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I think Wedge should have got himself tossed.
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Thanks to F/X and Brooks Baseball, we don't have to guess.
Here is Jeff Nelson's strike zone vs LHB's for both teams on Saturday. There are three pitches outside the strike zone that he called strikes; all were called on behalf of White Sox pitchers.
Here is Nelson's strike zone vs RHB's for both teams on Saturday. There are three more pitches outside the strike zone, called strikes; all were called on behalf of White Sox pitchers.
That's just the introduction; you can take it from there. Nelson's strike zone was as tight as a drum ... in addition, he called many actual strikes as "balls" ... in addition, what calls he did miss were all in favor of the White Sox.
Here is Felix' strike zone Saturday. Five (5) "balls" were called on pitches well inside the strike zone, including three that were practically down the middle. Another four (4) pitches were on the black -- where the center of the baseball was over the plate -- and called balls. Another six (6) pitches, the edge of the sphere of the baseball would have touched the strike zone, but were called balls.
Opposed to these 9-15 called balls, Felix did get two (2) balls called as "strikes."
...........
The biggest problem here is not simply that a bunch of counts went to 3-1 instead of 2-2. The biggest problem is that, if the pitcher knows that a ball on the black is going to be called a "ball," he's got to get a lot of the plate. This actually occurred on the 84 MPH slider that Felix had touched for a 2-run dinger; it got way too much of the plate inside.
..........
Why Felix Hernandez should be treated like (a) a rookie pitcher who (b) is nibbling, picking, and annoying the umpire, (c) I don't know.
Somebody answer me literally: Does Justin Verlander ever go through this? Has there been any game in the last three, four years in which Verlander calmly reacted to early squeezing by not complaining, by pitching well ... and the ump ruthlessly continued squeezing Verlander through the 5th and 6th innings?
Your instinct might be to blame Jesus Montero. There is one slight problem with that.
Okay, here's the running count, SP performance ... I'm counting the Beavan game as one in which things went reasonably well; when he got splashed in the 6th there was zero anybody could have done about it. We'll explain later.
| Catcher | Things went well | Things went badly |
| Jesus Montero | 3 games | 1 game |
| Kelly Shoppach | 0 games | 2 games |
I don't say that's the gospel truth. It's just a casual observation of the events to date. It doesn't look to me like Shoppach is outperforming Montero behind the plate, at least not yet. Shoppach had Brandon Maurer and failed to calm him down; that was the most nervous I've EVER seen a pitcher, including the postgame interview. Maybe Capps last year. Then today's umpiring was a debacle. Two games, two zilches for the Veteran Catcher category.
...........
In an unrelated development, F/X can no longer tell the difference between a Felix Hernandez fastball and a Felix Hernandez changeup. Either can I.
Comments
2
No way a veteran catcher can let this happen for a full game.
All we hear is how vocal Shoppach is, and that he is a team leader... Show it on the field - one way or another.
3
All claims that umpires have no biases will fall on deaf ears to me. Perhaps I will some day have a chance to look at umpire biases by team...but I have watched the mariners long enough to know that we are still getting jobbed.
BTW all...you might be interested to know that I have taken an jnternship opportunity with the New York Yankees...data analyst intern...I start Friday...so wish me luck. :)
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The night before the zone was "squuuuueeeezed" for M's pitchers, too.
IMHO, anyway.
Not whining at all, just check it out and confirm or scoff.
moe
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Congrats Matt!
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And Congratulations too.
7
To me, the strike zone is the single most irritating thing about major league baseball. Maybe even insane. How can the sport accept that the single most imporant rule in the game varies according to who is catching, pitching, hitting and calling balls/strikes is really grating. Can you imagine if basketball did the same thing with the 3-point line or if football did the same thing with the sidelines?
I wouldn't elimenate the umpires. I would place a massive emphasis on the quality of their work.
I would grade the umpires based on the quality of their strike zone. Every single game should be graded. Compensation should be tied to the quality of the umpire's work. Lucrative post-season gigs should be awarded to those umps with the highest quality body of work over the course of the season. And the 10% worst performers should be fired every year. How long would it take to get a consistent strike zone with a program like that? I'm betting not long.
8
The technology to monitor the strike zone electronically clearly exists, Currently only two-dimensional data is displayed, but it demonstrates that three-dimensional monitoring is not a pipe dream.
Are there vested interests that don't want to let go of the immense power of umpires calling balls and strikes? Absolutely. First off, the umpires themselves, but I would guess that MLB and it's leagues enjoy a certain influence, a subtle tipping of the scales as it were, in favor of their preferred outcomes. If they do not rig the results, they would at least wield the power to punish or push franchises.
There would be enormous wailing and gnashing of teeth at letting go of that kind of power. You'd here all the usual justification, all the reasons why baseball by it's very nature cannot allow the electronic eye to ruin "the way things are," but if they ever did it the game would be much better off.
I would LOVE to see a strike zone study done to prove or disprove the notion held by many Mariners fans, including myself, that Seattle is routinely jobbed by human umpires. And even if the study were to prove that this happens equally to all teams, which I believe is not the case, do you really want teams, all or some, routinely being jobbed out of fair treatment? There's something wrong there. If the capability exists, and power is the reason it is not being used, then to me that is no different than the Black Sox scandal or Pete Rose betting on baseball.
9
I remember back in the Kingdome days, the M's suspended a camera right over home plate and would show the blown calls on the jumboscreen. It was embarassing - there were veteran pitchers that were getting strike calls for balls nine inches outside. The umpire's union filed a grievance against the club and MLB made them get rid of the camera.
IIRC, it only lasted a home stand or two but I do remember some pretty hostile crowds when the umpire's bias and incompetence was revealed to all.
10
Congrats, Matt! Somewhere in there lies the germ of an idea for a TV sitcom. Mattfeld, or something.
11
Thehomily in today's mass seemed very apropos to my situation...the only thing that stopped me from actively seeking out this sort of opportunity.in the past was fear of failing and thus proving my dreams of working in the game illusory...and that was the theme of the day. Fear as the great enemy of.man in his quest to find peace and fulfillment.
That is what having the love of a wonderful woman can do for a man who doubts himself...my finance prodded me into trying to live out my dream. We'll see how far I can get.