Triple-A baseball will be experimenting with robot umpires during the 2022 season and El Paso is one of 11 cities that will implementing the Automated Ball and Strike system (ABS). The complete list includes:

  • Albuquerque Isotopes (Albuquerque, NM)
  • Charlotte Knights (Charlotte, NC)
  • El Paso Chihuahuas (El Paso, TX)
  • Las Vegas Aviators (Las Vegas, NV)
  • Oklahoma City Dodgers (Oklahoma City, OK)
  • Reno Aces (Reno, NV)
  • Round Rock Express (Round Rock, TX)
  • Sacramento River Cats (Sacramento, CA)
  • Salt Lake Bees (Salt Lake, UT)
  • Sugar Land Skeeters (Sugar Land, TX)
  • Tacoma Rainiers (Tacoma, WA)

 
Major League Baseball is looking for people to work the ABS systems for the 2022 season in all 11 ballparks and they posted an application on their website. MLB did not list any monetary compensation, but the job sounds super interesting. The technology will work within an iPhone app and the ABS tech will work closely with each umpire team as well as with MLB. Be prepared to spend lots of time at Southwest University Park. The tech will need to arrive at the ballpark at least two hours prior to first pitch and then send a detailed postgame report after meeting with the umpire. MLB will have a training program for every ABS Tech who are hired for the upcoming season.

Robot umpires are not new. The independent Atlantic League used the technology to call balls and strikes at their 2019 All Star Game the Arizona Fall League also used it later that year. The Low A Southeast League used robot umpires in eight of nine ballparks last season. I am fascinated by this job opening and cannot wait to see who gets the opportunity to make history and brag that they once operated the robot umpires when they first arrived in El Paso and Triple-A baseball.

UTEP vs. NMSU Battle of I-10 Gallery Recap

These photos were taken Saturday, August 28th, 2021 when UTEP defeated NMSU 30-3 in the annual Battle of I-10 at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

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