Petition to Maintain the Humanity of Baseball
Petition to Maintain the Humanity of Baseball
The Issue
To: Major League Baseball Leadership, Team Owners, and the Baseball Community
Baseball is more than a game—it is a human contest shaped by judgment, imperfection, instinct, and emotion. It has endured for generations not because it is flawless, but because it is deeply human.
We, the undersigned, believe that the increasing reliance on automation, excessive analytics, and rule changes aimed solely at efficiency risk stripping baseball of its essential character.
We Stand For:
1. Preserving Human Judgment
Umpires are part of the game. Their calls—right or wrong—are part of baseball’s fabric. Removing that entirely in favor of automated systems erases a core element of competition.
2. Protecting the Rhythm of the Game
Baseball has its own pace—deliberate, strategic, and thoughtful. Over-engineering the game for speed risks turning it into something it was never meant to be.
3. Limiting Over-Automation
Technology should assist, not replace. Replay review and tools can support fairness, but full automation (like robotic strike zones) removes accountability and human tension.
4. Respecting the Unwritten Elements
Emotion, grit, rivalry, momentum swings—these cannot be measured but define the sport. Baseball without them becomes sterile.
5. Keeping the Game Relatable
Fans connect with players, managers, and umpires as people—not machines. The more baseball becomes data-driven and automated, the more it risks losing that connection.
Our Position
We are not against progress. We are against losing what makes baseball baseball.
We call on MLB leadership to:
Limit full automation of officiating
Preserve on-field human decision-making
Ensure rule changes respect tradition, not just entertainment metrics
Keep the game grounded in competition, not optimization
Final Statement
Baseball does not need to be perfected.
It needs to remain alive.
Revoke all rule changes after introduced after 1954.
If everything is precise, predictable, and automated—then the game loses the very thing that made us fall in love with it.
Maintain the humanity of baseball.
1
The Issue
To: Major League Baseball Leadership, Team Owners, and the Baseball Community
Baseball is more than a game—it is a human contest shaped by judgment, imperfection, instinct, and emotion. It has endured for generations not because it is flawless, but because it is deeply human.
We, the undersigned, believe that the increasing reliance on automation, excessive analytics, and rule changes aimed solely at efficiency risk stripping baseball of its essential character.
We Stand For:
1. Preserving Human Judgment
Umpires are part of the game. Their calls—right or wrong—are part of baseball’s fabric. Removing that entirely in favor of automated systems erases a core element of competition.
2. Protecting the Rhythm of the Game
Baseball has its own pace—deliberate, strategic, and thoughtful. Over-engineering the game for speed risks turning it into something it was never meant to be.
3. Limiting Over-Automation
Technology should assist, not replace. Replay review and tools can support fairness, but full automation (like robotic strike zones) removes accountability and human tension.
4. Respecting the Unwritten Elements
Emotion, grit, rivalry, momentum swings—these cannot be measured but define the sport. Baseball without them becomes sterile.
5. Keeping the Game Relatable
Fans connect with players, managers, and umpires as people—not machines. The more baseball becomes data-driven and automated, the more it risks losing that connection.
Our Position
We are not against progress. We are against losing what makes baseball baseball.
We call on MLB leadership to:
Limit full automation of officiating
Preserve on-field human decision-making
Ensure rule changes respect tradition, not just entertainment metrics
Keep the game grounded in competition, not optimization
Final Statement
Baseball does not need to be perfected.
It needs to remain alive.
Revoke all rule changes after introduced after 1954.
If everything is precise, predictable, and automated—then the game loses the very thing that made us fall in love with it.
Maintain the humanity of baseball.
1
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Petition created on May 4, 2026