- 3/31 - Mark Kotsay makes a diving catch in the outfield, called a hit
- 3/31 - Botched ground ball hit directly at Derek Jeter called a hit
- 4/1 - Roy Halladay beats out a ground ball, called out at first
Showing posts with label umpires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label umpires. Show all posts
The Jim Joyce All-Stars: 2011
Hunter Wendelstedt's Yanks/Twins Strike(kinda) Zone
From Brooks Baseball via Deadspin. For those not colorblind, red were called strikes and green called ball. Different interpretations find between 28 to 31 clear missed calls, including a green box smack dab in the middle of the strike zone, corresponding to a cutter down the middle to Derek Jeter that was called a ball. Also that strike 3 called a ball to Lance Berkman on the inside corner just before launching a home run. I'm going to enjoy baseball with no umpires on the field one day.
"The rest of us will go on waiting patiently for the removal of the human element known as Bud Selig"
TBO's Quick Take On MLB Replay
Baseball is a game inherent with errors by the players. Poping out, hanging a slider, having a ball bounce off your head for a home run. There is enough error to go around. The rules of the game should not be one of them. If there are errors on the field AND errors in the rule book that just leads to exponentially increased errors in any single game, which leads to drastically distorted game outcomes. It's like playing blackjack and 25% of the time you hit blackjack, the dealer misreads your cards and takes your money. That would really suck
I would rid of umpires altogether, maybe keep them just for aesthetic purposes
MLB Needs To Allow Galarraga's Perfect Game
What am imperfect way to ruin a perfect game.
For those of you who don't know at this point, after Tigers SP Armando Galarraga had just retired 26 batters, Indians Jason Donald burned a worm towards first. Miguel Cabrera goes and gets it and throws it to Galarraga covering first. Galarraga clearly caught the ball before Donald reached first, but umpire Jim Joyce called the grounder a single and thus Galarraga lost his perfect game (which would have been the THIRD this season).
Joyce was adamant that he got the call correct. Until he looked at the replay and realized what a douche he is. Now he did apologize which is the LEAST he could have done. But the fact remains that Galarraga will never ever ever in his career be able to throw a perfect game.
Everybody knows Galarraga threw a perfect game and that Joyce got the call wrong. EVERYBODY. So you know what needs to be done? MLB needs to change the scorecard so that Galarraga is in the record books.
This is just the back end of a long list of examples of why baseball needs to get with the 21st century and start using technology to dictate the rules of the game. They've already taken a big step by making home runs reviewable.
How many times do you hear this "They need to get the call right" and I'm a big proponent of this. If a pitcher throws a ball within what the rulebook calls the strike zone, that should be a strike. Every single time. It shouldn't be considered a "ball" because the umpire is a dick and won't give the pitcher the outside corner.
No other sport even comes close to being this stone age when it comes to their umpiring. Last night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup, I saw the refs go back and review two "goals". On one play, it looked like Hjalmarsson made an amazing goal saving play, but upon review, the puck clearly went into over the goal line and the refs got it right and ruled it a goal. Even in football we give the coaches a minimum number of times to tell the refs to go back and review the play.
I watch baseball on ESPN's Gamecast a handful of times (especially during Torts class. I'm sorry professor but your class was BORING). Anyways, on my screen I see a red box for what the designated strike zone is, where the ball fell within the strike zone, and what the umpire actually called said ball. When I watch games on TV, I see a replay of what just happened. So why can't MLB use this new fangled technology?
There are two arguments that I just don't want to hear in contrast to this. I'm going to pull a Boerhs and Bernstein and tell you that you are just flat out wrong.
Argument One: But baseball is a game of tradition. The tradition is that there's a human element of umpires and they will inherently get things wrong. That's just part of the game. (Made by my co-worker today)
1) Baseball was started in the 1800's. They didn't even have freaking cars back then! If I hop in my DeLorean and went back to when the founders created baseball and showed them WiFi and Fangraphs, they would have seen how dumb umpires were and not put them in the game. 2) In every facet of society we have changed since the late 1800's. Our technology is different, our culture is different, our politics are different (well, maybe not here in Chicago), everything else is different and we want things to change. Except baseball. What kind of horse crap is that!? 3) We have rules in every aspect of life and when those rules are not followed, there are negative consequences. Yet umpires don't "follow the rules" often by flat out getting calls wrong. For example, when a player has a ball in play in his glove and touches the base before the runner who hit the ball reaches the base, that runner/hitter is out. So where are their negative consequences?
Argument Two: If MLB changes the rules to allow Galarraga's perfect game, then there's a slipper slope for MLB to change everything. (Made by someone on the Mully and Hanley show on WSCR today).
1) This is obviously a slippery slope argument and it's a logical fallacy. If in academia you shouldn't be allowed to make this argument, then you can't make this argument anywhere else. It doesn't go to the argument in question. This type of argument is the same ones Conservatives use today to justify banning gay rights (We allowed sodomy which in turns will allow gays to get marries which in turn will lead us to eventually legalize polygamy and beasteality). No doing X will not necessarily lead to Y. 2) What is so wrong if this does set a precedence of MLB changing the official scorecard? If any particular call by an umpire never should have been made to begin with, what's wrong with setting things right? If Jim Joyce had gotten the call correctly or MLB makes things correct, then the same outcome occurs.
All I want is to get things right. In football, if a pass is caught within bounds, then I want that pass to count. In basketball, if a player shoots the ball a millisecond before the shot clock winds down and the ball goes through the hoop, I want that basket to count. And if a defender touches first before the runner in baseball, I want the defender to be out.
I don't want something official because of a mistake; an untruth.
______________________________
EDITOR'S NOTE: Right after I wrote this post, I read on ESPN that Bud Selig will not reverse the call. I know we're supposed to be P.C., but like Joe West, you're a piece of shit Bud Selig. Obviously not JUST for this, but way to be waste of life and space.
For those of you who don't know at this point, after Tigers SP Armando Galarraga had just retired 26 batters, Indians Jason Donald burned a worm towards first. Miguel Cabrera goes and gets it and throws it to Galarraga covering first. Galarraga clearly caught the ball before Donald reached first, but umpire Jim Joyce called the grounder a single and thus Galarraga lost his perfect game (which would have been the THIRD this season).
Joyce was adamant that he got the call correct. Until he looked at the replay and realized what a douche he is. Now he did apologize which is the LEAST he could have done. But the fact remains that Galarraga will never ever ever in his career be able to throw a perfect game.
Everybody knows Galarraga threw a perfect game and that Joyce got the call wrong. EVERYBODY. So you know what needs to be done? MLB needs to change the scorecard so that Galarraga is in the record books.
This is just the back end of a long list of examples of why baseball needs to get with the 21st century and start using technology to dictate the rules of the game. They've already taken a big step by making home runs reviewable.
How many times do you hear this "They need to get the call right" and I'm a big proponent of this. If a pitcher throws a ball within what the rulebook calls the strike zone, that should be a strike. Every single time. It shouldn't be considered a "ball" because the umpire is a dick and won't give the pitcher the outside corner.
No other sport even comes close to being this stone age when it comes to their umpiring. Last night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup, I saw the refs go back and review two "goals". On one play, it looked like Hjalmarsson made an amazing goal saving play, but upon review, the puck clearly went into over the goal line and the refs got it right and ruled it a goal. Even in football we give the coaches a minimum number of times to tell the refs to go back and review the play.
I watch baseball on ESPN's Gamecast a handful of times (especially during Torts class. I'm sorry professor but your class was BORING). Anyways, on my screen I see a red box for what the designated strike zone is, where the ball fell within the strike zone, and what the umpire actually called said ball. When I watch games on TV, I see a replay of what just happened. So why can't MLB use this new fangled technology?
There are two arguments that I just don't want to hear in contrast to this. I'm going to pull a Boerhs and Bernstein and tell you that you are just flat out wrong.
Argument One: But baseball is a game of tradition. The tradition is that there's a human element of umpires and they will inherently get things wrong. That's just part of the game. (Made by my co-worker today)
1) Baseball was started in the 1800's. They didn't even have freaking cars back then! If I hop in my DeLorean and went back to when the founders created baseball and showed them WiFi and Fangraphs, they would have seen how dumb umpires were and not put them in the game. 2) In every facet of society we have changed since the late 1800's. Our technology is different, our culture is different, our politics are different (well, maybe not here in Chicago), everything else is different and we want things to change. Except baseball. What kind of horse crap is that!? 3) We have rules in every aspect of life and when those rules are not followed, there are negative consequences. Yet umpires don't "follow the rules" often by flat out getting calls wrong. For example, when a player has a ball in play in his glove and touches the base before the runner who hit the ball reaches the base, that runner/hitter is out. So where are their negative consequences?
Argument Two: If MLB changes the rules to allow Galarraga's perfect game, then there's a slipper slope for MLB to change everything. (Made by someone on the Mully and Hanley show on WSCR today).
1) This is obviously a slippery slope argument and it's a logical fallacy. If in academia you shouldn't be allowed to make this argument, then you can't make this argument anywhere else. It doesn't go to the argument in question. This type of argument is the same ones Conservatives use today to justify banning gay rights (We allowed sodomy which in turns will allow gays to get marries which in turn will lead us to eventually legalize polygamy and beasteality). No doing X will not necessarily lead to Y. 2) What is so wrong if this does set a precedence of MLB changing the official scorecard? If any particular call by an umpire never should have been made to begin with, what's wrong with setting things right? If Jim Joyce had gotten the call correctly or MLB makes things correct, then the same outcome occurs.
All I want is to get things right. In football, if a pass is caught within bounds, then I want that pass to count. In basketball, if a player shoots the ball a millisecond before the shot clock winds down and the ball goes through the hoop, I want that basket to count. And if a defender touches first before the runner in baseball, I want the defender to be out.
I don't want something official because of a mistake; an untruth.
______________________________
EDITOR'S NOTE: Right after I wrote this post, I read on ESPN that Bud Selig will not reverse the call. I know we're supposed to be P.C., but like Joe West, you're a piece of shit Bud Selig. Obviously not JUST for this, but way to be waste of life and space.
Stolen Goods: Poor Umpiring
The Hardball Times has an article up which statistically proves what baseball fans have been thinking for over 100 years: umpires suck. According to THT's analysis of balls and strikes called, "the 3-0 zone is nearly 50 percent larger than the 0-2 zone." In THT's article (and below) is a plot of the strike zone data; there you can see the stark difference in overall strikeout zone size between the 3-0 count to the 0-2 count. To the right is THT's chart which plots a batter's runs created against the various count situations and strike zone breadths.Definitely worth checking this article out if you have the time.
Baseball umpires have hit an all-time low...again
Today's Yankees/Angles game could not have had more drastic umpire errors. You would think these veteran umpires need a lesson on baseball from Tim McCarver; thats how elementary these mistakes are. Fuck, scooter the talking baseball was embarrassed by these calls. Deadspin has the screen shots of the plays
Groundball back to the pitcher. Posada takes off for home and Cano heads to 3rd. Posada gets caught in a run down but cant return to 3rd base because it is now occupied by cano. But as Napoli gets to 3rd base, Cano steps off the bag for some reason, maybe to let Posada take the base, such that both Yankees are off the bad. Napoli tags Cano(out) then he tags Posada(out). Not so much. Tim McClellen calls Posada out but Cano safe. Clearly a mistake of drastic proportions, yet there is no discussion outside of Mike Scoscia shouting at an umpire perplexed for about the 20th time this series. My problem is this. Obviously a mistake was made on the call. Why is an umpire not allowed to change his mind. Is there a rule that the initial, reflex decision is final? Maybe this is why woman should be umpires. They would actually discuss the play with each other and reach an accurate conclusion. Of course, they cannot be trusted because of "that time of the month" hence they cannot be umpires.
Two more plays shown above. A Yankee baserunner(Swisher?) is clearly thrown out at 2nd on a pick off move, yet the play is called safe. Why even have these retards out there. This is not that difficult. Anyone watching on HD could see what happened, why cant these people see in real life. The second play is Nick Swisher scoring on a sac fly in the same inning as the blown pick off call. The Angels protest that Swisher left 3rd before the catch was made, Tim McClellen agrees and calls Swisher out. Replay shows that Swisher actually left after the catch was made, but that wasnt even the worst part. The worst part was replay showing that McClellen was not even looking at Swishers or his feet as the catch was made, but was looking at the outfielder, which is the 2nd base umpires job anyway. So how could McClellen call Swisher out for leaving too soon, if he was not looking at the play? I dont think it even in his peripheral vision. Fucker has some explaining to do. The Yanks are going to win this whole thing cause Arod is god, yeah you heard me McCarver, but sometimes it feels like i'm watching the refs umpire more than the teams play baseball.
Also, last night's baseball games were just horribly officiated behind the plate. The strike zone and the umpires calls were off all the time. Chip Caray even felt the need state that the automated strike zone is an approximation of what the strike zone should be. If by approximation, he actually means completely accurate, then yes it is an approximation. It's still better than what the umpire is doing, which is guessing. And all this goes back to Bud Selig. In 10 years when the games history has been tarnished by horrible calls in playoff games, Selig will hire some dude to run an investigation, purge some clubhouse attendants, and write a 400 page memorandum concluding that Selig is a moron who was specifically hired for his stupidity to maintain the moronic traditions of baseball.
Groundball back to the pitcher. Posada takes off for home and Cano heads to 3rd. Posada gets caught in a run down but cant return to 3rd base because it is now occupied by cano. But as Napoli gets to 3rd base, Cano steps off the bag for some reason, maybe to let Posada take the base, such that both Yankees are off the bad. Napoli tags Cano(out) then he tags Posada(out). Not so much. Tim McClellen calls Posada out but Cano safe. Clearly a mistake of drastic proportions, yet there is no discussion outside of Mike Scoscia shouting at an umpire perplexed for about the 20th time this series. My problem is this. Obviously a mistake was made on the call. Why is an umpire not allowed to change his mind. Is there a rule that the initial, reflex decision is final? Maybe this is why woman should be umpires. They would actually discuss the play with each other and reach an accurate conclusion. Of course, they cannot be trusted because of "that time of the month" hence they cannot be umpires.
Two more plays shown above. A Yankee baserunner(Swisher?) is clearly thrown out at 2nd on a pick off move, yet the play is called safe. Why even have these retards out there. This is not that difficult. Anyone watching on HD could see what happened, why cant these people see in real life. The second play is Nick Swisher scoring on a sac fly in the same inning as the blown pick off call. The Angels protest that Swisher left 3rd before the catch was made, Tim McClellen agrees and calls Swisher out. Replay shows that Swisher actually left after the catch was made, but that wasnt even the worst part. The worst part was replay showing that McClellen was not even looking at Swishers or his feet as the catch was made, but was looking at the outfielder, which is the 2nd base umpires job anyway. So how could McClellen call Swisher out for leaving too soon, if he was not looking at the play? I dont think it even in his peripheral vision. Fucker has some explaining to do. The Yanks are going to win this whole thing cause Arod is god, yeah you heard me McCarver, but sometimes it feels like i'm watching the refs umpire more than the teams play baseball.
Also, last night's baseball games were just horribly officiated behind the plate. The strike zone and the umpires calls were off all the time. Chip Caray even felt the need state that the automated strike zone is an approximation of what the strike zone should be. If by approximation, he actually means completely accurate, then yes it is an approximation. It's still better than what the umpire is doing, which is guessing. And all this goes back to Bud Selig. In 10 years when the games history has been tarnished by horrible calls in playoff games, Selig will hire some dude to run an investigation, purge some clubhouse attendants, and write a 400 page memorandum concluding that Selig is a moron who was specifically hired for his stupidity to maintain the moronic traditions of baseball.
