If you’ve been following along on Orlando Mom for any length of time, you already know: I’m a baseball mom. Bleacher seat permanently warmed. Cooler in the trunk. Snack bag in the front seat. Sunscreen in the glove box. Tournament-weekend warrior. The whole thing.
So when Major League Baseball announced that Automated Balls and Strikes — “ABS” for short — was officially rolling out for the 2026 season, I had a LOT of thoughts. Each team now gets two challenges per game, where they can ask for a computer review of a ball or strike call. Mess up two challenges? You’re out for the rest of the game. No takebacks.
The robot umps have arrived. And honestly, mama? After a few too many youth-league afternoons questioning a strike zone that seemed to be the size of a school bus on one pitch and a postage stamp on the next, I get it. I really, really get it.
What the Survey Actually Said About Robot Umps
A new survey of 2,000 Americans conducted by Talker Research dug into how the country feels about ABS, and the results are pretty split — which tracks for anything involving tradition + tech:
- 38% love the change and think computer help is a positive
- 20% disagree and don’t love it
- 42% said they “don’t know what to think yet” (the most honest answer in the entire poll)
- 21% said ABS will encourage them to tune into more games
- 54% said it won’t change their viewing habits much
The bigger-picture stat I keep coming back to:
- 25% of Americans want even MORE automation in sports — fewer humans making the call, more tech assisting
- 43% are traditionalists who want sports to stay analog
If you’ve read my piece on tech and AI in schools, you know I usually push back hard on “more screens, more tech, more automation.” But baseball? In a Major League stadium where the strike zone determines literal contracts and championships? Where one bad call has changed the course of a World Series? I’m leaning toward: yeah, let the robot help.
And if you’ve ever stood at a youth tournament watching your kid get rung up on a pitch that was clearly six inches outside, you know exactly what I mean. (Listen, I know our youth umps are out there doing hard work in 95-degree heat for almost no money. This is not a takedown of them. It IS a quiet daydream about what life would look like if we had even a little extra clarity at the plate.)
The Part of the Survey That Made Me Laugh Out Loud
The pollsters also asked Americans a much more fun question: if you had an ABS-style challenge system in your real life, what would you challenge?
Here’s what people said:
- Fights with their husband
- The price of their bills
- Major life decisions
- Their rent
- Jury duty
- Their own decisions
- Their husband’s driving
- Gas prices
- What their scale tells them they weigh
- Their supervisor at work
I read this list, snorted out loud, and immediately started making my own. Because if anyone needs two daily challenges, it’s a baseball mom in tournament season.
What This Baseball Mom Would Burn Her Two Daily Challenges On
If MLB lent me the technology, here’s how the umpire-of-my-life and I would be spending our time:
1. Tournament schedules that drop a pool play game at 7:48 a.m. on a Saturday in July. Challenge. In Florida. In July. At 7:48 a.m. Robot, please review.
2. The phrase “I forgot my belt” at exactly the moment we’re supposed to be pulling out of the driveway for warm-ups. Challenge. Where. Where is the belt. Where could it possibly be.
3. Whoever schedules back-to-back games with 20 minutes in between in a state where it’s 96 degrees with a feels-like of 108. Challenge. This call should not stand.
4. The price of a single hot dog and a Gatorade at a tournament concession stand. Challenge. $14? For a hot dog and an electrolyte? I’d like a review.
5. Whatever Florida humidity does to my hair within 11 seconds of stepping out of the car at the field. Challenge. Robot, please review the laws of physics.
6. The “you need to wash my uniform” announcement at 9:47 p.m. before a 7 a.m. tournament start. Challenge that announcement and the announcer.
7. The strike call on my kid that even the other team’s coach thought was outside. Challenge. I have video. Multiple angles, actually.
8. The fact that I have somehow already used both of my daily challenges and it’s only 6:30 a.m. Challenge that challenge. (This is how I lose every day.)
Why a Baseball Mom Is Actually Pro-Robot, At Least a Little
Here’s the thing the non-baseball moms might not get: we LIVE in this game. Hundreds of innings a year. Tournaments most weekends in season. Long drives to and from fields all across Central Florida and beyond. You can’t sit on that many bleachers without developing strong feelings about the strike zone.
And there are a few things about ABS specifically that I think are actually GOOD for the game my kid loves:
- Consistency. A strike is a strike no matter the inning, the score, the count, or the catcher’s framing skills. That’s better for pitchers AND hitters.
- Accountability. Players, coaches, and umps all working from the same definition of the zone.
- Two challenges per game is a smart cap. It keeps the rhythm of the game without letting every other pitch turn into a review.
- Kids growing up watching ABS won’t think a fair strike zone is some kind of luxury. That’s a good thing.
Would I want robot umps at my kid’s Saturday tournament? Honestly… not really. The grit, the imperfection, the “you don’t always get the call” lesson — that’s part of the deal at the youth level. You learn how to deal with disappointment. You learn how to keep your head down and play the next pitch. THAT lesson is irreplaceable.
But at the Major League level, where careers and championships are on the line? Let the robots help. Let the humans make the harder, more interesting calls. It evolves the game without erasing it.
Why It’s Actually a Great Year to Take Your Kids to a Game
If you’re an Orlando family with a baseball fan in the house (or even a kid you’d like to turn into a baseball fan), this is a fun season to actually go see a game in person. ABS is going to be the storyline of the year, and Central Florida has SO many affordable options for taking the kids to live baseball:
- Spring training games during the season’s preview window (Lakeland, Clearwater, Dunedin — all within reach)
East Coast & South Florida
- Jupiter: Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium (Miami Marlins & St. Louis Cardinals)
- West Palm Beach: Cacti Park of the Palm Beaches (Houston Astros & Washington Nationals)
- Port St. Lucie: Clover Park (New York Mets)
West Coast & Central Florida- Sarasota: Ed Smith Stadium (Baltimore Orioles)
- North Port: CoolToday Park (Atlanta Braves)
- Fort Myers: JetBlue Park at Fenway South (Boston Red Sox) & Hammond Stadium (Minnesota Twins)
- Port Charlotte: Charlotte Sports Park (Tampa Bay Rays)
- Bradenton: LECOM Park (Pittsburgh Pirates)
- Clearwater: BayCare Ballpark (Philadelphia Phillies)
- Dunedin: TD Ballpark (Toronto Blue Jays)
- Tampa: George M. Steinbrenner Field (New York Yankees)
- Lakeland: Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium (Detroit Tigers)
- Daytona Tortugas (Cincinnati Reds affiliate) — minor league magic at Jackie Robinson Ballpark
- The Tampa Bay Rays — a doable drive from Orlando, and one of the most family-friendly MLB experiences out there
- Local high school and college games — UCF Baseball (our FAVE), Rollins, area high schools, all real-deal baseball with snack bar prices and zero parking nightmares
- Your local youth league field on a random Wednesday night — still the best, in my opinion (we are currently in a summer wood bat league- so there is plenty of baseball to watch!)
A baseball game is one of the longest-running, lowest-stress, most family-friendly afternoons you can buy in this state. Especially on a slow summer weekend when everyone’s already pacing the living room.
(If you’re building out your summer game plan, our Ultimate Guide to Summer has baseball outings, splash pads, springs days, and budget-friendly family fun all in one place. Hit it up.)
A Final Note From One Bleacher-Seat Mom to Another
Will robot umpires ruin baseball? I don’t think so. People said the same thing about instant replay, about the pitch clock, about the DH. The game keeps evolving and somehow keeps being the same beautiful, slow, weird, magical sport we fell in love with. The kids still beg for hot dogs. The wave still goes around. The seventh-inning stretch still happens. Moms still cry at senior night every single time.
And we baseball moms still don’t get any challenges in real life. Not one. Not even half.
But hey — every once in a while, we get to throw out an imaginary flag. And honestly? That feels pretty good.
⚾ Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go pack the cooler for tomorrow’s tournament. I would officially like to challenge the start time, 8a games that are an hour away are HARD. This call should not stand.
