How Bad Are the Umps?

[User Name]

I don't know what "gray area" you're talking about. There is the 'strike zone', which is divided into 9 regions, then there is the 'ball zone' around the strike zone, which is divided into 4 regions. Each of those zones is color coded to show the batters "hot zones". There is no gray area where the umpires can call a pitch either way and be right.

 

From MLB.com:

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/shared/components/gameday/v4/images/about/hotcoldzone.jpg

 

"Use the hot/cold zones to find the pitch locations in which the current batter and pitcher perform their best, and where they struggle. The strike zone is divided into nine regions and balls are grouped into four regions, with each zone color-coded to indicate whether the batter or pitcher is hot or cold in that zone."

 

 

If you have information specifically stating that Pitch/FX gives umpires leeway in a gray area, please share the link, because I have not seen that.

 

The area around the 9 quadrants is the leeway area. Pitch/FX also shows the corners of the strike zone "grayed out", and that's to signify the gray area around the strike zone.

[Maxbialystock]

So, if attendance is so great in the 21st century and every game has not one but four umpires in uniform, including one guy behind the plate only getting 87% of the balls and strikes right, it looks to me like the dumbest thing MLB could do is send the robots out. But maybe not. Maybe MLB fans, the ones who go to games, are just stupid and need to be force fed those robots, computers, cameras, whatever.

 

But instead of robots, let's call them clowns so we can all shout with glee, "bring on the clowns."

Edited June 16, 2016 by Maxbialystock

[Bellhorn04]

So, if attendance is so great in the 21st century and every game has not one but four umpires in uniform, including one guy behind the plate only getting 87% of the balls and strikes right, it looks to me like the dumbest thing MLB could do is send the robots out. But maybe not. Maybe MLB fans, the ones who go to games, are just stupid and need to be force fed those robots, computers, cameras, whatever.

 

But instead of robots, let's call them clowns so we can all shout with glee, "bring on the clowns."

 

The other side of the coin is that we already have a new system where umps' missed calls are being corrected on a regular basis, and it doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

[Maxbialystock]

The other side of the coin is that we already have a new system where umps' missed calls are being corrected on a regular basis, and it doesn't seem to be hurting anything.

 

Actually, I don't like the interruptions, but tolerate them because overall they save time by preventing managers from going ape at every call they don't like. Now they only get mad on balls and strikes, which is good for them because sometimes you just have to vent.

 

Also, the umpires make all the calls in the field, and managers only get so many challenges, especially if they challenge and the call is upheld. The pure strike zone advocates don't want umpires calling balls and strikes, period. They want a robot or a computer hooked to a camera or whatever.

[Bellhorn04]

Actually, I don't like the interruptions, but tolerate them because overall they save time by preventing managers from going ape at every call they don't like.

 

So you don't like the fact that incorrect calls are being rectified.

[Maxbialystock]

So you don't like the fact that incorrect calls are being rectified.

 

I don't like the interruptions. Let's not forget that maybe half of those calls were correct in the first place so those interruptions were a complete waste of time. Plus some of them are very, very close, so close that I would not object to a wrong call. Tonight for example, the Sox got the call on that attempted steal because Bogaerts actually made the tag barely before the Orioles runner's foot hit the bag. I would have been just fine with no challenge and that guy on 2B.

[User Name]

Actually, I don't like the interruptions, but tolerate them because overall they save time by preventing managers from going ape at every call they don't like. Now they only get mad on balls and strikes, which is good for them because sometimes you just have to vent.

 

Also, the umpires make all the calls in the field, and managers only get so many challenges, especially if they challenge and the call is upheld. The pure strike zone advocates don't want umpires calling balls and strikes, period. They want a robot or a computer hooked to a camera or whatever.

 

That has been advocated by some people. SK and I have advocated for improving the catcher's tech so they can call a better game.

[Bellhorn04]

I don't like the interruptions. Let's not forget that maybe half of those calls were correct in the first place so those interruptions were a complete waste of time.

 

You're right. In 2015 almost exactly half of the calls that were reviewed were overturned.

 

Personally I don't mind the interruptions for the sake of fixing that many calls.

 

To each their own.

[Bellhorn04]

The fact is that, whether we like it or not, technology has become an integral part of the game in every aspect (did you see Papi and Chili studying the Baltimore reliever on the Ipad last night?). There is no good reason for the officials not being as up to date technologically as the players and managers are.

[Bellhorn04]

BTW Max, I did see the Sox benefit from a few generous balls & strikes calls last night. GameDay shows that Pedroia should have struck out in the 6th instead of walking. Didn't affect the outcome but it could have.

[Emp9]

Virtual Reality is getting better and better. Maybe some kind of VR glasses the HP Ump could wear thats transparent but shows the actual Strike Zone outline and so-forth. Come on Google... Give us the Ump Goggles already.

[Emp9]

Lol... Did I jump the shark on that last post .. Er?

[Maxbialystock]

Virtual Reality is getting better and better. Maybe some kind of VR glasses the HP Ump could wear thats transparent but shows the actual Strike Zone outline and so-forth. Come on Google... Give us the Ump Goggles already.

 

To heck with the ump. I'd like a set of those VR glasses. Actually, on the museum project I'm working on, we are looking at getting some.

[Emp9]

To heck with the ump. I'd like a set of those VR glasses. Actually, on the museum project I'm working on, we are looking at getting some.

 

Acid might be cheaper ... be all Song of the South and shite. Lol

[greenwell]

I don't like the interruptions. Let's not forget that maybe half of those calls were correct in the first place so those interruptions were a complete waste of time. Plus some of them are very, very close, so close that I would not object to a wrong call. Tonight for example, the Sox got the call on that attempted steal because Bogaerts actually made the tag barely before the Orioles runner's foot hit the bag. I would have been just fine with no challenge and that guy on 2B.

 

I don't mind the interruptions for the actual review. What I don't like is the interruptions while the manager waits for word on whether he should ask for a review or not. Personally I think they should double the amount of challenges they get but not allow them to wait for a phone call to decide if they want to review.

[mvp 78]

I don't mind the interruptions for the actual review. What I don't like is the interruptions while the manager waits for word on whether he should ask for a review or not. Personally I think they should double the amount of challenges they get but not allow them to wait for a phone call to decide if they want to review.

 

A pitching clock should fix this issue.

[Youk Of The Nation]

I don't like the interruptions. Let's not forget that maybe half of those calls were correct in the first place so those interruptions were a complete waste of time. Plus some of them are very, very close, so close that I would not object to a wrong call. Tonight for example, the Sox got the call on that attempted steal because Bogaerts actually made the tag barely before the Orioles runner's foot hit the bag. I would have been just fine with no challenge and that guy on 2B.

 

You'd be fine with the guy on second base? A guy on a team that the Sox have struggled to beat the last few seasons, in an important early-season game with the fate of first place in the division hanging in the balance, in a game which the Sox ultimately won by only two runs? Against a team capable of scoring far more than necessary to take the lead? You're okay with a RISP in that situation on a missed call?

[mvp 78]

If the technology is available to get all of the calls right, why not use it?

[User Name]

Because of the human element!

[Maxbialystock]

You'd be fine with the guy on second base? A guy on a team that the Sox have struggled to beat the last few seasons, in an important early-season game with the fate of first place in the division hanging in the balance, in a game which the Sox ultimately won by only two runs? Against a team capable of scoring far more than necessary to take the lead? You're okay with a RISP in that situation on a missed call?

 

Certainly. Missed calls have been part of the game for over, what, a 150 years. I like human beings making the calls because I consider the umpires to be part of the experience of watching a game. Indeed, I like the old-fashioned idea that the umpire is there to rule and rule quickly on everything and that what he says is it. I tolerate the challenges--and I also don't have much choice--because overall they shorten the game by preventing repeated charges onto the diamond by irate managers.

 

Let's not forget that this current furor over missed calls is entirely the result of not just television, but replays--with or without challenges--upon replays upon replays, all of which condition us to believe that all calls must be exactly right. I accept errors by players, to say nothing of lousy pitching, because that's the nature of the game. I also accept missed calls for the same reason. I love watching games on TV because I have no alternative as a Sox fan, but I do not mislead myself that what I see on TV, especially those endless replays, are part of the game because they are not. The games consists of the players, the umpires, the coaches, and the managers.

[Bellhorn04]

The 'furor' over missed calls is nothing new. Do the names Larry Barnett and Don Denkinger ring a bell? Barnett is the guy who made the infamous no-call on Cincy's Ed Armbrister in the 1975 Series. Denkinger may have cost St. Louis the 1985 Series.

[mvp 78]

Missed calls are the worst and completely unacceptable.

[Kimmi]

Because of the human element!

 

How many times are you going to post this?

[mvp 78]

How many times are you going to post this?

 

Probably until the human element is... eliminated. Muhahaha...

[User Name]

Probably until the human element is... eliminated. Muhahaha...

 

^It's like we're twins, but you're a ginger allergic to everything, and I'm a brown guy hailing from a country where machete fights are still a thing.

[Maxbialystock]

If the technology is available to get all of the calls right, why not use it?

 

Could not agree more. Umpires make mistakes which should never be tolerated, so get rid of them. The more we dehumanize baseball the more perfect it will become. What we see on the boob tube, especially the endless replays, is way more important than what is happening on the field of play.

[Michfan]

A missed called just because it was a missed call doesn't bother me to much...It's the umps that are going to show you who is in control that have to be kicked in the a$$..Like the 3rd stike on Papi that was almost in the dirt after he bitched about the previous pitch.

[Maxbialystock]

A missed called just because it was a missed call doesn't bother me to much...It's the umps that are going to show you who is in control that have to be kicked in the a$$..Like the 3rd stike on Papi that was almost in the dirt after he bitched about the previous pitch.

 

That is a good point. I don't like umpires who seem to have a god complex, and that call is a good example. But I would offer two comments. The first is that that bad call was/is memorable. Infuriating, but memorable therefore to me an integral part of the experience of watching that game. Ortiz got screwed, ump was wrong, all part of the game. The second is that MLB does in fact critique and grade umpires using technology, so these days the umpire god complexes are fewer than they once were.

[iortiz]

Not sure how a topic like this got 42 pages, but reading the last two I have a pretty good idea LOL!

[a700hitter]

Not sure how a topic like this got 42 pages, but reading the last two I have a pretty good idea LOL!

LOL!! Don't waste your time with the first 40 pages.