#baseball #RoboticUmpires #umpires #BaseballSeason #pitchers #catchers
Baseball season is coming.
They are trying to see whether robotic umpires can call balls and strikes, and how smoothly that would work.
Reports say that they will be tried in the minor leagues (Triple A) this season.
One might think that robo umps will be better than human ones. After all, human umpires can get it wrong.
Folks believe the robo umps will always get it right. (One might add that they have to be working properly).
Players are objecting to the robo umps because Major League catchers have become adept at framing pitches that are borderline, thereby converting what might be a ball to a strike.
The reports say the robo umps will not be fooled by even the best pitch-framers, and it seems some, if not many, players don’t like that.
Umpiring a baseball game has been a classic human, and fallible, science. The plays happen so quickly that it’s possible the umpire might not have a complete view of them all the time. So, they make calls to the best of their ability. And, yes, they don’t always get them right.
Calling pitches behind the plate can be a matter of human interpretation. When one watches a baseball game on TV, he or she often sees a square (or rectangle), invisible to those on the field but visible to the TV audience, over the plate. Theoretically, the pitcher’s job is to get the ball inside that square for a strike, unless he purposely throws it out of the strike zone to see whether a batter will chase it. But, inevitably, pitches inside the square might be called balls, and those outside the square might be called strikes, because the umpire’s “square” is in his imagination.
In decades past, pitchers got to know how each umpire interprets the strike zone. That gives a pitcher a better idea where to locate his pitches when that umpire was working behind the plate. Some umps had a “high” strike zone. Others had a “wide” strike zone etc.
Some Major League umpires, mostly in the National League, had wider strike zones. Thereby, some pitchers can do better in that league than in the American League because they may be “given” pitches that are an inch or two off the zone. That makes them better pitchers than they would be with a narrower zone.
As mentioned above, catchers began to hone the skill of framing pitches. If the pitcher throws the ball an inch or two off the plate, a catcher could not just catch it, but slide his mitt over an inch or two as he catches it. That might make the umpire call the pitch that was not quite a strike in the pitcher’s favor..
The robo umpires will electronically watch only the flight of a pitch, not where it ends up in the catcher’s glove.
In short, no one likes to see machines replace humans, especially when fans enjoy every aspect of the game.
Some fans actually love watching players, managers etc., argue with umpires, or, at least, give the umpires the stink-eye after an unfavorable call.
On the other hand, fans of the game may not like to see players (humans) manipulate the game to make it look like “cheating,” unless, of course, one’s favorite team is doing it.
Technology has helped a lot of sports get things right. Instant replay, or other electronic reviews, are common in many sports, and calls on the field, or court, get overturned by them. (Some resent the delays of the game this causes).
As a fan, one should let the baseball authorities know how they feel about technological innovation.
Getting things right all the time can take a lot of debate out of a fan. Sometimes, debates are the fun part of fandom.
Peter
Tag Archives: baseball season
HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL
#baseball #BaseballSeason #TroublesInBaseball #HopeSpringsEternal
This time of year, hope springs eternal for every baseball fan.
Spring training has started. The first pitch of the regular season is just around the corner.
Yet, as USA Today columnist Bob Nightengale writes, all is not well in the baseball world. His column on the subject also ran Feb. 22, 2019, in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
One star free agent, Manny Machado, just signed the richest contract in Major League Baseball history. He’ll play for the San Diego Padres for $300 million.
Still, other star free agents are still unsigned. Some of them, Nightengale writes, have few teams bidding on their services.
And, there’s talk of s players strike in 2021.
Players, and probably fans, wonder why these stars still linger on the market so close to the beginning of the season.
Aren’t the teams still in competition with one another? Don’t they want to suit up the best team at the start of the season so they have a shot at getting to, or winning, the World Series?
Long-term contracts for stars used to be the norm. But with the prospect of injury, a risk that a “star” will not be a star anymore after getting all that security, are keeping owners, in many cases, from betting big on one or two players. They prefer short-term deals, just in case.
Yes, even highly paid athletes undergo on-the-job issues. They may pale in comparison to the issues in your world, but still …
If you find yourself in a situation in which the good times seemed to have disappeared, the ballplayers are feeling the same thing, perhaps on a different level.
The ballplayers may think that going on strike in a couple of years will solve their problems. You may not have that ability.
But you still have to take matters into your own hands.
If your world is no longer what it was, YOU have to change it.
Are you not making enough money? Is your job to your liking? Is your job, and other life events, eating your time alive? Do you long for a different lifestyle?
If you answered no to the first two, and yes to the second two, know that there are many vehicles out there that can put more money in your pocket, and more time in your life to do what YOU want.
To check out one of the best such vehicles, message me.
Remember, times change and, in this day and age, quite frequently. Gravy trains eventually slow, and even come to a stop.
Promises that you perhaps have relied on through life can be broken. What you were hired to do may change.
People need to be open to things they may not have ever dreamed of doing. If they are not, they may be left behind.
So pencil yourself into the lineup and take your turn at bat. You may never play baseball for a living, but you can still make your life a real hit, or even a home run.
Peter