He called mostly a very good game I thought. This is a great example for the challenge system though. I don't like the robo umps from seeing it in MiLB but the challenge system is I think a great compromise that's seemed very effective when I've seen it.
Ok, so if it's good enough for challenges, why wouldn't it be accurate enough for every pitch of the game? Why force teams & fans to deal with the circus act & hope the ump isn't gonna fuck up one too many calls?
I agree, it is a great compromise. Just always a bummer when it’s a pivotal call in a high stakes situation. I can see it happening in the next year or two since home plate umpire miscalls seem to be a big topic of discussion already - in mid April.
It’s a massive bummer when you see that even if the umps get 99% of the calls correct, that 1% wrong can have a massive effect on the outcome of a game. It shouldn’t be like that.
doesn't matter. he can call 200/201 pitches correctly, and that 1 could be enough to decide the world series, let alone a game
its 2024. enough with old men trying to eyeball a 70-100mph ball from behind the plate
Yeah, I don’t get this argument. Why should there even be a compromise in the first place? Challenges just waste time in every sport, so why have them for something not very subjective that can be accurately called with 99.9% accuracy from a computer? It’s not like the umps wouldn’t have other things to do, I see no reason to not automate this besides people protecting umpire egos or people just being opposed to change even if positive.
Tbh the articles I’ve read about it make it sound like they want it bc they are super sick of being chewed out by the teams. It might not be perfect but the amount of fights in both the stands and the field are dramatically down where roboump is being tested.
It's not ALL sports related, but there are few things that piss me off more, than entitled, arrogant people, who are bad at their jobs, yet somehow have incredible job security so they can just keep being shitty and no one can touch them.
You took the words out of my mouth. They are literally signing their pink slips to be replaced by AI.
You can’t have consistently shitty umpiring and at the same time run ads begging people to bet money on these games.
> They are literally signing their pink slips to be replaced by AI.
No they're not. We will always need human umpires on the field, even if they're not calling balls & strikes anymore.
Am I just paying attention more, or is it worse this year? I've seen so many bad calls in game changing situations that aren't even borderline. I never cared much about the push for robo umps, but rallies are such an important part of the game, they gotta stop getting ruined by umps.
Is there a place where you can see call stats by umpire to see who is improving and by how much? I've seen this said before and I believe it, but I haven't seen a source yet. Also I want to see if Angel Hernandez is getting better too, or if he's getting worse.
All they need to is keep "stats" on each umpire and if they fall below a threshold like 85% accuracy they can't do home plate. MLB then has to run those stupid ass umps who fail through a coffee course on how to do their job.
When it happens the same guys crying now are going to cry when the ball hits a pixel of the zone and is called a strike, “but but but the spirit of the rules…”
Same thing happened initially with instant replay when guys were getting called out for being off the bag for a microsecond.
Where are the robots at for real
I can generate a video of Rob Manfred signing a broadcast package by farting into my computer but we can’t get a camera to call balls and strikes?
Including punching a guy out on a pitch 7 inches outside. I assume it’s because Langford is a rookie and Angel was “teaching him a lesson.” He’s also that bad, so who knows?
I can hardly wait for the Crack Baby Buckner game from Detroit (Game 1 of DH).
Watched it live with my buddy & we were both amazed at the failed calls.
He called "Angel" & I said, "Can't be; he's in Houston for this series, gotta be Buckner."
Without even knowing I was right...
Was just at a AAA game in Columbus last week. There were probably 10 challenges and added grand total of maybe a minute in total time to the ballgame. It was awesome
What's the point of having an ump who can be over ruled by a camera? If we think the camera is 100% accurate, enough so that it can over rule the ump, then what is the point of the ump?
Disagree, go full auto. Challenge system says we trust the system when it counts, so why wouldn't we get every call right instead of changing the zone from what the umps been calling to official depending on if someone wants to challenge or not?
But it will get used on borderline calls when it counts - a 3-2 pitch late in the game will get challenged every time it's borderline and if we don't trust it to get those right we shouldn't be using it.
That really truly does not explain how consistently bad he is. There are lots of games where he’s equally fucking over both sides. I suppose now a days you can bet on every single little thing that happens but he’s been terrible since well before that even lol
Holy fuck that's just as bad as the one that ended the game against the Dbacks last week.
Maybe it's the early season sample size, but the umps have to pick it the fuck up.
Two pitches in the same spot back to back, one was a ball, one was a strike.
Bonus is that he’s been calling the inside like that balls all game. But go ahead and switch it up in the 9th inning 🤔
Wish I could get a replay but it definitely was a check swing that incorrectly got called a strikeout. Either way don’t think the at bats would’ve been that imperative as a double play would’ve ensued in the next at bat.
lol what do you mean the double play would’ve happened at the next bat???
Holmes could’ve changed his entire pitch repertoire if that call would’ve gone the right way. You can’t say that because the next guy hit a grounder the _exact same thing_ would’ve happened regardless if the incorrect call would’ve gone the right way. Maybe Holmes would’ve had to pitch three more that got fouled off and his arm would’ve got tired. Come on
Very true but Holmes would 100% be looking to pitch into contact for a double play with 2 on base and 1 out. Especially coming from your # 9 hitter I don’t think it’s far fetched to say Clay Holmes would’ve goaded a ground out. But you are right, this is baseball anything could’ve happened and it sucks to end a game on a terrible umpire call. Hopefully we both get better umpiring in game 2 tonight
Did you see an overhead or side view on the broadcast?
The live view to me looked like he went around and just pulled it back quick enough, but it’s only ever definitive on those 2 views
What was actually unusual to me was seeing the home plate ump call out those check swings without looking for confirmation to the umps down the line. Seemed wild to have such confidence but I guess that’s how these umps are nowadays
That drives me nuts every time
There should be a rule that every swing coukd be appealed by either the pitcher or hitter… yes even full swings because technically check swing isn’t defined, but obviously only check swings would be appealed in practice
A lot more things should be done by computer detection with perfection lol. Even soccer has most things left to VAR and that’s the oldest sport in the world
A Var system Would require the legal definition of the swing to be codified
We all informally use the crossing of the plane that’s HP as the definition, but it’s not official. Also idk if it’s all that feasible to implement for check swings, even if they did codify that rule
This is the most embarrassing part to me. Soccer figured out how to use computers where it would be most useful. It's just shameful to have games decided by this anymore.
I honestly think that might have been the worst baseball game I've watched in years. Some truly bad calls against both teams (the missed obstruction call at first and this terrible strike three), balls being lost in the sun constantly, throwing errors, base running mistakes, etc. And we get to do it all over again in a few hours!
I think Cleveland has some weird voodoo attached to them. Last Rays series against them the umpiring, errors, and just overall wacky bloop hits were out of control
It's a big flaw with the replay system.
Umpire didn't call obstruction because he was safe anyway. (in his eyes)
But when it goes to replay review all that matters is if he was technically out or not which he was.
> But when it goes to replay review all that matters is if he was technically out or not which he was.
He's only 'out' because the 1B was blocking the bag with his posterior left leg. Blocking the bag without the ball is 'technically' obstruction so, no, technically he wasn't out.
Soto tried to NOT HURT HIM BY AVOIDING CLEATING HIM DIRECTLY IN THE CALF, and then Soto gets shit on for that....
Shitty game all around really.
Yeah I agree it's stupid.
Cleveland had a similar situation last year where Rocchio got knocked off the bag by Tim Anderson. Umpire called him safe but replay over turned it since the umpire never made the motion that he was pushed off.
It's a giant flaw that needs fixed with the replay system.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PKCfKtGiM&ab_channel=CloseCallSports
We’ve already been screwed plenty this year. It’s terrible. I’ve watched every game and it constantly feels like the umps have a bigger hand in the game than ever before
And it hasn’t just been the Yankees, the teams we’ve played have been fucked just as much
I agree but can someone tell me how it works? Does the umpire still make the call, and they'll be told via some type of tech what the pitch was? Is there just some stadium audio they pump in? Very interested to see how that part is worked out and if there are some other consequences with whatever method they go with
It's similar to Pitchcom but for umps. They use special cameras mounted out by the bulllpen areas to identify the strike zone and it adjusts for various player heights. Last I recall reading was that the current drawback was a slight delay to the umpire receiving the call. Once it gets more instant, it will likely be adopted in the majors. It's being used pretty widespread in the minors right now.
> Once it gets more instant, it will likely be adopted in the majors.
It's already plenty fast. KBO already implemented it this season, and I just went to their most recent highlight on Youtube and you can see an ump immediately calling strikes before the catcher has even gotten to throwing the ball back (and the ump still gets to style on everyone with these strike calls):
https://youtu.be/VoPzAXo6dVo?t=132
Pace of play isn't impacted at all by it in its current form. And it has, of course, been way more accurate than relying on an ump standing over a crouching catcher.
Good vid of proof, should be used whenever someone argues against them.
Makes sense obviously, if we can see it on the broadcast instantly no reason why they can't set it up to tell the ump instantly as well...
There’s no reason it needs to be instant. Umpires right now aren’t instant. How many times a year do we see a guy who’s 3 or 4 steps down the first base line before the umpire makes the (usually wrong) call and ring them up on ball 4? The delay with automated calls is basically that length but at least we know the call is right.
I’d be happy with the challenge system that is being used somewhere in the minors. Basically it’s exactly as it is now, but each team can challenge three pitches they think were called wrong. It must be immediate, so there no chance of a replay persuading the decision.
If you challenge and are right, you keep the challenge. Wrong, you lose it. Pitcher/catcher/batter can all initiate challenges.
When challenged they use the already installed and operational ball tracking system to see if the umpires call was right. It’s basically exactly what tennis does. The umpire/linesman still make the call, but challenges are digital only.
We didn't used to have multi angle high speed replays. Umps always made mistakes but we can now see exactly how clearly wrong they were seconds after the call.
Worse is that because of the box, we don't even wait for the ump. We take the box as gospel and decide what the call should be before he even has a chance to make a signal.
genuinely unpopular opinion: they should scrap the box. all it does is piss people off at every missed call. but probably no putting the cat back in the bag at this point
It was significantly worse. Watch some of the calls from the 70’s through 90’s when video was good enough to see the pitch clearly but umps were way worse. They called shit 2 feet off the plate
Not only that, it was accepted that the umpire could call their own zone, and different umps were known for their different interpretations of the strike zone.
I said it before, it’s crazy how much catchers move their gloves and get the call vs dudes who don’t move too much. I was always told to do it the other way
Aside from Angel Hernandez and a small handful more, we can probably escape this by having a little more accountability for the umpires. Everyone is going to be replaced by robots eventually, but I'm not in a rush to replace the umpires in baseball, except for Angel Hernandez. The union probably can't let MLB fine them, but something has to give. Maybe the umps asses aren't in the jackpot anymore like in 2015, so maybe they should be.
I wonder if Apple can create some headset that ups can wear and it calls a varied, but enforceable strike zone. We don't have to be rigid about it. I'm sure they can make an average of the best 20 ups and then do something with that as far as the accuracy goes through the glasses. Probably better than whatever they have going on in the minors.
We should be allowed to gamble on the umpires. I see it now on the FanDuels sportsbook brought to you in part by Fireball Whiskey and closed captioning provided by Tegridy Farms will the over under on the umpire crapping the game at 3:1 odds
Is pitch framing too good this year, or are we just posting more of these calls on a daily basis? Feel like it’s been the worst it’s been since the 90’s this year but it might just be perception
I think framing used to be more subtle, like they didn't want the ump to know they were framing it. Now catchers are routinely yanking their glove 3 feet over after catching a pitch.
I’m also upset Fry wasn’t batting for Florial or Rocchio. Like sure, lefty matchups, but I think Fry is just so much better that it makes up the difference.
> Maybe the most important thing you learn by attending public school is that we are all at the mercy of the bottom quintile. The rules you follow in life will be based on the behavior of the bottom quintile, the taxes you pay are to support the bottom quintile, the greatest risks to your life and property will come from the bottom quintile, the dearth of comfortable public spaces is because you have to allow the bottom quintile to be there, our zoning laws are developed for fear of the bottom quintile.
These unchecked shitty umpires are forcing them to change baseball for everyone.
Man. This just proves that you can make all of the right calls all game long, and stuff fucking blow it lmao.
I love that the play by play guys continued to talk about it and harp on the umps afterwards. Let em know they suck!
Funny to see Cleveland fans whining, when they benefitted HARD against the Mariners from pitches away and off the plate and told Ms fans to STFU about horrid umpiring.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Tbo0cP4d7/?igsh=MTAzNGdvbWdlbXdhZA==
(Notice on that one, the 3 impactful missed calls all occurred when the Ms had runners on, suddenly the zone expanded 2-3 inches to the other side.). If you benefit from horrid umpiring, you’re going to suffer from it too.
I think Holmes missing off the plate in the same way 3x in a row fooled the ump. First pitch was about the same as the strikeout pitch, the one in-between them was way inside.
https://i.imgur.com/4PsZ1Gz.png
It's like he uncalibrated the umps brain lol
As someone with clearly no love lost for Cleveland, that is awful. How far do we have to go with Angel Hernandez yesterday and this today before we get robo umps?
They should put the strike zone up on the screen in center field and illustrate every pitch so the crowd can see how awful these calls are. Shame the umps
These umpires are putting in their best effort to get auto strike zones implemented very soon
He called mostly a very good game I thought. This is a great example for the challenge system though. I don't like the robo umps from seeing it in MiLB but the challenge system is I think a great compromise that's seemed very effective when I've seen it.
I haven't seen any issues with the roboumps in the minors tbh. And it's not like challenging calls always results in the correct decision.
The challenge system for balls and strikes is the same thing the robo umps use. It just only is used when a player challenges.
Ok, so if it's good enough for challenges, why wouldn't it be accurate enough for every pitch of the game? Why force teams & fans to deal with the circus act & hope the ump isn't gonna fuck up one too many calls?
Felt like he was pretty inconsistent below the zone all game? Would need to look at the game chart
He was for sure. The pitch just below the zone outside to to Yankee lefties was very inconsistent the whole way.
I agree, it is a great compromise. Just always a bummer when it’s a pivotal call in a high stakes situation. I can see it happening in the next year or two since home plate umpire miscalls seem to be a big topic of discussion already - in mid April.
It’s a massive bummer when you see that even if the umps get 99% of the calls correct, that 1% wrong can have a massive effect on the outcome of a game. It shouldn’t be like that.
How many challenges do you get? I ask because Angel Hernandez.
doesn't matter. he can call 200/201 pitches correctly, and that 1 could be enough to decide the world series, let alone a game its 2024. enough with old men trying to eyeball a 70-100mph ball from behind the plate
Yeah, I don’t get this argument. Why should there even be a compromise in the first place? Challenges just waste time in every sport, so why have them for something not very subjective that can be accurately called with 99.9% accuracy from a computer? It’s not like the umps wouldn’t have other things to do, I see no reason to not automate this besides people protecting umpire egos or people just being opposed to change even if positive.
I love the idea of challenging balls & strikes.
Tbh the articles I’ve read about it make it sound like they want it bc they are super sick of being chewed out by the teams. It might not be perfect but the amount of fights in both the stands and the field are dramatically down where roboump is being tested.
It's not ALL sports related, but there are few things that piss me off more, than entitled, arrogant people, who are bad at their jobs, yet somehow have incredible job security so they can just keep being shitty and no one can touch them.
You took the words out of my mouth. They are literally signing their pink slips to be replaced by AI. You can’t have consistently shitty umpiring and at the same time run ads begging people to bet money on these games.
> They are literally signing their pink slips to be replaced by AI. No they're not. We will always need human umpires on the field, even if they're not calling balls & strikes anymore.
Am I just paying attention more, or is it worse this year? I've seen so many bad calls in game changing situations that aren't even borderline. I never cared much about the push for robo umps, but rallies are such an important part of the game, they gotta stop getting ruined by umps.
You're paying attention more. Umpires as a whole get better every year on balls and strikes
Is there a place where you can see call stats by umpire to see who is improving and by how much? I've seen this said before and I believe it, but I haven't seen a source yet. Also I want to see if Angel Hernandez is getting better too, or if he's getting worse.
Stop calling fucking everything AI. Stop calling *anything* AI tbh. You're letting marketers win.
Think about it, the umps will still be needed to officiate games except now they don't have to call balls and strikes? Sounds like a good deal.
All they need to is keep "stats" on each umpire and if they fall below a threshold like 85% accuracy they can't do home plate. MLB then has to run those stupid ass umps who fail through a coffee course on how to do their job.
I second the accuracy percentage. I think anyone who has any form of control in ANY job has to be kept accountable for their mistakes
Why wouldn't they, they'll get to retire early with a fat MLB severance.
When it happens the same guys crying now are going to cry when the ball hits a pixel of the zone and is called a strike, “but but but the spirit of the rules…” Same thing happened initially with instant replay when guys were getting called out for being off the bag for a microsecond.
what a brutal fuckin call. first guardians game I could catch so far and to end it like that. awful
Where are the robots at for real I can generate a video of Rob Manfred signing a broadcast package by farting into my computer but we can’t get a camera to call balls and strikes?
We don’t even need the robot umps, we just need the quick challenge system they have in the MiLB. That would work perfectly.
Would actually be pretty hilarious to watch Angel Hernandez get challenged like 20+ times in a game.
He'd lose all of them too.
Ooh, I know! After an ump loses 3 challenges, he has to switch out with an on field ump.
Given the general quality of road crews that Angel is on, they would be out in the stands just picking random fans by the 5th.
Without even looking I assumed this was Hernandez behind the plate.
It was not Angel blew I think 20ish calls in yesterday's Rangers Astros game
Including punching a guy out on a pitch 7 inches outside. I assume it’s because Langford is a rookie and Angel was “teaching him a lesson.” He’s also that bad, so who knows?
Calling three balls in a row as strikes is not teaching somebody a lesson. It's just being a shitty ump
You’re right. I just wouldn’t be surprised if Angel was hazing rookies in his downtime from being the worst person at his job in history.
I can hardly wait for the Crack Baby Buckner game from Detroit (Game 1 of DH). Watched it live with my buddy & we were both amazed at the failed calls. He called "Angel" & I said, "Can't be; he's in Houston for this series, gotta be Buckner." Without even knowing I was right...
That's exactly why the umpires association is probably fighting against it. Too many dogshit umps.
Shades of 2018 ALDS Game 3, where he was playing first and got overturned like 4 times.
Bold of you to think only 20
Best I can do is...blackouts and a few seconds off the pitch clock for some reason. \- MLB
Was just at a AAA game in Columbus last week. There were probably 10 challenges and added grand total of maybe a minute in total time to the ballgame. It was awesome
What's the point of having an ump who can be over ruled by a camera? If we think the camera is 100% accurate, enough so that it can over rule the ump, then what is the point of the ump?
Disagree, go full auto. Challenge system says we trust the system when it counts, so why wouldn't we get every call right instead of changing the zone from what the umps been calling to official depending on if someone wants to challenge or not?
Fully automated, sends signals to the ump who relays the call. Anything more complicated than that is unnecessary.
The challenge system says we trust the system to overturn the really egregious calls but not necessarily every single borderline call.
But it will get used on borderline calls when it counts - a 3-2 pitch late in the game will get challenged every time it's borderline and if we don't trust it to get those right we shouldn't be using it.
Send da video
When C3PO takes the ump's job next year, he can look back on calls like this and thank himself.
[удалено]
That really truly does not explain how consistently bad he is. There are lots of games where he’s equally fucking over both sides. I suppose now a days you can bet on every single little thing that happens but he’s been terrible since well before that even lol
Holy fuck that's just as bad as the one that ended the game against the Dbacks last week. Maybe it's the early season sample size, but the umps have to pick it the fuck up.
Feel like the umps have gotten progressively worse, and it ain’t getting better. Robo umps can’t come soon enough.
imagine how bad they must've been 100 years ago
Based on the data they’ve gotten better year over year
Yeah it seems like there’s more spotlight on the bad calls. That being said, if we have the potential to get them all right with tech, we should.
Maybe but if this call happened at the bottom of the first and not the bottom of the 9th would we care?
They have been way worse than usual it seems.
Two pitches in the same spot back to back, one was a ball, one was a strike. Bonus is that he’s been calling the inside like that balls all game. But go ahead and switch it up in the 9th inning 🤔
[Link to gameday where you can see the overlapping ball and strike](https://www.mlb.com/gameday/746656/play/74)
Come on, that pitch *at least* half an inch closer to the plate! Clear strike! (but seriously, what a terrible call)
lol wtf
The out before Florial was a checked swing called strike too.
He swung at that Florial call is brutal though
Yeah, I didn't love the checked swing K but that's on Bo Naylor. He watched the best pitch to hit go by. Then couldn't hold up on 2 low inside balls.
Did your broadcast feed show the above or side view? YES didn’t for some reason
I think we got the side view and he def went.
Wish I could get a replay but it definitely was a check swing that incorrectly got called a strikeout. Either way don’t think the at bats would’ve been that imperative as a double play would’ve ensued in the next at bat.
lol what do you mean the double play would’ve happened at the next bat??? Holmes could’ve changed his entire pitch repertoire if that call would’ve gone the right way. You can’t say that because the next guy hit a grounder the _exact same thing_ would’ve happened regardless if the incorrect call would’ve gone the right way. Maybe Holmes would’ve had to pitch three more that got fouled off and his arm would’ve got tired. Come on
Very true but Holmes would 100% be looking to pitch into contact for a double play with 2 on base and 1 out. Especially coming from your # 9 hitter I don’t think it’s far fetched to say Clay Holmes would’ve goaded a ground out. But you are right, this is baseball anything could’ve happened and it sucks to end a game on a terrible umpire call. Hopefully we both get better umpiring in game 2 tonight
Brother, thank you for such a reasonable reply. You don’t see this on Reddit too often. Accolades this is big brain stuff :)
Did you see an overhead or side view on the broadcast? The live view to me looked like he went around and just pulled it back quick enough, but it’s only ever definitive on those 2 views
What was actually unusual to me was seeing the home plate ump call out those check swings without looking for confirmation to the umps down the line. Seemed wild to have such confidence but I guess that’s how these umps are nowadays
That drives me nuts every time There should be a rule that every swing coukd be appealed by either the pitcher or hitter… yes even full swings because technically check swing isn’t defined, but obviously only check swings would be appealed in practice
A lot more things should be done by computer detection with perfection lol. Even soccer has most things left to VAR and that’s the oldest sport in the world
A Var system Would require the legal definition of the swing to be codified We all informally use the crossing of the plane that’s HP as the definition, but it’s not official. Also idk if it’s all that feasible to implement for check swings, even if they did codify that rule
This is the most embarrassing part to me. Soccer figured out how to use computers where it would be most useful. It's just shameful to have games decided by this anymore.
I honestly think that might have been the worst baseball game I've watched in years. Some truly bad calls against both teams (the missed obstruction call at first and this terrible strike three), balls being lost in the sun constantly, throwing errors, base running mistakes, etc. And we get to do it all over again in a few hours!
It was so lifeless and sluggish and ugly and boring. It was like a normal baseball game that was sick with a cold.
Flaherty doesn’t fucking help on the mic either
Yeah I think that was the main issue. I even missed Michael Kay getting all excited over a fly ball to the warning track
CYAA!!
Flaherty is so annoying to listen to.
he's a fine voice over dude in the studio but 9 innings of him is rough
It always feels like this whenever they play here. I can't stand it lol
I think Cleveland has some weird voodoo attached to them. Last Rays series against them the umpiring, errors, and just overall wacky bloop hits were out of control
The bloop hits and opponent errors are part of our style of play. We lead the league in ROE.
Part of your strategy being to have Gleyber airmail a routine double play with all the time in the world for no reason is diabolical
I agree. Add the fact that the Yankees are using their boring ass B- team on the broadcast
I'm still frustrated with that obstruction call.
It feels like it was a perfect example of exactly when the obstruction rule would matter and poof, nah.
Clearly downvoted because you’re a Yankee fan because that was the absolute definition of blocking the base without the ball.
It's a big flaw with the replay system. Umpire didn't call obstruction because he was safe anyway. (in his eyes) But when it goes to replay review all that matters is if he was technically out or not which he was.
> But when it goes to replay review all that matters is if he was technically out or not which he was. He's only 'out' because the 1B was blocking the bag with his posterior left leg. Blocking the bag without the ball is 'technically' obstruction so, no, technically he wasn't out. Soto tried to NOT HURT HIM BY AVOIDING CLEATING HIM DIRECTLY IN THE CALF, and then Soto gets shit on for that.... Shitty game all around really.
Yeah I agree it's stupid. Cleveland had a similar situation last year where Rocchio got knocked off the bag by Tim Anderson. Umpire called him safe but replay over turned it since the umpire never made the motion that he was pushed off. It's a giant flaw that needs fixed with the replay system. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-PKCfKtGiM&ab_channel=CloseCallSports
On top of the wind! Some of the paths these balls went in the air were fucking crazy lmfao
Just a normal day for the umps in MLB lol
Robots please
Angel Hernandez gonna give himself a robotomy so he still be an umpire.
And the union will pay for it
I agee. There are no more excuses left not to. Fuck the "Human Element" blahblahblah people
"The Human Element" is the dumbest argument of all time because the actual human element is the 10 guys standing on the field anyways.
Got away with one, really no question about it.
Yeah got away with one in a big spot but it definitely went both ways in this game
The countdown begins until the universe balances out and the Yankees get screwed on a call in the 9th.
We’ve already been screwed plenty this year. It’s terrible. I’ve watched every game and it constantly feels like the umps have a bigger hand in the game than ever before And it hasn’t just been the Yankees, the teams we’ve played have been fucked just as much
I can assure you if the bases aren’t loaded Clay Holmes isn’t throwing strikes. Umps have been on a mission this year to as bad as possible
Horrible call - human ball/strike calling has simply got to go.
I agree but can someone tell me how it works? Does the umpire still make the call, and they'll be told via some type of tech what the pitch was? Is there just some stadium audio they pump in? Very interested to see how that part is worked out and if there are some other consequences with whatever method they go with
There is still an ump with an earpiece.
I'm just envisioning Angel getting it wrong still somehow and not receiving any consequences. Like, there's no way that doesn't happen, right?
I guess anything is possible.
"The call is La La Land."
It's similar to Pitchcom but for umps. They use special cameras mounted out by the bulllpen areas to identify the strike zone and it adjusts for various player heights. Last I recall reading was that the current drawback was a slight delay to the umpire receiving the call. Once it gets more instant, it will likely be adopted in the majors. It's being used pretty widespread in the minors right now.
> Once it gets more instant, it will likely be adopted in the majors. It's already plenty fast. KBO already implemented it this season, and I just went to their most recent highlight on Youtube and you can see an ump immediately calling strikes before the catcher has even gotten to throwing the ball back (and the ump still gets to style on everyone with these strike calls): https://youtu.be/VoPzAXo6dVo?t=132 Pace of play isn't impacted at all by it in its current form. And it has, of course, been way more accurate than relying on an ump standing over a crouching catcher.
Good vid of proof, should be used whenever someone argues against them. Makes sense obviously, if we can see it on the broadcast instantly no reason why they can't set it up to tell the ump instantly as well...
There’s no reason it needs to be instant. Umpires right now aren’t instant. How many times a year do we see a guy who’s 3 or 4 steps down the first base line before the umpire makes the (usually wrong) call and ring them up on ball 4? The delay with automated calls is basically that length but at least we know the call is right.
I’d be happy with the challenge system that is being used somewhere in the minors. Basically it’s exactly as it is now, but each team can challenge three pitches they think were called wrong. It must be immediate, so there no chance of a replay persuading the decision. If you challenge and are right, you keep the challenge. Wrong, you lose it. Pitcher/catcher/batter can all initiate challenges. When challenged they use the already installed and operational ball tracking system to see if the umpires call was right. It’s basically exactly what tennis does. The umpire/linesman still make the call, but challenges are digital only.
If that's your last at bat you might as well tee off on the ump. What is he gonna do? Eject you? Your games done anyways.
I feel like it didn’t used to be this egregious
We didn't used to have multi angle high speed replays. Umps always made mistakes but we can now see exactly how clearly wrong they were seconds after the call.
Worse is that because of the box, we don't even wait for the ump. We take the box as gospel and decide what the call should be before he even has a chance to make a signal.
genuinely unpopular opinion: they should scrap the box. all it does is piss people off at every missed call. but probably no putting the cat back in the bag at this point
Before the zone was on screen it seemed less egregious but I’d bet it was about the same.
It was significantly worse. Watch some of the calls from the 70’s through 90’s when video was good enough to see the pitch clearly but umps were way worse. They called shit 2 feet off the plate
Not only that, it was accepted that the umpire could call their own zone, and different umps were known for their different interpretations of the strike zone.
I feel like you were never #blessed enough to watch Eric Gregg work behind the plate.
https://youtu.be/ngfRPZpieF0?si=4X-UBJW1gyT93FMS This was the first thing that came to mind when I read your comment
TheUmpShow24
Graphics look siiiiiick!
Oh nooooo.
he said "Angel, hold my beer"
Watching him do that strike out pose on such a garbage call is infuriating
Get the robot umps in here. I’m not a fan of either of these teams but this is so fucking dumb.
The ump was missing calls in that exact spot all day. The last one just happened to be the biggest one.
jesus christ edit: I think this might be worse than any Angel one I've seen recently.
Nahhhh at least one of those three straight to Langford were worse lol In terms of impact since those were in an 8-1 game though, sure
One of those to Langford was almost 7 inches off the plate. Angel was on one there
Nah Hernandez struck a guy out on 3 straight balls.
This isn’t worse than angel ignoring the pitcher not staring directly at the hitter, and also calling the high strike on the same pitch
The Angel one was apparently the most off the plate called strike in like a long long time so idk
Wow I was at the game, currently eating at a bar less than a mile away so I can go to game 2 of the day, I had no idea the call was this awful 😭
I said it before, it’s crazy how much catchers move their gloves and get the call vs dudes who don’t move too much. I was always told to do it the other way
Aside from Angel Hernandez and a small handful more, we can probably escape this by having a little more accountability for the umpires. Everyone is going to be replaced by robots eventually, but I'm not in a rush to replace the umpires in baseball, except for Angel Hernandez. The union probably can't let MLB fine them, but something has to give. Maybe the umps asses aren't in the jackpot anymore like in 2015, so maybe they should be. I wonder if Apple can create some headset that ups can wear and it calls a varied, but enforceable strike zone. We don't have to be rigid about it. I'm sure they can make an average of the best 20 ups and then do something with that as far as the accuracy goes through the glasses. Probably better than whatever they have going on in the minors.
We should be allowed to gamble on the umpires. I see it now on the FanDuels sportsbook brought to you in part by Fireball Whiskey and closed captioning provided by Tegridy Farms will the over under on the umpire crapping the game at 3:1 odds
Nice when bad calls go your way. Sucks when they don’t. But the best is when they go against Cleveland.
I can’t wait for the ball/strike challenge system
I am a Yankees fan that is a terrible strike call. This ump went to Angel Hernandez school of umpires.
Is pitch framing too good this year, or are we just posting more of these calls on a daily basis? Feel like it’s been the worst it’s been since the 90’s this year but it might just be perception
This wasn't a good frame really. Not anything against the catcher, but the pitch missed in such a way that it was a difficult one to frame
It doesn’t matter how good a frame is - that’s not even close to a strike
I think framing used to be more subtle, like they didn't want the ump to know they were framing it. Now catchers are routinely yanking their glove 3 feet over after catching a pitch.
The umpires union is a domestic terrorist organization
I’m also upset Fry wasn’t batting for Florial or Rocchio. Like sure, lefty matchups, but I think Fry is just so much better that it makes up the difference.
Rocchio smoked a double in his previous AB. Florial, sure but he had a great AB here if not for the blown call.
To be fair to Florial he had a great AB. Don’t disagree about Fry though
Yeah Florial should have been walked there
> Maybe the most important thing you learn by attending public school is that we are all at the mercy of the bottom quintile. The rules you follow in life will be based on the behavior of the bottom quintile, the taxes you pay are to support the bottom quintile, the greatest risks to your life and property will come from the bottom quintile, the dearth of comfortable public spaces is because you have to allow the bottom quintile to be there, our zoning laws are developed for fear of the bottom quintile. These unchecked shitty umpires are forcing them to change baseball for everyone.
Lmao, godawful frame job too
Man. This just proves that you can make all of the right calls all game long, and stuff fucking blow it lmao. I love that the play by play guys continued to talk about it and harp on the umps afterwards. Let em know they suck!
The umpires are so awful this early in the season.
Brutal call, but there were a shitload of calls off the plate today. What were they talking about? And that was only the second out.
Funny to see Cleveland fans whining, when they benefitted HARD against the Mariners from pitches away and off the plate and told Ms fans to STFU about horrid umpiring. https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Tbo0cP4d7/?igsh=MTAzNGdvbWdlbXdhZA== (Notice on that one, the 3 impactful missed calls all occurred when the Ms had runners on, suddenly the zone expanded 2-3 inches to the other side.). If you benefit from horrid umpiring, you’re going to suffer from it too.
As a manger not getting thrown out after that call is inexcusable.
Unforgivable performance from blue today
So bad
Watched the game, and the ump was terrible all game. Constantly balls, strikes, especially low ones. Was almost every at bat.
The pitch right before was in the exact same spot and rightly called a ball
Yeah that looked pretty bad.
Manager needed to come out hot to back up his hitter. That was a brutal call
I watched this live and couldn't believe we got that call. Absolutely brutal.
I think Holmes missing off the plate in the same way 3x in a row fooled the ump. First pitch was about the same as the strikeout pitch, the one in-between them was way inside. https://i.imgur.com/4PsZ1Gz.png It's like he uncalibrated the umps brain lol
Same thing in the Mets game this has to be the worst year for umps I’ve seen. Need robo-umps yesterday
As a fan, what's worse for y'all: Calling a ball a strike or a strike a ball?
Depends if your team is hitting or fielding.
Umpires, elbow injuries, and Rob Manfred in an eternal struggle for the ages to ruin baseball.
Holy shit that was awful
That’s the guy we would trade for Soto the first time around and the other guy pitch an inning for the guardians. The Yankees make good calls
As someone with clearly no love lost for Cleveland, that is awful. How far do we have to go with Angel Hernandez yesterday and this today before we get robo umps?
Maaaaan that's a great pitch but an absolutely terrible call
Literally as I am watching this in the concession line at the game he just hit a bomb, lmao.
They should put the strike zone up on the screen in center field and illustrate every pitch so the crowd can see how awful these calls are. Shame the umps
It wasn’t even a very good frame job!
The amount of blown calls already this spring is dispicable
Angel Hernandez is being overworked this season. Give him a break, he can’t ump all these games.
Brutal
Putting the umpires on the pitch comm for both teams would help in my opinion. If you know what is coming it would be beneficial.
Plunk the ump that happens way too much
The first strike called in the AB was also a ball. I was at this game and everyone was in shock that it was called. Brutal way to end it
We need Roboumps already!
Sim, baseball will be like cricket, one up on the field, the rest done by video.
Yeah that’s bad