Technology exists to properly call the entire strike zone. But there's one group adamantly opposed to this technology -- umpires.

It wasn't only the Dodgers impacted. But it was primarily the Dodgers.

The calls against the Dodgers were during far more critical pitches.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

You're right that the number of called third strikes against the Dodgers was ridiculous.

I don't have much of a problem when an umpire interprets a strike zone than is a bit different than what the rules say it should be. But that interpretation should be consistent throughout the game. It wasn't last night. And more than often, the inconsistencies went against the Dodgers.

In discussing it with others I’ve learned that this seems to be the norm. As a person that almost never watches baseball I wasn’t aware of the fluidity of the strike zone. Obviously, with a human make by the calls there has to be a fudge factor.

After the second or third bad call my son complained and I reminded him that officiating was “part of the game” and when a referee or umpire makes a mistake you just have accept it and move on. After a few more bad calls at critical times I started to change my tune.

I must say, the calls at the bases were spectacularly good.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

What's interesting is that call at a plate are now reviewable. Balls and strikes are not. That's understandable, as there are so many close calls on pitches that allowing reviews would ruin the game with all the delays.

Given that there's technology available to get it right, I suspect we'll see a move to that within 10 years. The umpire union is the major opposition, but they can only hold out so long. And the technology wouldn't eliminate a job, it would actually add jobs. You'd still need an umpire at the plate to receive the call as well as to call other plays and otherwise manage the game. But you'd also have at least one or more monitoring the tech and relaying that call to the umpire. I've read that it's been tested, and the relay of the call only takes a second or so.

I’m ok with human umps and the occasional mistakes, but I almost never watch the game so I’ll let the more consistent followers of the game debate having robots call pitches.

Btw, another thing I noticed last night is that baseball is populated by a great variety of personalities.

And that’s cool.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Btw, another thing I noticed last night is that baseball is populated by a great variety of personalities.

Not just baseball. The ability of a stupid game to bring together people who are so diverse is one of the best things about sports. At a game, in bars, at work, etc., it can break the ice to a conversation with someone who you might otherwise never have considered talking to.

There's also a tribalism aspect that isn't so good.

Which one of the reasons I don’t really care who wins as little by as it’s a good game.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

It isn't as clear as it might seem. For example:

When Kershaw got removed in the 5th he had just walked 2 guys on 9 and 10 pitch at bats. Springer and Bregman fouled off 7 or 8 borderline strike calls in those two at bats. This shows the umpire that they had control of the strike zone so when the finally coaxed a borderline ball 4 it was an easier call for the umpire. And I think you will find that umpires are very consistent in this kind of cause and effect.

I don't have a problem with umpires and refs in sports, and have no real desire to see lasers and electronics take the place of them. Human error is part of sports, and it leads to better "day after" discussions and debate anyway
---

I like having the human error as part of the game too. What I don't like is the seemingly lack of accountability for the officials. It's even worse for me when someone argues the call, gets tossed out of the game, and it turns out the arguer was in the right. Ump blows a call that costs a team the game, there should be some obvious consequence for that ump.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I like having the human error as part of the game too...

Ump blows a call that costs a team the game, there should be some obvious consequence for that ump...

If you give consequences for an ump making an error then human error wouldn't be part of the game.

I have a few close friends who are baseball fanatics - for what it's worth they share your observation.

If you give consequences for an ump making an error then human error wouldn't be part of the game
---

I'm not talking a 1-1 error to consequence ratio here. Mostly interested in some accountability for the big ones.

Human- missed a ball or strike here or there
Consequential- missed many balls and strikes
Human- Close play at the plate where glove misses by a millimeter
Consequential- Ump positioned in the wrong place and, because of such, makes the wrong call because he couldn't see it from his angle


It's one thing to be human. It's another to seem incompetent at your job.

---

---

---

Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

Accountability for proper job performance is good. There's always danger of penalizing refs/umps for mistakes that seem obvious on HD ultra slow-mo multi-angle replays, when they made the call in good faith and in accordance with best practices. If a ref is clearly incompetent, sure, get rid of them. If a ref is clearly biased, sure, discipline or get rid of him. If a ref does his best, is in the right place to make a call, but just flubs one, even if it changes the outcome of a game,...well shit, that's human error, and that's sports.

There's this movement to "just get the call right" even if it means all sorts of replays, aids, etc. I think that's what has led to things like these overly complex rules and rulings about what constitutes a catch in football, for example, or the "fumble" call a few weeks ago against the Jets.

It's sports. We don't expect perfect performance from the athletes, and we shouldn't expect perfect calls from the officials.

---

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I think you misspelled baseball sucks.

As in ....plainly obvious baseball sucks.

I am not at all a baseball fan but that game last night was very entertaining.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

I generally like baseball at the ballpark, or on radio. It's a good sport to listen to, but not as much fun to watch on TV.

---

Slowguy

(insert pithy phrase here...)

I’ll have to try the radio thing.

---

Civilize the mind, but make savage the body.

- Chinese proverb

Human- Close play at the plate where glove misses by a millimeter
Consequential- Ump positioned in the wrong place and, because of such, makes the wrong call because he couldn't see it from his angle

That's the problem with how to deal with these kind of things.

The "human" call is okay if the glove misses by a millimeter but what if it misses by 5 mils or 10 mils and where is the cut-off? To make the call right, you have to use video which takes the human element out. And of course, the fans on the side of the call that favors their team is okay with the way things work until the calls go against them.

I think some of you don't have any understanding of how difficult it is to be the plate umpire. The ump has to determine in a fraction of a second where a ball thrown at 90+ crosses the plate in relation to a batter who may or may not be moving. It's amazing they get it right as much as they do.

While it may have seemed like the Dodgers were getting bad calls on third strikes, that played a role later in the game. In the ninth at least two batters got hits with two strikes. Instead of looking at a pitch and hoping to have it called a ball, they were swinging and getting hits that tied the game.

The reason some of you may even question the calls is because Fox has put that little box on the screen. More than once a ball that looked low on that box was actually a strike when the replay from the side was used. It's questionable as to whether Fox has the box correctly positioned all the time as the batter moves.

Even the batter can't tell all the time. There are many times a batter will swing and miss and ask the ump if it was in the strike zone.

---

Don

Tri-ing to have fun. Anything else is just a bonus!