MLB 2025 Season

Still early, but Oakland is doing much better than anyone, including myself, would have ever imagined.

eeriepadave said:

thoughts on umpire Angel Hernandez situation. Looks like this dude has a bad reputation as an umpire

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ1CEhc2AAs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fWpwFF1u48

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txzlXQDnJ3E

I always go back to this meme about him:



For those that haven't seen this, she threw a grounder towards the camera man on the left.

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Indifference71 said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Yep it will be here at some point and I'm all for it.  It's just amazing to me that a guy like Hernandez who is widely known as the worst umpire in baseball continues to call games.  It's insane.

remember the playoff game where then-Marlin livan hernandez got a bazillion K’s vs. the braves? who was the home plate ump in that one?

Ledbetterman10 said:

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Somebody in a booth away from the plate calls what they see in a box?

I question how they know where it breaks over the plate?

You would have to have two views, a profile and a plan.  That could determine a ball or strike but not one view from 100' away.

I once had an argument from a group of parents when I was umpiring little league games.  The kid was throwing lobs to home plate and the catcher was 5' behind home plate.  When the catcher caught the ball it would look to be in the strike zone.  I kept calling balls.  Parents were getting peaved at me.

I called time and walked up to the parents and said the kid is throwing rainbows and they are crossing the plate over the batters head and landing at what looks like the strike zone beyond the plate, now if you want your kids swinging at balls over their heads I will call that a strike every time.  If you want me to call the balls and strikes on how they were meant to be called then that's a ball every time.

Every parent looked down and kicked rocks, not one had a comment for me.

I then explained to the pitcher where a strike was and for the catcher to move further up so the pitcher has a better aiming point to cross the plate.

The game proceeded without a hitch after that but the parents were all butt hurt.

Cliffy6745 said:

We can send people to space, I am pretty sure we can use a machine to understand if a ball crosses a plate

Apparently we can't, lol.

I don't like it in that a pitcher needs more help and gets that by an expanding strike zone.  Using a machine then that batter knows the ball outside of the zone is a ball and would never swing.

That is my opinion on that.

If you want machines calling strikes then let the pitchers raise the mound back up.

Cliffy6745 said:

So batters shouldn't have to only judge if a pitch is a ball or a strike, they should also have to judge how competent the umpire is in accurately calling balls and strikes?

It's been part of the game since it's inception, no?

I understand the gripes but to me the batters are always getting the advantages.

I like spider tack.  Raise the mound back up, I root for the pitcher, I'm a rare breed I'm sure.

Did you read that they were thinking about moving the pitchers mound even further back?  Who does that help?

Ledbetterman10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Somebody in a booth away from the plate calls what they see in a box?

I question how they know where it breaks over the plate?

You would have to have two views, a profile and a plan.  That could determine a ball or strike but not one view from 100' away.

The guy that operates the "box" will immediately know if it's a ball or strike and will communicate that to the home plate ump via bluetooth or some similar communication device. 

As for where it breaks over the plate, I assume that's taken into account for "box." 

So I'll go back to this.

How does one know where it breaks over the plate from a box?  

If you have a cube superimposed on a screen and it crosses that then yes, I could see that but from just a box?  Nope.

Ledbetterman10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Somebody in a booth away from the plate calls what they see in a box?

I question how they know where it breaks over the plate?

You would have to have two views, a profile and a plan.  That could determine a ball or strike but not one view from 100' away.

The guy that operates the "box" will immediately know if it's a ball or strike and will communicate that to the home plate ump via bluetooth or some similar communication device. 

As for where it breaks over the plate, I assume that's taken into account for "box." 

So I'll go back to this.

How does one know where it breaks over the plate from a box?  

If you have a cube superimposed on a screen and it crosses that then yes, I could see that but from just a box?  Nope.

Well a cube might be how it's determined. They show the box on the TV broadcast, but I imagine the technology that determines exactly where the pitch shows up on the box is probably a cube (or something to that nature). 

I'm curious about this.  Now I need to find out how they do it...

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

tempo_n_groove said:

Ledbetterman10 said:

Indifference71 said:

It's amazing that he still has a job.  He's just so bad.  Is MLB unable to do anything about this?  I know the umpires have a union but this guy is a disgrace.

Umpires STILL calling balls and strikes is a disgrace in it's own right. There's no need for it. They tested a computer system in the minor leagues a few years ago and it worked great. Basically, there's a guy in a control room monitoring that strike-zone box that you see on TV broadcasts, and he communicates with the home plate umpire via a microphone and tells him whether to call it a ball or a strike. 

Umpires got upset about this of course, but fuck them. Many people have lost their jobs due to automation. And this isn't even calling for their jobs to be taken away. They'd still be there....and their jobs would be EASIER. 

Somebody in a booth away from the plate calls what they see in a box?

I question how they know where it breaks over the plate?

You would have to have two views, a profile and a plan.  That could determine a ball or strike but not one view from 100' away.

The guy that operates the "box" will immediately know if it's a ball or strike and will communicate that to the home plate ump via bluetooth or some similar communication device. 

As for where it breaks over the plate, I assume that's taken into account for "box." 

So I'll go back to this.

How does one know where it breaks over the plate from a box?  

If you have a cube superimposed on a screen and it crosses that then yes, I could see that but from just a box?  Nope.

Well a cube might be how it's determined. They show the box on the TV broadcast, but I imagine the technology that determines exactly where the pitch shows up on the box is probably a cube (or something to that nature). 

I'm curious about this.  Now I need to find out how they do it...

Yeah let me know if you do. I'd be curious to see how "perfect" a system it could be. Here's some info from when this was announced for the minor leagues.....

Automated strike zone coming to minors but a while from MLB - ABC News (go.com)