[quote]dmaddox wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]dmaddox wrote:
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
[quote]dmaddox wrote:
[quote]Aragorn wrote:
[quote]dmaddox wrote:
It is one thing if the ball is a cm outside and it is called a strike. It is another thing if the ball is 5 inches outside and it is called a strike.
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That’s true but you rarely see that in a pro level umpire.
Not to mention what YOU see at home from behind the mound is NOT what you see from behind the plate. You can have a ball sliding so hard it was caught 6 inches outside but it skimmed the corner of the plate and is therefore a strike (according to some umpires). But to you it will look asininely wide.
The other thing is, the strike zone isn’t defined as “all of the ball” or “more than half the ball” or “must travel the entire distance of the plate front to back within the strike zone but not including the black border” or anything so specific. This yields–and rightfully so–a variety in how umpires call the game. One ump likes to call the black. Another doesn’t like to call anything if part of the ball is even questionable. Another ump will call it catching a corner of the plate rather than the whole side (this actually does get called quite frequently, and is legitimate).
That IS the point. That is why the strike zone has been left as it is.[/quote]
All the ball has to do is pierce the strike zone at some point by just the red thread on the ball. The strike zone is a 3 dimensional cube. It is larger for tall hitters and smaller for shorter hitters.
It is a standard for all hitters and in the rule book. If the pro’s were so good they would do better than a 3 in 10 chance of hitting the ball. Take away all body armor and the hitter is at a disadvantage all the time. You have curves, sliders, slurves, fast balls, knuckles, change ups, two seam fast balls, cutters, 4 seam fast balls, splitters, and I probably missed a few. The idea that a hitter can make a split second decision 100% of the time on every pitch even if the strike zone is called by a machine is ludicrous.
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I think batting average, HRs, RBI, and on base % will all go up (as well as ERA) with an electronic umpire. Just look at how the game has evolved over the last 50 years. [/quote]
Better and more consistent equipment, better PEDs, and Body Armor.
My question is how much will it go up? We will never know if there is not a test case.
guys I am not for or against an electronic pitch caller. I am just trying to make you guys see both sides of the argument.
I got screwed so many times growing up that it was ridiculous.
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I think you’d see these go up quite a bit. You’re taking an entire element out of hitting.
I guess for me the difference is I rarely got screwed at the plate because if it was even remotely close I’d swing at. I guess that’s just how I was coached. I considered striking out looking acceptable and not to tut my own horn (why would I, it’s not like I was some allstar) I very very rarely did.
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I was in a game where the umpire was calling strikes 12 inches away from the plate and only against my team. The Father’s told the ump to start calling it correctly or they would all escort him out. Needless to say the strike zone was changed and we won the game by 15.
I was also taught if it was close to make contact. This was a pitch no one could have reached.
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You know, I really hate to sound like an ass, but…so? I got screwed all the time growing up playing ball, my bro got screwed, it happens. It happens even more when you’re talking to young guys with little experience umpiring. Remember its amateur league for umpires too, often kids just getting started even at the high school level it can happen. THEY have to learn as well.
I got hit by pitches, I got screwed on some ridiculous calls, and I struck out…but that’s the game. That’s WHY I LOVE IT. I don’t hold it against them now because they were only a few years older than me and immature. I saw people I was paired up with as an umpire make really shitty calls. I had to deal with that as an umpire too.