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Post by cj on Jul 9, 2012 11:12:18 GMT -5
Most of these Yankee-Red Sox games become unwatchable due to their length. Of course, Joe West made a comment about it last year.
But trying to sit through the games this weekend, I have come to the conclusion the mlb strike zone is simply too small. I remember back in my youth, there was an American League (back in the days of separate umpires for each league, another clueless Bud idiocy but that's for another day) umpire Ed Rune (the grandfather of Brian and the father of Paul) who made it quite clear to batters he had a large strike zone (not Eric Gregg large of course) and they better be up there hacking. His games moved along.
Just have the umpires call strikes and these 4 hour games will be a thing of the past at least IMHO.
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Post by mike on Jul 9, 2012 11:40:15 GMT -5
Combining the umpires was one of the few things I do agree with as it allowed for greater consistency and during interleague games/playoffs both teams have experience with the umpires. The problem is the league wants to attract fans with gaudy power numbers rather than elite pitching. That being said, I do not mind a small strike zone if the umpire is consistent with it. It is the in-game inconsistency that bugs me the most
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Post by nyasablue on Jul 9, 2012 15:04:17 GMT -5
Actually, I believe the game times are down a bit over the last couple of years - better pitching = shorter games. The reason Yankee/Sox games are so damn long, is because there is just so must posturing and maneuvering by both teams. Plus, the Yankees still practice the fine art of stretching each AB out to the maximum - fouling 500 pitches off, drawing walks, whatever. I will guarantee you the Yankees have longer at bats than any other team in MLB.
I don't buy the 'familiarity' thing at ALL. In fact, if anything, players are LESS familiar with the umpires they see. Take CC Sabathia, for example. He might see say, Jim Joyce behind the plate, what, two times a season, maybe three? Where in the 'old days', Catfish Hunter might have had Luciano or Haller or Evans behind the plate at least 6 or 7 times a year. Whatever 'inconsistency' would be there, would be more than made up by the familiarity with a certain umpires zone. And it of course works the opposite way, too.
I bet there are regular starting pitchers today who never see certain umpires behind the plate over the course of a season.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2012 0:40:55 GMT -5
nyasablue, it'd be interesting to track the SPs each season as well as their respective HP ump, to see which starters, with, say min 5 starts, did not see a certain ump...
i'm not that dedicated, but if anyone looks it all up, or finds where it's tracked, let me know!
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Post by ak482 on Jul 23, 2012 9:36:56 GMT -5
nyasablue, it'd be interesting to track the SPs each season as well as their respective HP ump, to see which starters, with, say min 5 starts, did not see a certain ump... i'm not that dedicated, but if anyone looks it all up, or finds where it's tracked, let me know! CJ, there's a great site that tracks strike zones: www.brooksbaseball.net. You can use their Strikezone Map Tool to gauge a strike zone through the entire game, or pitch Fx allows you to look at a specific pitcher's performance (not only strike zone) throughout the entire game. |
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Post by zcr57 on Jul 27, 2012 21:01:42 GMT -5
The Yankees and Red Sox must have read your message, cj. Length of tonight's game: 2 hours, 41 minutes!
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Post by cj on Jul 28, 2012 5:39:15 GMT -5
The Yankees and Red Sox must have read your message, cj. Length of tonight's game: 2 hours, 41 minutes! Yay yay...just let the umpires call strikes. If it's close, it's a strike. The batters will get the message in a second and be up there hacking and the game will be much enjoyable for the fans! |
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Post by JugglingReferee on Jul 28, 2012 7:59:59 GMT -5
On the interwebz, you just never know who is lurking!
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