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Cotton

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Wow.
 

Cotton

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Stark: An electronic strike zone is coming to the Atlantic League


By Jayson Stark May 16, 2019

For a century, here’s how a strike was called in baseball games across the world: An umpire peered intently as the pitch soared toward home plate. Then that umpire rose up out of his crouch. He thrust a finger, dramatically, into the air. He let out a mighty “Stee-rike” call. Rinse and repeat.

But next month in the Atlantic League, that time-honored scene is about to be altered forever – because once the technology is in place and umpires get the gist of it, an electronic TrackMan radar tracking system will be making those ball/strike calls. And you know who will be watching closely?

Major League Baseball, of course. You were expecting maybe Enrico Pallazzo?

Joe West will be delighted to learn that there will still be umpires stationed behind the batter’s box in the Atlantic League. But their jobs will never be the same. Their role in this process, once the technological wizardry is up and running, will be mostly to relay those electronic strike/ball calls, which will be communicated via their earpieces.

The first step in this bold adventure was scheduled for Thursday, when Atlantic League parks in Bridgewater, N.J. and New Britain, Conn. were set to be the first to test the new technology. That won’t happen in actual games or even with actual pitch tracking. It will begin with a simple test to make sure that the TrackMan data can be successfully transmitted and umpires can hear and understand it.

After that, Atlantic League president Rick White told The Athletic, the league will begin training umpires to use the system. Once that training is complete, technology will take over the pitch-calling responsibilities from humans – probably in about “three or four weeks,” White said.

And on that historic day, the Atlantic League will become the first professional baseball league to use the electronic strike zone full-time. A few years back, the San Rafael Pacifics, of the independent Pacific Association, messed around with this concept briefly, mostly as a publicity stunt inspired by MLB Network’s Eric Byrnes, unofficial president of the robot-umpires fan club. But this is very different.

This is no renegade project from a league way beyond most of our radar screens. This time, it comes straight from the top – from Major League Baseball itself, as part of a three-year agreement announced this spring in which the Atlantic League will test a number of potential changes that could later be implemented in the big leagues.

Those changes include a limit on shifts, no mound visits for coaches or players, and requirements that pitchers entering a game must face at least three hitters. But there is no more fascinating testing ground than the world of electronic umpiring – because one of these years, barring some unforeseen technological calamity, there is an excellent chance that world is coming to a big-league park near you.

It won’t be next year. It almost certainly won’t be during the life of the current labor agreement, which doesn’t expire until after the 2021 season. But this is no let’s-mess-around-and-see-what-happens kind of project. Major League Baseball will be watching intently. Here’s what it will be looking for:
  • How accurate will an electronic umpiring system be when put in daily use?
  • How consistent will this system be – and if there are glitches, what are they?
  • Will it be possible to “trick” the system – with a pitch that hits in front of the plate and then bounces through the zone, for example?
  • Will hitters be willing to accept strike calls on breaking pitches that don’t appear to be strikes to the naked eye, but actually pass through the electronic zone before landing in catcher’s mitts that might be an inch or two off the ground?
  • Will pitchers be willing to accept “ball” calls on borderline pitches that catchers are currently working diligently to frame as strikes, such as the fabled back-door slider?
  • Will framing by catchers suddenly go from one of baseball’s most highly coveted skills to a non-factor, essentially overnight?
  • Will umpires be invested enough in each pitch to be able to fill the still-important role of calling checked swings, correcting obvious mistakes and calling pitches that aren’t tracked by the technology, either because of technical glitches or because they bounce in front of the plate and skid outside the tracking zone? That investment is essential to making this work, obviously.
“So our umpires will have to pay close attention to every pitch,” White said, “because they may have to make a call or override [the system]. They’ll have to be very focused, but very deliberate about every single call.”

If/when this electronic age moves on to the big leagues, it’s hard to envision the current umpires celebrating its arrival. But “for us,” White said, “we don’t have those vagaries. Our umpires are looking at this as an opportunity, not a threat. They’ll still be setting up behind the plate, making calls and running the ball game. They’ll just be getting the benefit of consistent calls on balls and strikes.”

So if all goes well, White said, one benefit would be: No more arguments!

“Most of our arguments, ejections and discipline are usually a result of ball-strike calls,” he said. “And it’s tough for players to argue with machines. It’s going to cut down on some of that agitation we get at home plate.”

Then again, the strike zone itself could turn out to be a source of agitation – because TrackMan will be programmed to call the strict rule-book strike zone, not the modified version of that zone that umpires have sculpted on their own through the years.

So how will hitters react when that fastball they think is up and in is called a strike by TrackMan? How will pitchers react when that sweeping breaking ball just off the corner is called a ball? Ha. Good question.

They’ve been used to getting those calls for years. But TrackMan doesn’t care. At least they can all remind themselves that, after a century of players wondering pretty much round the clock about the accuracy of the strike zone from day to day, that’s about to change….

And never change back.

Nevertheless, a major issue MLB will be studying is how easily the zone can be adjusted so that it’s accurate from batter to batter, in a sport where physiques vary widely, from the ultra-compact José Altuve zone to the skyscraper Aaron Judge zone?

If this electronic strike/ball system does make it to Major League Baseball, MLB will have to use precise, systematic technology to assure that every hitter who comes to the plate has an ultra-accurate personal strike zone – and one that can be applied in any park and any setting. For now, the Atlantic League zone is expected to be slightly less precise, more along the lines of the “K-Zones” you see on your TV screens during a game.

But the technology is already in development to apply a distinct personal strike zone for every big-league hitter when that time comes. And even the Atlantic League version will create an individual zone that will automatically kick in for every hitter in every park, White said.

So for now, it’s just an intriguing little experiment in an independent league. But if you’re not taking this seriously, you’re losing sight of what Major League Baseball is up to.
 

Cotton

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Yeah, I'm with you. Having an ump call balls and strikes is not a perfect system by any means, but it is an integral part of the game and needs to stay.
 

NoDak

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Yeah, I'm with you. Having an ump call balls and strikes is not a perfect system by any means, but it is an integral part of the game and needs to stay.
Baseball is perfectly an imperfect game. I don't even like instant replay in the game. Yeah, it has helped my Twins here and there but I just like the bang bang calls on the field. The anguish and elation of the umpire crews being part of the game. Pitchers and hitters learning and adjusting to a plate umpire's strike zone.

Some of the the the most remembered plays in baseball history are blown calls. '85 World Series. Game 6, bottom of the 9th, Royals clinging to life. Runner clearly out at first, but Don Denkinger calls him safe and the Royals have life, and go on to win the the game, and the next night, the series. With instant replay, the Cardinals more than likely win that World Series.

I still love that blown call every time they show it.
 

Rev

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Gallo over .290 with almost 50 games in. OPS over 1.100.


I dont know what exactly has made the difference but something surely has. Approach? New Manager? New hitting coach? You all owe him an apology. :art
 

NoDak

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After Eddie Rosario hit No. 99 of the season for Minnesota earlier in the inning, Sano’s homer marked the club's 100th homer of the season, making the Twins only the second team in Major League history to reach the century mark in the club’s first 50 games of the season. Max Kepler smashed another solo shot an inning later to bring the Twins’ total to an MLB-leading 101, within one of the mark set by the 1999 Mariners, who clubbed 102 long balls through the first 50 games.

The Twins are on pace for 327 homers this season, putting them in line to shatter not only the club record of 225, set by the 1963 Twins, but also the MLB record of 267, set by the Yankees last season.

------


I have no idea where this will all end up, but it sure has been a fun season to watch so far.

:towel
 

Cotton

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Gerry Fraley has passed away. This fucking sucks. Most won't know him. I know Rev does. He covered the Rangers for years. RIP, sir.
 

Cotton

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Didn't he do some cowboys coverage too? He sounds familiar. RIP.
He did some. He mainly focused on baseball, but he did dabble in the Cowboys a little, as well.
 

Rev

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NoDak

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8 runs and only 1 homerun yesterday? A bunch of slackers.
Yeah, I may have spouted off too soon. It might be time to tear it down and start looking towards the trade deadline.
 

Cotton

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Cotton

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NoDak

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Fuck that shit hole in in Florida where the rays play. Miguel Sano hits a bomb that would have been a two run HR in the 8th inning of a tie game that hits a speaker hanging from the ceiling and bounces back into play and is caught. 3rd out.

At the very least that should be a ground rule double.
 
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