Professional baseball catcher legend’ Lee Man-soo, former SK Wyverns (now SSG Landers) manager, is working on the Automatic Ball-Strike System (ABS), the so-called ‘robot umpire’, to be introduced next season. Both expectations and concerns were expressed regarding the matter.Former manager Lee Man-soo met with reporters at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, where the 7th Lee Man-soo Catcher Award and Home Run Award ceremony was held on the 21st, and said, “I am concerned that Korean baseball will decline due to ABS.”Former manager Lee continued by saying, “I think the unique fun of baseball will disappear if a machine determines strikes,” adding, “I’m especially worried that the catcher’s role will be diminished.”Former manager Lee said, “Nowadays, catchers don’t need to frame (the act of moving the mitt to get a favorable decision from the umpire when catching a pitcher’s ball),” adding, “Due to this environment, promising players are losing their skills.” “You can neglect training,” he added.
However, he said, “One of the good effects of ABS is that distrust in judgments disappears,” and added, “I hope the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) prepares well for the changes that ABS will bring and makes efforts to prevent Korean baseball from taking a backseat.”Last October, the KBO announced that it would introduce ABS and pitch clock systems starting in the 2024 season. ABS is a system in which a machine determines the ball, and a camera installed in the stadium determines the ball’s trajectory and impact point in real time to determine whether it is a strike or a ball.The referee receives the ball decision information through the receiver and earphones and then makes the decision.ABS is not yet a proven system.In the United States, ABS is being tested in the minor leagues, and no decision has been made on whether to introduce it in the big leagues. 스포츠토토존 Japanese professional baseball also does not use ABS.