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Add CB Bucknor To The List

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This is not good for the game.

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That was such bullshit

Everyone in my living room was yelling at the TV. >:|

~I'm on the DA~

by section331 on Aug 15, 2009 9:18 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Ok, I know robot umpires is an unrealistic proposition,

but couldn’t they institute some sort of system to see who the best and worst umpires are, and move the worst ones to the minors while “calling up” the best minor league umps?

by I Lick Squirrels on Aug 15, 2009 9:19 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

The idea of unions it nice, but in application they often suck balls.

The part where they circle the wagons for the scrubs is the part that sucks the hardest.

by Kermit. on Aug 15, 2009 10:28 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Brilliant!
Posted by dawginutah on 05/20/09 at 12:09PM

I have one question. Does each umpire create their own unique strike zone while learning their trade in the minors or do they wait til they get to the majors to do that?

by Kermit. on Aug 15, 2009 10:44 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

`
PD: Can an umpire, regardless of service time, get demoted to the minors because of too many mistakes or consistently poor ball-strike calls?

MP: In a word, no. The system is not set up that way. We believe the best point of evaluation comes when the umpire is added to the staff. These guys trained for a substantial amount of time to get where they are. You need to hire the right people.

I sense a flaw in the system.

by BrianL on Aug 15, 2009 10:47 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think C.B. has lost it at this point.

The players don’t even seem mad anymore. It’s almost comical.

by Geeves72 on Aug 15, 2009 9:29 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Blood

I want blood

by Poochie on Aug 15, 2009 10:15 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

If you go to Brooks you feel worse

French got robbed between 9 and 11 times (the static strikezone Brooks shows makes me wonder about the close high and low pitches) and given maybe 2 strikes. Meanwhile Yankees pitchers were given 5-8 at best borderline strikes while only having 2 borderline calls made against them

by Malcontent1 on Aug 15, 2009 10:22 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

And the SC game review shows the low pitch while the talking head is still yammering about Swisher's HR

and his remark (as we have just watched the pitch go low, and Langerhans heading to 1st on the walk, and then turning around in shock) is “Langerhans takes it like a man”.

by msb on Aug 15, 2009 10:47 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Sometimes it's pretty obvious that whoever is editing the video together for ESPN

knows a hell of a lot more than the people paid to talk about it.

FUCK THE ANGELS!

by Fuckmikereilly on Aug 15, 2009 11:02 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

How does Pitch f/x pick where to draw the circle

Is it at the front of the plate? Where across the plane of the plate does it pick? It seems like that’s a slightly important detail. I do see a little bit of a curve that kind of looks like it goes through the square.

Plus isn’t that strikezone pretty standard for a left handed hitter. Isn’t it pretty well known that left handers have the strike zone shifted farther outside for some reason? Yeah here’s the article.

I like human umps so maybe i’m irrational and bias.

by Edgar for Pres on Aug 15, 2009 11:27 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I believe it puts it on the front plane of the plate

meaning that if that pitch crossed the front plane below the zone, it definitely crossed the entire plate below the zone.

by BrianL on Aug 15, 2009 11:29 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

And concerning the lefty strikezone

That’s kind of a result of human inability to call a truly accurate strikezone. In a perfect word (where robots call balls and strikes) it probably should be the same zone for all batters regardless of handedness.

by BrianL on Aug 15, 2009 11:37 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Nah

Lefties just don’t deserve an equal chance cause they already got spoiled getting an easy track to the majors. I will favor an unequal strikezone on the stance that they deserve to get screwed out of spite since I can’t throw with my left hand.

by Edgar for Pres on Aug 15, 2009 11:59 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I don't really care whether it's "standard" or not.

The strike zone is the strike zone because it’s exceedingly difficult to make decent contact outside of it. Forcing hitters to swing at pitches outside of the officially defined strike zone because, well, fuck them they should be used to it by now, is insane.

by acblue on Aug 15, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

The strikezone is actually shifted not expanded

Which might make it easier for them since they don’t have to worry about inside pitches getting called strikes.

by Edgar for Pres on Aug 16, 2009 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I'm used to pitch #2

It’s pitch #6 that’s insane. Not only is it well below the rulebook strike zone; umps don’t even CALL the lower border of the rulebook strike zone.

by Jeff on Aug 15, 2009 11:40 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Not to mention

How many times lately our pitchers haven’t gotten the low strike call on pitches that were a heck of a lot closer than that one was.

by Jeff Nye on Aug 15, 2009 11:43 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Yeah i agree

Its a shitty pitch. It sucks to get screwed. Its annoying. I just can’t really imagine the game with a computer for an ump.

by Edgar for Pres on Aug 16, 2009 12:07 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Honestly, I like an idea I've seen posted before

Still have the umps there to make the calls, but give them a device inside their mask (a little screen, indicator lights, whatever) telling them where the pitch is, according to Pitch f/x or a better technology to be delivered down the road. If they deviate more than X amount from what the computer says over a given period of time, they get “retrained” or demoted or canned.

That way, you satisfy the people who like the “theater” of human umps (I’m surprised these people exist, but I guess there’s a reason Angel Hernandez is still around) and the people who want a game called consistently and correctly.

by Jeff Nye on Aug 16, 2009 12:16 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

That's an interesting proposal.

In-game feedback to the umps could do a lot to improve their zone calls.

by BrianL on Aug 16, 2009 12:19 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Aren't the upper and lower limits of the strike zone in pitch/fx determined by people?

I mean, I thought the pitch was low, but when I rewound the game and looked at the pitch from the side view it looked like the top of the ball hit the bottom of the lower of the batters knees.

What bugs me about the pitch/fx coverage is that it’s not all as precise as people think it is. If the entire strike zone was determined by infallible machines then it would be a lot more palatable to me, but since it’s just a couple of staffers deciding the top and bottom of the box, it seems kind of strange to hold it up as the end all be all.

by Smegmalicious on Aug 15, 2009 11:41 PM PDT reply actions   0 recs

I'm not entirely sure I follow.

You’re taking issue with pitchf/x because it isn’t perfect, despite the fact that umpires calling balls and strikes are way worse? That’s a bit of a call to perfection fallacy, isn’t it?

by BrianL on Aug 15, 2009 11:45 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

No, I'm just saying the pitch/fx isn't perfect.

I get that umpires make mistakes, but pitch/fx gets talked about like it’s infallible, and it’s not, particularly on high and low pitches.

by Smegmalicious on Aug 15, 2009 11:51 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Do you go off of the higher knee or the lower knee?

Is that even specified in the rules? From what I can see it isn’t but I could be wrong.

If you draw the red line in the bottom two pictures from the bottom of the knee, which I guess would be where the hollow below the kneecap is, the line is quite a bit lower.

by Smegmalicious on Aug 16, 2009 12:01 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I guess this is what I'm trying to say:

This is where I would think the bottom of the strike zone is, but the rules seem pretty damned vague.

by Smegmalicious on Aug 16, 2009 12:05 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

It's not specified

What matters is that Bucknor called a strike on a pitch that umpires pretty much never call a strike.

by Jeff on Aug 16, 2009 1:21 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

An idea.

We should compile a comprehensive list of the most egregious calls made by the umpires in the last few years of pitch fx info. Then put it all into a easily understandable package and ship it to every team’s front office, the MLB front office, the players Union and the Umpire’s Union. It wouldn’t accomplish anything, but it would be cathartic.

Fear the NPE

by thewyrm on Aug 16, 2009 7:31 AM PDT via mobile reply actions   0 recs

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