"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
I think threads about computerizing balls and strikes are giving "Adam Dunn Sucks" threads a run for the money.
The reality is computerized balls and strikes are not likely to happen in our lifetime. MLB is very conservative and does not react quickly to change. There is no system currently in place at any level of professional or amateur baseball so this alone tells me this isn't even on the radar for MLB to implement anytime soon.
I have no problem with instant replay being used on a limited basis but as far as balls and strikes I have no real opinion because again, it isn't going to happen in my lifetime so why think about it?
Don't think also that there won't be controversy should a computerized system ever be put in place. I gaurantee fans and players alike will still question and gripe about the calls.
The only real place I can find where people want some computerized ball and strikes system is on this board.
I will check back in a month or so when a new thread about this is started and will copy and paste the same thing again.
"Boys, I'm one of those umpires that misses 'em every once in a while so if it's close, you'd better hit it." Cal Hubbard
The point Doug makes is valid yet I am not seeing a pitch that is 6 inches off the plate. Can we get a consensus on that before I go on?
A ball whose center is 1.5 inches off the plate is still a strike though because its outer edge nips the black, correct?
"No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." ~Tommy Lasorda
50 runs/80 games = .625 runs a game
I'm just struggling to compute all this.
Ok, I'm done for now.
If the beep tells the ump what to say, why even have an ump? You can have a scoreboard keep track of the count, instant replay on plays at the plate, and a mechanical ball tosser give new balls when they're scuffed by clicking a button on the catcher's helmet. The beep is the castration of the ump. No one will respect the ump. I think the game would lose a little excitement waiting for the beep.
If tennis can do it -- and do it efficiently -- there's no reason baseball can't. Not exactly apples-to-apples, but you get the drift. This isn't all that complicated with today's technology. And not EVERY call would be reviewed. Just the ones that are challenged. Wouldn't take but more than a few seconds ... just like when shots are challenged in tennis.
The calling of balls/strikes is a huge issue in baseball. One that certainly needs fixed. Guys are all over the map with their respective strike zones.
Because the home plate ump does more than just call balls and strikes and throw the ball back to the pitcher. Somehow they still manage to find tennis judges.
That said, I'd be very happy even it wasn't even something the ump had to follow, but just a training mechanism. Put it purposefully on a 5-10 second delay, let the ump make his call as he currently does, and then give him feedback. Ump keeps his role, but gets the feedback he needs to improve at his craft in real time, when he's still able to process the necessary adjustment.
Last edited by RedsManRick; 11-13-2012 at 10:19 PM.
Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.
Like anything technical and complex, the devil is in the details.
I'd really like to see a working real-time balls and strikes video system get implemented in the minors where they can use it for a season and really work all the bugs out of it. With these kinds of things, the problems aren't the ones you think of, its the ones you don't think of and all of the unintended consequences.
Thinking it through, it seems that getting the geometry of the plate is a solvable thing. You have the front, sides, and back and they don't move. What seems the problem is the top and bottom of the strike zone.
Rule 2.00: The Strike Zone
The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.
That last sentence would be the tricky part. Is this a fully automated determination or is a human being setting it? If automated, the batter knows when he's being scanned and what happens if he crouches at that exact instant? Lots of things to work out.
And being a IT security guy, all systems better be firewalled and virus scanned and the code better be app-scanned for vulnerabilities and peer reviewed out the wazoo because it will come under intense scrutiny. White hat threats where a programmer can be bought out by organized gamblers to alter results. All solvable problems that all IT departments worth their salt take care of, but now instead of a human ump that is calling balls and strikes, you have a digital infrastructure that is doing it. Believe me, a lot can go wrong and lots and lots and lots of stuff needs to be worked out.
She used to wake me up with coffee ever morning
Electronic strikezones already exist. They've been around for years and have been demonstrating to fans who know how to open up a Gameday window that, yes, umps do as poor a job of calling balls and strikes as we always suspected. And the electronic systems make an instantaneous call.
The technology is proven and in place. It adds no delay to the game. It increases the fairness of the game. In fact, it would eliminate all game-time wrangling over calls.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
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