Robot Umpires & Handshakes & Something I'm Not Good At

Special Sunday fixing my errors edition

Hey folks, I had an error in Friday's "Free for ALL Friday" edition. The very last item, about "robot umpires" in baseball, included incorrect text.

So, I thought I'd pass along the correct version today — plus another sports-related story I happened to write the other day that has kind of gone viral elsewhere.

Also: Something I’m not very good at, but I should probably do more often. Thanks for being with us!

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This Could Be Major League Baseball’s Last Season Without Robot Umpires

The spring training trial could determine if the technology is finally ready for the big leagues.

If there’s one thing baseball fans are averse to, it’s change. Over the MLB’s 149-year history, alterations to the game’s rules, like lowering the pitcher’s mound (1968) or introducing instant replay challenges (2014) came only after years of heated debate between reformers and purists.

Maybe the most contentious issue ever to divide these two camps is whether or not to replace notoriously inaccurate human home plate umpires with less fallible machines. Though that was once largely considered out of the bounds of possibility, MLB games officiated by so-called “robot umpires” are now closer to reality than ever before.

This new system, called the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) has been used in the minors before. Here's a very short video, posted to X/Twitter, of how it works in action.

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Canada Beat Team USA in Hockey. What the NHL Players Did Afterward Was Inspiring

In business and in life: What’s your equivalent of the post-game handshake?

I was up for this game, but I had forgotten that there's a tradition at the end of big hockey games: the post-game handshake.

That was a very charged game Thursday evening, and given the whole state of affairs with the U.S. and Canada right now, it was a tough environment. So I took some solace in seeing the players for both sides line up and congratulate every opposing team member.

Maybe we should adopt something like this in other sports and contexts.

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Here's Something I'm Not Very Good at Doing

Finally, today: If you've considered becoming a paid supporter of the newsletter, I'd like to ask you to give it a try today.

I haven't asked people to sign up as paid supporters in quite a while, except for the automated buttons that get included on the free editions when I send this newsletter each day. To be honest, I'm terrible at this part of running a newsletter.

But, with the exception of ads running on the "Big Optimism" edition, I rely on reader subscriptions to keep this going.

Writing the newsletter each day takes a good amount of time. I'm aware that it's not the kind of subscription that people can get their employer to pay for, or write off on their taxes at the end of the year.

That's why I've tried to keep the susbcription levels reasonable -- frankly, set to the lowest tier available on Substack!

I'm really focused on organizing the newsletter so that it provides a better experience during 2025, and your support will make it possible.

If already are a paid supporter, THANK YOU!. But if you haven’t taken the jump yet, I hope you’ll consider it.

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