CB Bucknor: How bad is he really?

[Migrant Redbird]

This is the very, very bad part. You are changing the game to suit your techno-system. IMO, that's v. bad. If it is to be done, it needs to be able to handle things dynamically. Changing baseball to fit some computerized scheme is my idea of a nightmare.

I see that you and the boss who killed my proposal because he felt that baseball is too bound up with tradition are two of a kind.

Umpires don't do a very precise job of establishing the players' vertical strike zones anyhow, so why not define them extremely precisely for each player and store them in the data base so that it's one less thing for the umpire to be concerned about. That way, the umpire can focus on whether the batter checks his swing or foul tips the pitch or gets interfered with by the catcher. From the perspective of the fan, the main difference will be that they won't be able to moan anymore about Tom Glavine getting strikes called that are a foot off the plate and they won't see any more managers getting kicked out of games for arguing strikes and balls.

We could allow a player to establish his batting stance/strike zone but, the more I think about it, I believe that strike zones should be established based upon the position of his knees and arm pits while standing up straight. There would be some variations between stances and pitchers would have to understand that a batter in an exaggerated crouch would have a larger strike zone than he does currently, but it would make little if any difference for the batting stances of most hitters and I doubt if most fans would even be aware of the change except for the historians. Hitters would be free to tinker with their batting stances to any degree they chose, with the knowledge that it wouldn't affect their strike zone one iota except to the extent that it makes it more difficult for the pitcher to establish the boundary of the strike zone available for him to use.

Even if a perfect system existed, removing the whole "kill the ump" aspect of baseball is a very dubious proposition.

I understand that some people derive great entertainment value from controversy and the threat of violence, but it doesn't really add anything to the game to me. I don't watch auto races for the spectacular crashes and I'm trying to curb the pleasure that I get from watching violent tackles in football, because I recognize the same motivations in myself, but I've never gotten much enjoyment from watching a manager or a player make a donkey out of himself protesting an atrocious call by an umpire. If that's your thing, you might be able to substitute by watching more "professional" wrestling.

I favor improved umpire supervision, both re: their calls...

It's a losing proposition; the human eye is only capable of so much, and the challenge of determining the precise flight of a 98 mph baseball from an oblique angle, distracted by movements of the catcher and the batter, only gets more and more challenging as umpires age and their eyesight deteriorates. Why try to train umpires into doing something for which their eyes and visual processing capabilities are ill equipped when it would be so technologically trivial to provide them with a simple red/green LED indicator, TRANSPARENT TO THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE FAN, which would

... and especially re: the childish confrontational manner that some umps have. But I do NOT want robot-umps.

Well, we don't know what MLB is doing about "childish, confrontational manner(s)" (such as John Hirschbeck with Robbie Alomar) because any disciplinary action short of a suspension or dismissal is completely confidential. I'm assuming that MLB doesn't want managers/players (are you listening, Chipper) to believe that they can have any influence on the discipline meted out to individual umpires.

It wouldn't be "robo-ump" from the fan perspective, unless you regard error-free umpires as being "robots". Besides, they still wouldn't be "error-free". They will continue to screw up check swings, foul tips, catcher interference, and safe/out calls on the base paths. That's more than enough umpire influence on the outcome of the game to suit me. I still remember Denkinger in 1985. I want baseball games to be decided based upon the talents and efforts expended by the players, not by umpire idiosyncrasies. And I want pitchers to have to stand up there and face the opposing batter with a bat in their hands.

I can easily see a world, in 30 or 40 years, where kids will be astonished that there used to be a time where we let flawed, biased people judge sporting events despite incontrovertible evidence that they were wrong 5%, 10%, 15% of the time. They'll ask "didn't you care that many games were decided by umpire's errors rather than skill of the players?" We'll be left trying to explain how that was tradition, and how it was cool to watch people scream their blood head off when they were called out on a pitch eight inches off the plate. And the kids will think that's quaint, just like buggy whips and Atari 2600s.

Exactly! You expressed it much more clearly and succinctly than I could. Too bad you can't see so clearly when it comes to the DH issue!

[Migrant Redbird]

Well that's easily the most preposterous and homerific thing I'll read all day today.

It's a prohibitive favorite for the weekly honor, too.

For a guy so talented, Pujols sure does seem to get himself mixed up in a lot of bushleague stuff.

Ah, you must be sore about the "Zamnobraino" thread then.

Pujols is probably no angel, but since I don't know him personally, it's difficult for me to make an absolute judgment. There's no question that he can sometimes be brusque, especially with obnoxious reporters, but he seems to have more patience with them and the oppressive attention from fans than I believe I could manage.

What I see is the player who married a young single mother and adopted her child with Downs Syndrome; who established a foundation to benefit children afflicted with that problem; who professes to be a "born again Christian" thanks to the influence of his wife; who credits his wife, Deidre with noticing a flaw in his swing once that had eluded both him and the Cardinals batting coach; who spends copious amounts of time with sick children in St. Louis hospitals and discourages any publicity about it; who paid to fly a medical team to the Dominican Republic last winter (and possible before) to treat the problems of indigent children who otherwise could never afford such care; who took the unusual step of asking fans to refrain from booing Juan Encarnacion when he got off to a horrendous beginning in the 2006 season; who sat in the hospital until 3 AM trying to provide some comfort to that same player whose baseball career is now ended; who led the team with 16 stolen bases in 2005 despite "less than average foot speed" (and at least 1 of his 2 caught stealing was a busted hit and run play); who refuses to talk with reporters before the game because it interferes with the total concentration of his pregame preparation; who volunteered to switch from 3rd base to left field in 2002 because his friend, Placido Polanco was uncomfortable with La Russa's plan to put him into the outfield.

Yes, I know that Pujols can be a little testy at times and he dodges fans seeking autographs more than Cal Ripken did, but I can assure you that most St. Louis fans believe he's just as much of a genuine article as Cal was. And Cal had his detractors among O's fans, as I've often observed here. No one is perfect, but Cal and Albert come about as close to it as I've seen among any modern ballplayers -- given my lack of opportunity to observe them up close and personal.

But if regarding Pujols as an SOB helps you to rationalize away his lifting the Cards over those lovable losers you are stuck with, I doubt if there's much that I could say that would change your mind.

By the way, I was one of those alibiing for Marquis when the Cubs picked him up. Right now, that looks like one of the wiser moves by the Cubs last winter. We'll see if Jason has outgrown his maturity problems which apparently destroyed his relationships with Dave Duncan and Leo Mazzone; I'm betting that he finally has, but we'll see.

[O's are Legends]

Wow, anybody else watching the Cubs/ Padres game? (August 18, 2009) CB Bucknor called Fukudome out when his entire body had already crossed 1st base. These umps need to be held accountable; if this was any other profession you would be fired for such inconsistency/ poor performances week after week - or at least giving some training to help improve your performance. Bucknor is terrible and MLB should be ashamed, me and my brother kept using the hddvr and couldn’t believe how he could blow that call.

On a side note, I googled CB Buckner awful umpire and this came up on the first page; just realized this was from 07 – this man still has a job as a MLB umpire.

[blueberryale77]

Wow' date=' anybody else watching the Cubs/ Padres game? (August 18, 2009) CB Bucknor called Fukudome out when his entire body had already crossed 1st base. These umps need to be held accountable; if this was any other profession you would be fired for such inconsistency/ poor performances week after week - or at least giving some training to help improve your performance. Bucknor is terrible and MLB should be ashamed, me and my brother kept using the hddvr and couldn’t believe how he could blow that call.

On a side note, I googled CB Buckner awful umpire and this came up on the first page; just realized this was from 07 – this man still has a job as a MLB umpire.[/quote']

I just clicked on this thinking it sounded like an interesting thread and was shocked to see that I actually started it two years ago. I guess you never can live down what you post on the internet!

[byrdz]

Isn't Laz Diaz the one who kicked the arse of some idiot White Sox fan who tried to attack him on the field? He gets mad props for that, at least.

Yeah, Diaz is an ex-Marine, the fan got worked.

<img src=http://reds.enquirer.com/2003/04/16/attack2_zoom.jpg>

[byrdz]

I'm sure a lot of people thought the industrial revolution was a bad idea, and instant worldwide communication was a nightmare, too.

I can easily see a world, in 30 or 40 years, where kids will be astonished that there used to be a time where we let flawed, biased people judge sporting events despite incontrovertible evidence that they were wrong 5%, 10%, 15% of the time. They'll ask "didn't you care that many games were decided by umpire's errors rather than skill of the players?" We'll be left trying to explain how that was tradition, and how it was cool to watch people scream their bloody head off when they were called out on a pitch eight inches off the plate. And the kids will think that's quaint, just like buggy whips and Atari 2600s.

I agree that more technology should be used in the right way, but as I'm sure you're aware, it is far from perfect and never will be. Mostly because it requires the imrepfetc person to program them. That's not even getting into the possibilities of hackers.

So how then do you handle a computer system failing to make the right call? You will always need human intervention when it comes to computer systems so that element will and should always be there.

[DrungoHazewood]

I agree that more technology should be used in the right way, but as I'm sure you're aware, it is far from perfect and never will be. Mostly because it requires the imrepfetc person to program them. That's not even getting into the possibilities of hackers.

So how then do you handle a computer system failing to make the right call? You will always need human intervention when it comes to computer systems so that element will and should always be there.

It's pretty simple. You give the home plate ump a little buzzer he holds in his palm. If the Questec/Pitchfx system says it's a strike it immediately buzzes. The ump is the only one who knows in real time what it did - it's his judgment to use the automated call or weed out any obvious errors. All the results will be logged, and it'll be easy to tell which umps only use their override for pitches three feet off the plate that were clearly system errors, and who's freelancing and telling the system he "knows" that borderline pitch was called wrong.