Mike Schmidt thinks balls and strikes should be called by a force field

We’re just over a week into the 2014 Major League Baseball season and we’ve already seen multiple balls and strikes calls by umpires that are beyond humanly possible to explain. I mean, there’s bad and then there’s bad.

The poor calls have apparently infuriated legendary Philadelphia Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt who thinks there needs to be a force field around home plate that calls balls and strikes via a computerized system.

"“I think the umpire at home plate should not call balls and strikes. I think they should have a force field over home plate and if the pitcher throws and the ball touches the force field a little bell goes off and it’s a strike. That would expand the strike zone to the point where  the hitters would now have to swing the ball, which would shorten the game."

Do the batters receive a light saber as well to hit the pitch?

Schmidt doesn’t want to rid the game of the home plate umpire completely, suggesting that they are needed for plays at the plate, but wants to them to stop calling balls and strikes given how terrible they’ve been in recent weeks.

I’m not sure a force field is the answer, but Major League Baseball certainly has a bit of a problem.