If a catcher can get away with it, he's going to do it. Is raising umpire's awareness to pitch framing an option? I am not a proponent of implementing robots into the game.
Put my vote in for robo-ump. Do away with the "framing" and the "context" strike zones (veterans vs. rookies, home vs. away, score-related, standings-related, "lesson teaching",etc. ).
The NFL has become far more enjoyable in my opinion now that there is a clear mandate to try to "get it right".
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."
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As most of you know, I'm as traditional as they come, but I'm with Doug on this one and I thought the same thing while watching these post season games with the graphics showing the strike zone on every pitch. I've been fed up with ump's strike zones for awhile now but I think as this technology gets better and if it's feasible to set up a system that can work at the major league level, I'd be all for it
"Reality tells us there are no guarantees. Except that some day Jon Lester will be on that list of 100-game winners." - Peter Gammons
Umpires are as much a part of the game as are the players. As far as "umps miss calls way too often" is concerned...players make errors way too often in my opinion. Managers make bad decisions that cost their teams games. So let's eliminate the managers and set up a preprogrammed system that reacts to specific situations based on the input. Why don't we just invent a computer game and call it baseball. Eliminate all the bad calls, pitches, errors, and decisions and see what that looks like.
Baseball is a game that is as human as we are and that's why I enjoy it. We all make mistakes and that's a part of who we are. The mistakes are a part of the entertainment in an odd way.
We have a way to get those calls right 100% of the time...
Totally disagree. Let me know when you get 100% agreement on anything. You would still contest what is "right."
The inanity of NFL instant reply is overwhelming. I just don't want any part of it in the batter's box.
It would be interesting for MLB to try this out in spring training, even at just a couple ball parks.
Of course, you can expect the umps would go out on strike.
What about giving each manager three ball/strike challenges per game? If the challenge wins, they don't have to use it up. There would need to be rules for borderline calls.
The problem I see with Gameday strike zones is that they are two diminsional. The plate is three diminsional, and a curve can theoretically cross the zone behind the front plane of the plate. How do we measure for that?
I like the idea, but I don't think the technology is quite there yet.
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"I think we’re starting to get to the point where people are starting to get tired of this stretch of ball,” Votto said. “I think something needs to start changing and start going in a different direction. I’m going to do my part to help make that change.”
An umpire's call is obviously a different category than a play by a player or a decision by a manager. Playing the game and the strategy of the game are a part of the fabric of the game. Exact calling of balls and strikes by an automated system is not the same category as attempting to use artificial intelligence for managing a game, or having robots that field perfectly play the game.
"Rounding 3rd and heading for home, good night everybody"
I'd be in favor of using the computers to evaluate and discipline the umpires. If an umpire is shown to miss balls/strikes at an inordinate rate, I'd be fully in favor of demoting that umpire to the minors. But I do NOT want a computer calling the balls/strikes in a game.
And by the way, that video Doug posted in that initial post, 6 inches outside...sure, it's a ball...but lets not act like it's such a blatant error that we get bent out of shape over it. That's just slightly more than one baseball's length outside. Sure it's a mistake, but I've seen worse mistakes on plays with balls that are trapped, or close plays at a base, etc. Are we going to have computers call those to? Implement replay to make an already long game even longer? I vote no.
Last edited by _Sir_Charles_; 11-13-2012 at 06:17 PM.
Why can't we? The problem is that baseball has a dumb replay system to begin with. Don't send the entire crew into the tunnel to watch the video. Have 3-4 umpires working in New York watching the replays. By the time the manager gets hit butt out of the dugout and tells the umpire what he wants to review, we folks at home already know whether the right or wrong call was made. Have the crew chief hooked up with an ear piece. When the right call comes in on a disputed play, the guy in New York tells him the result of the play and that is that. It would take less than a minute. Balls and strikes are already being done. Just make it happen (and be sure to calibrate the system an hour before each game). It isn't difficult. It is actually incredibly easy given that we already have every piece of technology in place except for an ear piece and a few umpires sitting in New York in front of some TVs.
Why not give the umpire behind the plate an ear piece and give him a tennis-like beep when the ball is a strike? You still have a human in charge who can deal with the unforeseen. The umpire isn't shown up, but he will be trained to call the objective strike.
High and low might be a challenge, but inside and outside seem doable.
And yet, the plate has precise measurements that are consistent from park to park. And yet, the rule book provides very specific guidelines about how to define the height of the zone by player.
Clearly, the task given to the umpire is to assess whether or not the ball crossed through the zone. That's what the rulebook says his job his. We have evidence that certain players can and do systemically abuse the umpires' physical limitations in doing their job.
The question becomes, which is the bigger affront? Changing our rule enforcement mechanism, to which some people seem to have great affinity, or allowing players to gain an advantage through their skill in abusing the limitations of our current mechanism?
The umps are there to enforce the rules. MLB should be doing what it can to allow them to do their jobs as well as possible. Choosing not to so when they clearly have a solution available is an insult to anybody who thinks that the game should be decided by the players' ability to score and prevent runs within the rules rather than their ability to abuse the limitations of our ability to enforce them.
I've yet to see anybody make a compelling argument against a solution such as the one BCubb described. I'm sure the umps would resist, but that's the only reason, that's sad.
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.
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