The MLB’s umpires are really milking their last few minutes of relevance, and in the process aren’t doing themselves any favors in the argument against robot umpires taking their jobs. No, Triple A isn’t testing out a robo-ump at the moment, but maybe they should be because what happened to Madison Bumgarner on… Read more…
Tag: strike zone
The MLB has reached critical stupidity with these new baseballs
Remember when the NBA tried new basketballs, and the response was so overwhelmingly negative that the league switched back to the old balls midseason? If you fall into the Venn diagram of baseball and basketball fans, you probably recall this story, but if you’re strictly a baseball person, what happened is the ball… Read more…
This was your human element moment
I’m not here to claim that anyone should feel sorry for the Tampa Bay Rays. While MLB would love to position them as the plucky underdog, what they really are is the model that almost every team owner has pointed to while yelling at their front office saying, “Why can’t we win that cheaply?! ” […]
Cinnamon Toast Crunch sighting in last night’s Mets-Marlins game
Alright, who had cereal mascot playing umpire in the seats at LoanDepot Stadium on their 2021 scorecard? Nobody? That makes sense. Read more…
Deadspin’s deep dive into umpire stats: accuracy and consistency are key
Umpires are supposed to get every call right to the point where they have virtually no impact on the outcome of the game. Therefore, whenever an umpire does affect the outcome of a game, people start to take notice. Read more…
I for one don’t welcome our crappy new robot umpire masters
Do you remember the part in Iron Man 2 where Tony Stark was in court and the United States government was essentially trying to take the Iron Man technology for themselves and their argument was that other countries were developing the particular same technology, then Stark hacked the monitors and showed a video of Justin… […]
How are robo-umps faring in the minor leagues?
The Daytona Tortugas are, in many ways, as average as a minor league team gets. Read more…
All this ‘sticky stuff’ talk has gotten out of hand
Tyler Glasnow isn’t wrong that Major League Baseball has done a poor job in executing its crackdown on sticky stuff. Read more…
Why won’t anyone pitch to Yasmani Grandal?
In 2004, the most feared hitter in baseball was Barry Bonds. This mammoth at the plate hit .362 that season and reached base at an incredible .609 clip. That’s a difference of .247, one of the largest ever recorded. In 2021, Yasmani Grandal is hitting .121 with an on-base percentage of .372 — a .251 […]