jms1425

One thing that no one mentions is that the computer itself has a margin of error of .5". During Spring Training last year I saw a pitch called a strike, challenged, and overturned to a ball because it was off the plate by .04". That pitch could have been on the plate by as much as .46". Or it might have been off the plate by .54". Couple that with the fact that hitters only had 50% of their challenges result in a reversed call, and pitchers were worse at 40%, and the guy with the best look of anyone in the yard, the catchers, were the best at 56%. Overall, 52% overturned. Essentially flipping a coin. Players don't know any better than the umpire. This should have been enough to tell everyone to stop complaining about pitch calls. But, confirmation bias being the powerful force that it is, instead baseball is doubling down on this system. I absolutely hate it.

Yup - hear that nonsense all the time. And I always say, "Coach, I can't speak to the rest of the season, but we're gonna get it right today."

I just watched the NCAA Strike Zone Initiative video from April 5th, and it got me wondering.... They are breaking this down to the 1/100th of an inch. Has Trackman been demonstrated to be that accurate and precise? How accurate is it? Have there been any studies showing that the calculations made by the system are that precise? I'm not sure how you would demonstrate it to that level of measurement, but can they really measure the location a 2.5" sphere travelling 90+ mph from 100+' away down to 1/100th of an inch? I have never seen any "proof of concept" or "proof of measurement" studies on the system, and as a data analysis guy, these are the questions it raises in my mind. Just curious if anyone is aware of such studies / proof / etc.....

Just like IRL. When you put on the headset, you are in a virtual stadium, standing in the circle around homeplate, with batter's box lines, a catcher's box, foul lines... it's literally like standing on a real field. There is a "radio interface" that hovers in space at the back of the catcher's box that could get in your way if you wanted to be deep, but I find I can "set up" with my head just in front of that and it feels pretty normal. In fact, when I did the cagework IRL, I felt closer to the plate that I had been getting in VR. When I go home today I'll try to get some video or stills that I can upload here. (You can "cast" what you see in the headset to a laptop or other device.)

I have been using WinReality to practice calling pitches for about 2 months now, using the Pitch Recognition training mode. It is outstanding. You can select pitchers based on LHP/RHP, velocity, pitch types, pitch locations, arm slots, and windup or set. I had seen about 1000 pitches before my first actual cagework, and rather than feeling any need for "adjustment" or "settling back in" behind the plate, I felt immediately comfortable, as though it was not the first time I was seeing pitches since last season. Now, all that being said, it's a little expensive. You have to subscribe to their monthly program, which is $29 / month. I got a holiday season deal where I bought a full year, and it was reduced to $19 / month, so that's $120 cheaper for the year, but it was still nearly $250. Yes, I occasionally take BP or mess around with the other drills and modules for hitters, but 95% of my use is only in the Pitch Recognition module for ball/strike training as an umpire. Also, there is no catcher nor batter, so you cannot use info from how the pitch is received to help, and judging up/down won't perfectly transfer to the real world. But, all in all, I have found it to be a very useful tool. If they came out with an "umpires" version at a much reduced price, I would rather have that and live without my occasional frolic into the hitting exercises. But if you don't mind dropping $250 for the Oculus and another $250 (or more) for the subscription, I highly recommend this.

Hey, gents - getting rid of some 3XL shirts and 2XL pullovers I don't wear anymore. $10 each or all 6 for $50. Majestic MLB Replica Black w/ Gray Majestic MLB Replica Light Blue w/ Black Honig's Black w/ White Pinstripe Honig's Blue w/ Black Pinstripe Smitty "trash bag" pullover w removable sleeves Officials Depot pullover w removable sleeves These are also being sold locally, so first come (with $) = first served. The Majestics are here, and I'll post replies with pics of the other items. They are all in good shape. Send me a PM with what you want, and your address. I only have PayPal, so send the $ via "Friends and Family" or whatever they call it. Once I have the money, I will ship things within a couple days.

Yep... And I just found the "memo" I missed...........

I was just on Ump Attire's site and the Majestic shirts are no longer listed. Did I miss a memo?

Correction video came out today - both windups are the same, and legal. With runners on, esp R3, F1 needs to declare what he's doing. RQ Videos (refquest.com)

Here's a couple screen grabs. Still hard to tell about the 45 degree line.... Would "baseball" be willing to accept a rule or interpretation change from "45 degrees" to "within the frame of his body". That is, to "step directly to the base" means his free foot could not go closer to the plate than his front shoulder. Just a thought that crossed my mind as a way to better define this move, and to take away some of the advantage lefties have over righties for pickoffs.

Do you mean, if F1 does this once, it would count as his reset (and not a legit pickoff throw), but if he has already burned his reset, this would count as a violation? I would think if the advice is to rule it a violation because it is not a legit pickoff attempt, then it would be a reset akin to merely stepping off if F1 still has a reset to use. But, yeah, the feedback should be explicit about that.

Copied and pasted directly from Bill Haze's post on RefQuest: Play #2: Think about the definition of “Making a legitimate pickoff attempt by throwing the ball” If a pitcher makes a legal move toward 2nd base, then takes a few steps before making an easy, lazy, nonchalant throw to the fielder at 2nd base, where the runner is about to stand or is standing on 2nd base. Would this constitute “Making a legitimate pickoff attempt"? 2 Answer: The answer is no! The pitcher, based on the description of the play made, did not make a ”legitimate pickoff attempt by throwing the ball". If we allow that type of soft toss after the runner is already back to the base, the NCAA feels, we will be right back to where we were last year when the pitcher was allowed to just waive his wrist and "fake a throw" to keep a runner close. The pitcher was clearly trying to get around the rule. This would be a violation & we would add 1 ball to the count.

Well, sonofabitch.... Rule 9-3-c-1 Note: If the pitcher throws to the first or third base player who is playing off the base, a balk shall not be called if the fielder moves toward the occupied base in an attempt to retire the runner. So, conversely, if they are not making an attempt, it's a balk. but only 1st and 3rd are covered by this. Somehow, I was assuming it was any base... I was thinking along the lines of "cannot throw to an unoccupied base", etc., but really it's more related to the prohibition on faking to 1st or 3rd. Thanks for the clarification, JSam.

Would anyone here call it as U1? That is, call a balk for F1 stepping towards the plate / beyond the 45 degree mark and throwing to 1st? I had a similar play a couple years ago as U1. I almost called it, wanted to call it, still think I should have called it, but did not. I asked a few senior guys about that, and the consensus seems to be to let the PU call that violation. It really seems like U1 is in a good position to do so, but that was the feedback I got. Does anyone here have a different opinion?

If F4 or F6 cannot make a play on the runner (i.e., they are nowhere near the bag and cannot tag R2), this is a balk. This play was also covered in the video I mentioned above (2023 NCAA Baseball Video Bulletin #2, at the 5:01 mark.)

Your suggestion is *one* way to get the outgoing F1 to bat in a particular spot. The other is *while on defense* to move the F1 to the desired defensive spot and bring in either the DH or a sub to pitch. But the original issue was doing this *while on offense*, which appears to be illegal.

The opposing team was in the 1st base dugout. A minor bat flip in the direction of the other team is a bat flip in the direction of the other team. But let's call that a minor infraction. Then he's slashing across his chest underlying the school name as he rounds third near F5. OK... minor infraction. Then his teammates spill out too close to home plate as they celebrate. Well... minor infraction. But unsportsmanlike conduct is a STATED POE this year, ESPECIALLY ANY ACTIONS DIRECTED TOWARDS THE OPPONENT. Three "minor" violations on one play, any one of which is a potentially ejectable offense, given the POE this year? You're done. Not to mention.... If it's "just a minor bat flip", then why do it at all? If it's "no big deal" to slash across your chest, then why do it at all? And most importantly to me, why is this kind of thing the only kind of "fun" players can have when they're excited? Why is taunting your opponent fun in the first place? I have ZERO sympathy for the ejected player, and I am 100% in favor of efforts to eliminate this crap from the game, and all other sports, too. I am sick to death of watching players waggle their fingers, stand over opponents on the ground, and generally act like jerks. If that is what constitutes "fun", then call me the Burgermeister Meisterburger. lol

As I understand it, this is incorrect. If the batter is not in the box and alert to the pitcher with 10 seconds (or fewer) remaining, it is a violation and a penalty strike is added to the count. So if he steps in and is alert, let's say, with 12 seconds to go on the clock, he stands there for 5 seconds as the pitcher is getting a sign, then the batter backs out of the box (without time being called by the umpire), at this point he is not in the box and alert to the pitcher with 10 or fewer seconds remaining, thus in violation. Call a strike. It does not matter if the pitch is delivered - in fact, it should not be - PU should call time, announce the violation and signal the count with the penalty strike added to it. I don't know if this link will work or not, but it's the first example in the latest NCAA video (2023 NCAA Baseball Video Bulletin #2): RQ Videos (refquest.com)

On the one hand, if the team is on defense, F1 can move to F3. This would eliminate the DH, and when they come to bat, the former F1 would now bat in the 8-hole (the spot previously occupied by the former F3), while the entering F1 (or a pinch hitter, but NOT the player who was the DH, unless he entered as the pitcher) would now bat in the 2-hole (where the DH had been hitting.) If the player who was DH has entered as F1, he would hit in the same spot (the 2-hole), but he is now hitting as F1 (not DH). However, the rules (Rule 7-2-b-10) state that "The game pitcher may pinch hit or pinch run only for the DH and become the P/DH." So, if the team is on offense, and the last defensive spot a player occupied was F1, he cannot start hitting in the F3 spot (in this case, the 8-hole). So, it seems that the timing of the move from F1 to F3 matters - it cannot be done "proactively" or "pre-emptively" or whatever adverb is appropriate. It has to be done while on defense.... Right?

A friend forwarded a tweet to me about a DH situation, and I thought I would post it (in generalized form) for discussion here, because it raises an interesting issue / question. DH in the 2 hole F3 in the 8 hole The 8-hole is due up; the current F1 comes up to pinch hit, with the HC explaining that this player is going to F3 when they go back out for defense. I'll stop here and ask if this is legal, and post two possible interpretations in a further reply.

Why baseball games are so damned long | 2017 MLB Season Preview & Predictions (sbnation.com)

To elaborate on noumpere's response.... the runner is awarded the next base in this situation. If s/he advances past the awarded base, s/he is at risk of being put out. Thus, oversliding (which, in this case, I take to mean ending up on the left field side of 2nd base) would indeed be beyond the awarded base, thus the runner could be tagged out.