won’t hinder that.
- Jordan Bastian (MLB.com*): Notes: Jake Marisnick tests legs; Adbert Alzolay; Craig Kimbrel. “Marisnick made his game debut on Saturday in a “B” game against the D-backs at Sloan Park.”
- Ashok Selvam (Eater Chicago*): Baseball food vendors are part of the game, but they haven’t been asked to return yet. “While Cubs and Sox fans are allowed to return to stadiums, vendors ... are left in limbo.”
Food for thought:
Almost everything you know about cheese is wrong https://t.co/pFa7FzRLcD pic.twitter.com/MRhAyzcMVC
— Popular Science (@PopSci) March 13, 2021
Researchers Unlock The Antikythera Mechanism's Ancient Secretshttps://t.co/YdSz262KAr
— ScienceAlert (@ScienceAlert) March 13, 2021
It triggered a subatomic cascade — and could have an avalanche of implications for the future of physics.https://t.co/FUSdC7wcZJ
— Futurism (@futurism) March 12, 2021
Thanks for perusing.