Jump to content

For crying out loud, can MLB please implement an electronic strike zone already?


weams

Recommended Posts

I have long been in favor of an automated strike zone. I think MLB would further its own interests if it reported periodically on the progress it's making in developing and perfecting the balls-and-strikes technology, how it's performing, and problems it's encountering. Of course, that would be inconsistent with MLB's usual m.o. of keeping fans in the dark about pretty much everything it can, so hardly a surprise that the information's not shared.

Here's the definition of the strike zone: "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.Two things have baffled me since TV (and MLB's Gameday) began to show the strike zone and pitches in relation to the zone:

1. The strike zone is three-dimensional. So is the ball as it travels in or near the strike zone. But what we're shown in the TV graphics is the relationship -- the key being the presence or absence of an overlap between the two on the graphic -- between two two-dimensional objects: a smaller round one for the pitch and a larger rectangle for the strike zone. Are we seeing the relationship between those objects at the front of home plate, at the center (front-to-back) of the plate, or somewhere else? Wherever it is, the two-dimensional portrayal of a pitch and the strike zone doesn't capture the three-dimensional nature of pitches or the strike zone. Since a pitch is a strike if it crosses over any part of home plate, some pitches that are outside the rectangle where the ball passes the rectangle nonetheless are strikes because they touch a portion of the three-dimensional strike zone in front of or behind the rectangle. Does what we're shown have some way of taking into account that apparent mismatch between (a) the three-dimensional strike zone and moving baseball and (b) the two-dimensional depiction of the strike zone and baseball, into account? If not, how many pitches does that mismatch affect? What's the effect on umpire ratings? 

2. Second, the strike zone's top and bottom are defined in a way that makes them depend on the height and batting stance of the batter. I assume that, if an electronic strike zone is implemented, each player will be photographed in his batting stance as he is "prepared to swing at a pitched ball," and the data about the top and bottom of his strike zone will be fed into the electronic system when he comes to bat. For now, how are the top and bottom of the strike zone that we see on TV graphics determined for each player? Are they accurate? Are they consistent for all of a player's at bats? What if a player changes his batting stance dramatically? If the current method for creating the graphics is imprecise, how much difference does that make? What's the effect on umpire ratings?

Any information about how this works would be appreciated.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
43 minutes ago, Oriole1940 said:

This is a textbook example of how seriously MLB takes in getting things right, putting out a quality product, etc.  If calls are too accruate, then it is harder to be biased for a specific team or teams.  That will never do.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Considering that the call that did the most damage went for the Astros I don't think MLB was being actively biased this game.

The missed calls were pretty even.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, glenn__davis said:

Disclaimer, I didn't see pitch that supposedly screwed the Red Sox.

That being said - yes, as a whole that's a terrible night, but based on the charts above it looks like that pitch was a borderline strike at best.  I mean it's not like it was a blatant and obvious strike.  

Like Eric Gregg in the 1997 NLCS bad. 

clip0380.gif.opt_.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Can_of_corn posted this article in another forum, but this article on the experience in the Atlantic League and certain minor leagues should be read by anyone advocating for an electronic strike zone.   It’s not as simple a situation as you think.   https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2021/10/21/22736400/experimental-rules-atlantic-league-robo-umps

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




  • Posts

    • Thanks for the detailed explanation of all of the issues.  Sounds like a mess.
    • Yeah the amenities are pretty outdated at the yard and they seem to do nothing year over year to improve them. The touchscreens have been banged on to death to the point they barely function, so you can't accurately fill out your order at the kiosks, and they don't have a way for the people behind the counter to ring you up at many of the food places. The sound is low to non-existent in certain sections of the club level, like around 218. Seems like there should be speakers that reach there but they might have been damaged by rain, etc. and they are too lazy to fix them. If you go to a game that's even slightly busy, you will wait forever to get into the bathroom, and the sink will be an absolute mess with no soap or paper towels. It's even worse on the club level where they have one sink that's right by the door. Nearby businesses don't care, either. The Hilton parking garage reeks of decay, pot and human waste. They don't turn on the air circulation fans, even if cars are waiting for an hour and a half to exit from P3, filling up the air with carbon monoxide. They only let you enter the stadium with one 20 oz bottle of water. It's so expensive to buy a drink or water in the stadium, but with all the salty food, 20 oz of water isn't enough, especially on a hot day. Vegetarian food options are poor to none, other than things like chips, fries, hot pretzels and the occasional pizza. Vida Taco is better, but at an inconvenient location for many seats. The doors on the club level are not accessible. They're anti-accessible. Big, heavy doors you have to go through to get to/from the escalators, and big, heavy doors to get to your seats, none of them automatic (or even with the option to be automatic with a button press). Makes it hard to carry food out to your seats even if not handicapped. The furniture in the lounges on the club level seem designed to allow as few people as possible to sit down. Not great when we have so many rain delays during the season. Should put more, smaller chairs in and allow more of the club level ticket holders to have a seat while waiting for thunderstorms to pass. They keep a lot of the entrance/exit gates closed except for playoff/sellout games, which means people have to slowly "mooooo" all the way down Eutaw St to get to parking. They are too cheap to staff all the gates, so they make people exit by the warehouse, even though it would be a lot more convenient for many fans to open all the gates. Taking Light Rail would be super convenient, except that if there's at least 20k fans in attendance, it's common to have to wait 90-120 minutes to be able to board a non-full train heading toward Glen Burnie. A few trains might come by, but they are already full, or fill up fast when folks walk up to the Convention Center stop to pre-empt the folks trying to board at Camden Station. None of the garages in the area are set up to require pre-payment on entry (reservation, or give them your card / digital payment at the entrance till). If they were, emptying out the garage would be very quick, as they wouldn't need to ticket anyone on the way out: if you can't get in without paying, you can always just leave without having to stop and scan your phone or put a ticket in the machine. They shut down the Sports Legends Museum at Camden Station in 2015 because the Maryland Stadium Authority was too greedy. That place was a fun distraction if you were in the area when a game wasn't about to start, like if you show up super early on Opening Day or a playoff day. Superbook's restaurant on Eutaw is a huge downgrade from Dempsey's in terms of menu and service quality. Dempsey's used to be well-staffed, you could reserve a table online, and they had all kinds of great selection for every diet. Superbook seems like just another bar serving the same swill that the rest of the park serves, with extremely minimal and low-quality food. For that matter, most of the food at the stadium is very low quality these days. A lot of things we used to love are made to a lower standard now if they are served at all. These are gripes about the stadium and the area that haven't changed my entire adult life. Going to an O's game requires one to tolerate many small inconveniences and several major inconveniences, any number of which could easily be fixed by the relevant authorities if they gave a damn about the people who pay to come see the team play. You would think a mid-market team would be able to afford to invest in the fan experience. You would think the city and partnering organizations like garages, the Stadium Authority and MTA would at least try to do their part to make the experience enjoyable and free of kinks. You would think they would put some thought into handling the "growing pains" of the fanbase due to recent renewed interest after the dark years. Instead, all we get is the same indifference and the same annoyances year in and year out. The whole area is overdue for a revamp. Not sure if $600 mil will get it done, but at least it's a start. Hopefully they can start to patch up some of the many holes in the fan experience. If you're not going to invest in Burnes, at least make it so paying customers have an easier, more enjoyable time getting to/from the stadium and having some food while we're there.
    • Elias has only been in rebuild mode with the O's so there's not much to speculate on there.  Houston, where he spent his formative years, doesn't seem to like to be on the hook for more than a couple of big long-term contracts at any given time.  I can see that as being Elias' choice as well, albeit with a lower overall cost - Houston runs a big payroll.  But it's all guesswork.  I really don't know. If Elias takes the 2025 payroll to $150 million it will creep up to $200 million or so by 2028 just from keeping the core together.  That's where I start to wonder about sustainability due to market size, economic forces, etc., etc., etc... If it were up to me, I would add a couple of free agents this offseason even if the contracts were longer than ideal and be conservative about extensions elsewhere until the prospects establish themselves a little better.  I think there's a competitive opportunity that the team is already into that's worth exploiting. I think ownership is very happy to have Elias on board and they're not inclined to force him to do anything.  I also think Rubenstein's demonstrated business prowess is great enough to assume that he has had plenty enough time to come to a mutual understanding with Elias as to goals.
    • We need a RH O’hearn…in addition to Westburg. At least 3 batters that will push up the pitch count and cause damage in the top 5 of the lineup.
    • Boy,  that Jackson Merrill is a good young player that is playing his best ball down the season stretch and in the playoffs.   He's only 21.  I guess some young guys are able to play up to the pressure.   Who could have guessed that?
    • I’m aware.   You are arguing something im Not.
    • What agreement? The agreement you are talking about happened as a result of the move.  The MASN agreement would not have existed if Angelos had gone to court to block the move.
  • Popular Contributors

×
×
  • Create New...