July 27, 2011 at 10:48 am
Of all the baseball games I've seen, there aren't a ton of extremely sensitive calls. Balls/strikes are just hard. W/O sensors on the ball, radar, and sensors on the players (to measure knees/armpits) it's going to be a judgement. I certainly dispute balls/strikes sometimes with umpires/catchers, but I accept that they have an opinion that isn't necessarily better/worse than my opinion.
However end of game calls, potential home runs that are fair/foul/touched by fan, ought to be reviewed. That can be quick, or we could even give the manager a chance to ask for 2-3 reviews a game. Or have an ump in the booth that asks for 30sec to review a call once in awhile.
I don't want to see the game slowed, and there will be mistakes, but there is also the chance to correct a few of them. I don't see replay as being that big an intrusion. Certainly not more than the manager going out there and yelling for 3 minutes.
July 27, 2011 at 10:51 am
With sensors, we could forego the umpire altogether 😛
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July 27, 2011 at 10:58 am
Ed.Watson (7/27/2011)
With sensors, we could forego the umpire altogether 😛
Not sure I like this. However there are a lot of places we could add this in. Sensors in gloves to detect the ball contact along with sensors on bases to detect the impact. We might be able to get those first base calls right.
However ultimately the technology would be arguable as well. We'd program it, and we'd have to decide when impact = control. Not so easy sometimes.
Balls/strikes are hard, especially when the batter moves. What % of the ball has to cross the plate? Is it the front, middle, or back of the plate?
Overall I find many umps have different sizes/areas/types of strike zones and calls, but they tend to be consistent. I can live with that if they are calling things close. When they get inconsistent, it's hard.
Perhaps we ought to have sensors that tell us if the middle of the ball is more than 3.75cm from the edge of the plate (~radius). If so, it could buzz the ump to give him more info to make his call. Or a buzzer that alerts field umps when a player hits a bag on baserunning.
July 27, 2011 at 11:05 am
We could then store all the sensor data on clustered SQL Servers where we could be hired to administer said sensors and watch baseball for free....#newdreamjobdefined
Ed Watson aka SQLGator
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July 27, 2011 at 11:15 am
Ed.Watson (7/27/2011)
We could then store all the sensor data on clustered SQL Servers where we could be hired to administer said sensors and watch baseball for free....#newdreamjobdefined
You write up the proposal, I'll pitch it to Mr. Selig.
July 27, 2011 at 11:41 am
Markus (7/27/2011)
.... No other umpire can say anything until the calling umpire asks for help.....
Perhaps the answer for this could be in the "inside" game that the umpires have to play. Umpires have a traditional set of signals to each other outside the rulebook. One you can look for is when a team places runners at first and second, or all three bags with less than two out. It's a potential infield-fly rule situation, so the umpires remind each other by touching the brim of their caps with hand held vertically in a blade-like position, or showing a thumbs-up (different crews may agree upon different signs). Until the rules were changed to allow the defense to appeal on a checked swing, the first or third base umpire would let the plate umpire know it was a swinging strike by placing his right hand to left shoulder.
For obviously missed calls, umpires could have an agreed-upon sign that means "you'll want to have a conference on that one." But the main thing is that the umpire making the call has to maintain full responsibility for sticking by or changing the call. That's something that should not change, whether by crew-chief intervention or (heaven forbid) a TV-watching super-umpire in a booth.
July 27, 2011 at 11:51 am
I guess my point is that they are to be an unbiased group charged with getting the play correct. If one of the others is in a position to see a play better than the one right next to the play than that one should come over and tell the one closes to the play what he saw. For other non-continuous and non strike/no strike calls instant replay should be used to get the play right. For those that don't want a 'slow' game to drag on I say that the screaming manager tirades over a bad call takes longer than a quick review of the play from two different angles. On TV they can show it in less than 15 seconds from two diff camera angles vs. good 'ol Lou Pinella on a tirade throwing first base into the outfield... LOL!
July 28, 2011 at 10:44 am
July 27, 2011, was an eventful day in baseball . . .
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July 29, 2011 at 10:58 am
Former Yankees pitcher Irabu, 42, found dead in apparent suicide
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July 29, 2011 at 10:59 am
I just read the story about Irabu... sad... truly sad.
August 10, 2011 at 3:34 pm
This thread is too quiet. Time to stir the pot.
How about . . . hmmmm thinkthinkthink . . . I dunno -- what ballpark has the best food?
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August 10, 2011 at 4:02 pm
Ray K (8/10/2011)
This thread is too quiet. Time to stir the pot.How about . . . hmmmm thinkthinkthink . . . I dunno -- what ballpark has the best food?
Looking at the West Coast, gotta give props to Petco in SD for the fish tacos -- couple of those babies with a glass of beer is a darn good ballpark meal. But AT&T in SF has some great variety: Orlando Cepeda's Cha-Cha bowl is a rice bowl with a Caribbean twist, the Gordon-Biersch micro-brew beer and their take on garlic fries are a fantastic combo, and if you don't like beer but still want an adult beverage, there are wine carts scattered about the park and a couple of bars serving hard drinks (Irish coffee on a cool San Francisco night... yum!).
August 10, 2011 at 4:37 pm
Food is OK at Coors Field. Nothing special from what I've seen. I seem to remember that the AZ park had a lot of choices.
August 11, 2011 at 6:01 am
The Red's have a few neat things. They feature a different product for each team at the Smokehouse Grille.
August 11, 2011 at 8:38 am
One of the things I enjoy about the new Yankee Stadium are all the different options for food. There's an entire food court on the left field side, and they have the typical ballpark fare all around the Stadium (which have plenty of options in and of themselves). There's even an Asian noodle/sushi booth. And for the health-conscious, there's even a fruit stand at the main gate behind home plate!
I believe there's also a microbrew in there. I have yet to try that.
At a game last summer, I had myself a NYY Steak sandwich! Dee-lish!!! Word of warning, however: it's super-expensive! ($15 -- yikes!!!) But I had to get it once, just to say I tried it!
I have yet to try any of the full-service restaurants that are built into the the new Stadium (and are open year-round). One of these times, if I feel the urge to splurge, I'll have to try NYY Steak.
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