I'd vote for strike zones based on heights and that's it. If you're this tall, the strike zone goes from here to here. If you're that tall, it's here to here.
Hunch over all you want. It's still here to here.
Got high ankles? Too bad. It's still here to here.
It's still a lot better than umpires giving edges to guys based on whatever they base it on that day. Or, that inning.
Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced
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skinnyhorse
- Posts: 926
- Joined: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:19 am
Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced
6D5E424340487E4358445F584945422C0 wrote: TrackMan is able to calibrate each batters' size and stance, adjusting the strike zone accordingly. So, the system works so that it doesn't allow a 6-foot-7 player to have the same strike zone as a 5-foot-7 player.
Two things: one is that anything based on height (or shoulders to knees) can be gamed. If a batter can shrink his zone by an inch, it's exactly the same thing as a catcher stealing a strike through pitch framing, and it will happen.
The second thing is important to me: if a calculation is just based on height, it's going to change who is successful. Ron Cey was listed at 5'10", but none of it was below the knee. Steve Garvey was the same, but he had no neck. John Kruk was 5'10, didn't look like an athlete at all. Willie Mays was 5'10", and looked exactly like an athlete. These guys all got different strike zones, and if the same zone were imposed on all of them, I think some would wash out. My bet is that "calibration" will favor players who are smack in the middle, so that guys like Kruk and Cey and Kingman and Wynn will become rarer and rarer, and the game will take another step toward dullness.
The automated strike zone is the only way to bring some fairness to baseball. Anyone who looks at how many of the base calls are just completely wrong it's a magnitude of 5 to 10 time more that on the strike zone. It will make a rookie pitcher just as competitive as a veteran who always get the call whether it's a batter or a pitcher. I can't understand why anyone would be against trying this it will give all teams a equal playing field.
Two things: one is that anything based on height (or shoulders to knees) can be gamed. If a batter can shrink his zone by an inch, it's exactly the same thing as a catcher stealing a strike through pitch framing, and it will happen.
The second thing is important to me: if a calculation is just based on height, it's going to change who is successful. Ron Cey was listed at 5'10", but none of it was below the knee. Steve Garvey was the same, but he had no neck. John Kruk was 5'10, didn't look like an athlete at all. Willie Mays was 5'10", and looked exactly like an athlete. These guys all got different strike zones, and if the same zone were imposed on all of them, I think some would wash out. My bet is that "calibration" will favor players who are smack in the middle, so that guys like Kruk and Cey and Kingman and Wynn will become rarer and rarer, and the game will take another step toward dullness.
The automated strike zone is the only way to bring some fairness to baseball. Anyone who looks at how many of the base calls are just completely wrong it's a magnitude of 5 to 10 time more that on the strike zone. It will make a rookie pitcher just as competitive as a veteran who always get the call whether it's a batter or a pitcher. I can't understand why anyone would be against trying this it will give all teams a equal playing field.
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GreenWeenie
- Posts: 4012
- Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2020 3:47 pm
Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced
I don't think there's any system out there that's going to make any suspect as competitive as Gerrit Cole, Jason Verlander, or Clayton Kershaw. If there was such a system, we wouldn't see pitchers make a ton of money.
It's fair to say that they would have the same strike zones to work with.
Veterans will still have an upper hand of experience.
Rookies will still have the benefit of having less known tendencies.
It's fair to say that they would have the same strike zones to work with.
Veterans will still have an upper hand of experience.
Rookies will still have the benefit of having less known tendencies.