Cubs Den

Anarchists’ Brunch: Addressing The Symptoms

By SamFels, today at 11:01 am

Anarchists' Brunch: Addressing The Symptoms

When it comes to its umpires and their strikezones, MLB can’t even get their news dump right.

You may not have actually caught it last night, on a Saturday night after all, however MLB sent out a directive to its managers to stop arguing so vehemently about balls and strikes. As we all know this is supposed to be a no-no of the highest order during a game, and it’s supposed to result in an automatic ejection.

But if you were a higher-up in baseball, and you saw more and more managers getting more and more angry about the way strikes are called and not called, would certainly you conclude that it’s simply managers have actually become more and more volatile? Only if you were totally looking the wrong way, you would.

I’ve been one of the bigger proponents of automating the strikezone for a while now, because in my mind there is no logical argument versus it. We have actually the technology, it’s the basis for the whole game, and it can be done. The “human element” is a straw man argument that people use because they don’t have actually a real reason versus it. There is no industry other than sports that opts to not have actually its arbiters not be as efficient and precise as possible. It’s fairly amazing.

Before delving any further, I will say that an automate strike zone would certainly lead to more strikes being called than I believe we realize. Watch a game on CSN when they have actually the PitchTrax on constantly, and see how lots of pitches tick the border of the zone that don’t get called and where the catcher catches it on your screen. It doesn’t look like exactly what you assume to be a strike a lot of the time. however that can be modified, of course.

I believe exactly what managers would certainly tell you, and most supporters I’m sure, is we don’t have actually any transparency. We can now see what’s a strike and exactly what isn’t clearly, so we know exactly what the umps are missing. however are they being held accountable for that? Do the umps get a printout of exactly what they missed in each game so they can tailor their eye to it? Do we have actually any idea? Based on how lots of umps still have actually a strike zone that’s as amorphous as the trippiest scene in Yellow Submarine, it sure doesn’t feel like it.

Other sports have actually attempted to improve the transparency of their refs, though sometimes it’s been real ham-fisted. The NBA had it’s Last Two Minute Report during the playoffs, which drove the refs nuts however at least we knew they were being graded. The NFL suspends refs when they have actually a royal biff. They likewise have actually replay for just about anything. Obviously, comparing baseball to any sport is always wonky, however we’d all like to at least know that the umps are being held to some kind of standard. however if they were, would certainly Laz Diaz ever get behind the plate again?

I must be reasonable to the umpires. It’s probably harder now to decipher balls and strikes than it’s ever been. Guys throw harder, their pitches move more and later than they ever have, and they have actually to figure out whether it pierced an imaginary square. We have actually more technology to study them than we ever have, and maybe we’re only at the beginning of a time when we can really study them and it’s just moving a little slower than we’d like. Maybe baseball is still trying to find a common ground along with the umps to use this information to make it much better without angering everyone, as we know the Umpires’ Union can get a bit prickly (scars from that whole we’re-gonna-quite-what-do-you-mean-you’re-ok-with-that? fiasco probably haven’t totally healed). however it’s past time.

It feels like this is the postseason when this all comes to a head. Where it’s obvious that bad strike calls cost some group a game. along with a patient group like the Cubs, we’re all terrified it’ll be them. Maybe that’s the only way we get change.

-When Kyle Hendricks made his Cubs debut, we all went from our way to say we weren’t going to compare him or her to Greg Maddux, despite the fact that the repertoire and approach were similar, just not the effectiveness. And no, I’m not saying Hendricks is Maddux now or will be. However, Hendricks is having a much better season than the very first couple of Maddux’s rise, like ’88 or ’89. I find that humorous. So he’s not MADDUX, however he may be Maddux. There’s a difference.

-For you metal supporters out there, and the cross-section of metalheads and baseball supporters is always an interesting one, I only just got around to the RLYR album. It the guitarist from Pelican, one of my favorite stoner metal bands ever, and Colin McKuiper from Russian Circles and a great band Bloodiest. If you’re into tripped-out, instrumental metal, this is your jam.

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Tags: Chicago Cubs, Greg Maddux, Kyle Hendricks, let’s clean this up, strike zone, umpires