--- title: "A Baseball Team Is Filling Its Stadium With 500 Robot Spectators" description: "Taiwan's baseball team called the Rakuten Monkeys decided to get creative to keep their baseball team company in an empty stadium: \"robot mannequins.\"" date: "2020-04-07" modified: "2020-04-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/baseball-team-robot-spectators" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "baseball" - "china" - "coronavirus" - "covid-19" - "taiwan" - "the digest" --- # A Baseball Team Is Filling Its Stadium With 500 Robot Spectators ![]() *\Image: Rakuten Monkeys via Facebook\* ## Robot Mannequins Baseball fans in Asia are still not allowed to leave their homes and cheer on their favorite team at the stadium — despite the fact that the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is about to resume operations this Saturday. So Taiwan's CPBL team, the Rakuten Monkeys, decided to get creative to keep them company in an otherwise empty stadium: by putting up "robot mannequins" in the stands dressed as fans, sports site [*12Up* reports](). https://twitter.com/TheKendallBaker/status/1247511891263385600 "Next-level creepy but this is what it's come to, folks," wrote *Axios* sports editor Kendall Baker in a tweet, captioning an imaging of a particularly post-apocalyptic looking stand filled with lifeless mannequins holding red signs. ## Having Some Fun "Since we are not allowed to have any fans in attendance, we might as well have some fun with it," said Monkeys general manager Justin Liu, as quoted [by *CPBL Stats*](). “We went with 500 robot mannequins to comply with the current CDC guideline." What exactly these bots are capable of doing, beyond just looking into the void, is still unclear. ## Socially Distanced Baseball The news comes after Major League Baseball announced it's in discussions right now with federal health officials to possibly have players in training camps by May. Plans for playing socially distanced games of baseball would include a lack of mound visits and an electronic strike zone to keep umpires six feet away from the action, [according to *The Score*](). **READ MORE:** [Taiwanese Baseball Team Will Use Dressed-Up Robots Instead of Fans When Season Begins This Weekend]() \[*12Up*\] **More on the pandemic:** *[Scientists Are Spying on Google Searches to Track the Coronavirus]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()