While the MLB flails around with trying to speed the game up - some practical advice that would fix "the problem".
http://www.chicagotribune.com/...2-story.html?ref=yfp
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There's nothing I hate worse in all of sports than watching a baseball or softball go right down the middle of the plate belly high and getting called a ball.
Automated strike zone!
I’m on this train!
Scotty83 posted:There's nothing I hate worse in all of sports than watching a baseball or softball go right down the middle of the plate belly high and getting called a ball.
I gotta tell you that watching a ball go right down the middle of the chalk line of the other batter’s box and getting consistently called a strike is pretty annoying as well. :-)
Had an ump tell me at the pregame meeting once that he was giving two baseballs off the plate. Well, two turned to about four or five by the time it was over.
Rosenbloom. LOL. He ignored that batters are seeing faster pitching on a much more consistent basis than oh...back when he thought the game was good.
hshuler posted:Scotty83 posted:There's nothing I hate worse in all of sports than watching a baseball or softball go right down the middle of the plate belly high and getting called a ball.
I gotta tell you that watching a ball go right down the middle of the chalk line of the other batter’s box and getting consistently called a strike is pretty annoying as well. :-)
Had an ump tell me at the pregame meeting once that he was giving two baseballs off the plate. Well, two turned to about four or five by the time it was over.
This kid:
At the MLB level this may be true.
>Had an ump tell me at the pregame meeting once that he was giving two baseballs off the plate. Well, two turned to about four or five by the time it was over.<
After watching years of TB where a certain number of games have to be played in a certain time the above is also true. Nothing moves a game along like calling strikes that can't be hit.
Maybe things are rosier the further they are in the rear-view mirror, but my recollection is that most of the umpires we saw doing travel ball were at least good, and often much better than good. In HS good was the best you could hope for, and too often you didn't get it.
Maybe he's on to something. I think the "problem" is that hitters are so good today that pitchers have to be careful with every pitch. Kershaw, and maybe a few others, have the stuff to throw strikes early and get ahead in the count, but not most. They have to nibble away and try to get a batter to chase a pitch. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. A slightly bigger zone would give more margin for error and just maybe speed things up a bit.
It's not a bigger zone. It's just call the whole zone.
Batters right now have the advantage of sitting around waiting for pitchers to put the ball in the zone for an upward launch angle. They don't even have to defend against the high strike. Stand there and watch until you get one grooved a little above the knee and golf it out of the park.
SomeBaseballDad posted:At the MLB level this may be true.
>Had an ump tell me at the pregame meeting once that he was giving two baseballs off the plate. Well, two turned to about four or five by the time it was over.<
After watching years of TB where a certain number of games have to be played in a certain time the above is also true. Nothing moves a game along like calling strikes that can't be hit.
Yep. I thought it was pretty ironic when he said the purpose was to force the batters to swing.
He didn’t like it too much when I asked “you mean swing at balls?” or “why do you have a plate when you calling two baseballs off either side?”
I thought it was good food for thought whether he appreciated it or not. :-)
I agree whole heartedly with calling the entire strike zone. As mentioned before calling a pitch 2 balls off the plate is ridiculous, when did that become a strike. Hitters will adjust to the high strike and the game would be much more enjoyable.
JCG posted:Maybe things are rosier the further they are in the rear-view mirror, but my recollection is that most of the umpires we saw doing travel ball were at least good, and often much better than good. In HS good was the best you could hope for, and too often you didn't get it.
My sense is that the zone is bigger in travel ball -- wider, as Shu mentioned -- which I always chalked up to the tournament schedule (games must be finished quickly). I agree the umpires are good (that is, consistent).
Does anyone know with some certainty how MLB umpires currently get "graded" behind the plate? My understanding is that the current technology can precisely "map" the 3-D footprint of the plate and, with some manual input as to the top and bottom of the zone (based on the specific player), can track the ball's exact course to determine whether any portion ever passed through the strike zone.
Someone on here mentioned the possibility of having each MLB player's "batting stance" captured before the game and used. Apart from the system going down and how the calls get relayed, are there other problems with this approach?
To all the doctors on the site, is it possible to have your patella surgically raised thereby shrinking your strike zone? Or maybe shave off the bottom portion?
"To all the doctors on the site, is it possible to have your patella surgically raised thereby shrinking your strike zone? Or maybe shave off the bottom portion?"
Umm 
.
Teaching Elder posted:"To all the doctors on the site, is it possible to have your patella surgically raised thereby shrinking your strike zone? Or maybe shave off the bottom portion?"
Umm
Forgot to add "LOL 
" to imply that I was joking (must not have been funny). If they start taking measurements from the "hollow beneath the kneecap" and you can raise that hollow, then you effectively shrink the strike zone. But of course you have to wait until your kid's growth plates are closed. LOL
2017LHPscrewball posted:Teaching Elder posted:"To all the doctors on the site, is it possible to have your patella surgically raised thereby shrinking your strike zone? Or maybe shave off the bottom portion?"
Umm
Forgot to add "LOL
JCG:
MLB umpires can control the game. During a game they will increase or decrease the strike zone. Veteran players [pitcher or hitters] receive the benefit of their years in the MLB.
In Cuba, Tommy La Sorda pitching and he "gives" the umpire a "head shake" indicating displeasure with the call. The Cuban umpire opened his jacket and showed a 45 pistol. La Sorda tipped his cap. OK, OK!! True Story
Bob
Funny umpire story for a slow day. Notice anything odd about this fence?
So about a year ago a storm blew down a fence between us and our neighbor. The neighbor is a contractor so he knows a lot of guys and he offered to get a couple bids.
The bid he likes is from a guy who umpires HS games in our league. Good guy. Good base ump, but working the plate, he's one of those umpires who often calls a strike 2+ balls on the outside. I tell my wife the fence will be built about a foot off the property line, but it's just a joke. We agree to take the bid.
So the fence looks great. But you see how it jogs to the right at least the width of 2 baseballs between the first post and the second? Well the first post is on the property line. After that, for the next 35', it's almost a foot into my neighbor's property.
Pretty funny, but only from our side of the fence.
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I'm just glad the contractor got screwed for once.
He's a super nice guy.
To be honest, our area had some pretty good HS umpires....guys who had been doing it for quite a while...and you knew what you were getting when you showed up and they were on the field. The umpires I've seen since my son has been in college.....not so much. There seems to be no defined strike zone whatsoever....son, who is a pitcher (and now a DH) agrees....said there is just no consistency at all