10 replies to this topic

[David_Nicoson]

Good for the game? Encourages umpires to pay attention to the actual rules? Discuss.

[PMJackson21]

If that is the correct strike zone, I've never seen a game called correctly in my life.Was it the same exact 'pitch tracker' on TBS as Fox?

[David_Nicoson]

PMJackson21, on Thursday, October 16th, 2008, 10:09 PM, said:

If that is the correct strike zone, I've never seen a game called correctly in my life.

I'm pretty confident that even MLB umpires would admit that their zones are wider than the plate.

[KowboyKoop]

Not relevant

[fryer98]

David_Nicoson, on Thursday, October 16th, 2008, 10:00 PM, said:

Good for the game? Encourages umpires to pay attention to the actual rules? Discuss.

I read something a few years ago that said each ump is given a DVD of the game (pitch after pitch, no breaks or if the ball is hit) showing the strike zone thing and wheat the ump called the pitch. Not sure if they still do that.

[Speed Limit]

I think it's really more for the fans. Remember when they installed those cameras into select stadiums? I think they were called the Q-tech or Quetech, I can't remember the exact name but those really affected the strike zone of an umpire.

[Theraflu]

David_Nicoson, on Thursday, October 16th, 2008, 7:00 PM, said:

Good for the game? Encourages umpires to pay attention to the actual rules? Discuss.

The TBS and Fox ones suck. Apparently you don't like baseball very much, but ESPN implemented "K-zone" ~5 years ago, and it appears much more accurate than the other two. It shows a bit of depth and where it crosses the plate, and includes the 2 inches that the umpires are allowed. FoxTrax doesn't show shit, it blows.

Speed Limit, on Friday, October 17th, 2008, 10:02 AM, said:

I think it's really more for the fans. Remember when they installed those cameras into select stadiums? I think they were called the Q-tech or Quetech, I can't remember the exact name but those really affected the strike zone of an umpire.

It's Questec. It should be in all stadiums now. The umpires get graded every game, and there's a certain percentage of "wrong" calls they're allowed to miss. Before the game, someone draws up the strike zone for each hitter. I'm not sure if ESPN uses the same system or not, but Fox and TBS only use a base strike zone that doesn't account for much of hitters sizes.

[vonteego3]

I'd imagine these aren't terribly popular with the umpires union. Too bad for them they got their balls handed to them in a rosin bag a few years ago.

[David_Nicoson]

Theraflu, on Friday, October 17th, 2008, 10:29 PM, said:

The TBS and Fox ones suck. Apparently you don't like baseball very much, but ESPN implemented "K-zone" ~5 years ago, and it appears much more accurate than the other two. It shows a bit of depth and where it crosses the plate, and includes the 2 inches that the umpires are allowed.

What?

[Theraflu]

David_Nicoson, on Friday, October 17th, 2008, 7:56 PM, said:

What?

When the Questec strike zones are drawn up before the game for each player, they're the width of the plate and then from the bottom of the knees to letter-high or so. When determining the "accuracy" of each umpire, there is a 2-inch "buffer" zone for strikes for which they will not be penalized. I didn't mean to come off as a dick in my initial post, but I'm a dick so it's hard to avoid sometimes. I'd happily further explain anything that I didn't make clear.

[timwakefield]

I have NEVER seen them explain how the tv strike zone is adjusted for every batter and, conceivably, every pitch. It's not like the strike zone is exactly the same always, and can therefore be exactly defined in space. It changes based on the height and stance of each batter. Can somebody explain how they do that and how exact they can be? They act like there's a real, literal amount of cubic space which is defined as the strike zone (this is true), but they never discuss the fact that its height is always changing.