First the box is a window of an assumed strike zone. It wouldn't make sense for it to be shaped like home plate. Second, the box is more for tv viewers, like someone said earlier, the box stays the same no matter the height of the batter.

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Posted by Erin Go Bragh

Beyond the Pale

Member since Dec 2007

14916 posts

Posted on 6/5/16 at 10:06 am to Tiger Ugly

quote:
Absolutely, I never appreciated how good the MLB umps were

The dropoff in competence from major league umpires to college umpires is staggering. MLB umps are amazingly good. In part because they are continually reviewed and assessed.

It seems at times the SEC office exist only to defend bad calls, in all sports.

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Posted by larry289

Holiday Island, AR

Member since Nov 2009

3858 posts

Posted on 6/5/16 at 10:19 am to TampaTiger22

I've seen a whole lotta incomplete explanations in this thread as to what the "vertical plane" shown on TV is or is not.
1) Do any of you actually know technically how it is set-up?
2) It should be relatively easy, digitally, to compensate for the angle from perpendicular, aka, "centerfield camera position"?
3) The strike zone is actually a "volumetric" entity, not just a vertical plane at the front of the plate. Is that being accounted for in what we see represented by the box on TV?

...and yes, I do believe that a traditional umpire's eyes are best for the game. Just wanted to pose a few questions as I certainly don't know the answers, but would like to.

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Posted by Terry the Tiger

Cypress, Texas

Member since Jul 2009

3494 posts

Posted on 6/5/16 at 11:22 am to larry289

Why do human beings feel the need to present their side of an discussion when they 1) don't understand what the topic of the discussion and 2) their "facts" that they think support their stance are farther off than their understanding of the topic.

Obviously, many posters in this thread never heard this quote, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt."

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Posted by Scoob

Near Exxon

Member since Jun 2009

21775 posts

Posted on 6/5/16 at 12:43 pm to Terry the Tiger

quote:
Why do human beings feel the need to present their side of an discussion

It's a discussion forum?

My posts weren't about adopting the strike zone box as seen on the TV, they were about what tech you could employ to (fairly easily) eliminate all subjectivity over balls and strikes. Motion sensors could accurately detect whether the ball passed over the plate, and at what elevation. If you get a ping on both, it's a strike. If not, it's a ball.

Just like you use these rangefinders to autofocus a camera, you can integrate the readings into the video, so if you wanted, you can highlight the strike zone onscreen as the pitcher is completing his/her windup.

And I think this would greatly change the game. Pitchers who get strikes due to control, who paint the corners, would no longer gain any advantage. Zones no longer would vary by the umps behind the plate. A batter would be able to learn what is and isn't a strike, based on height of the pitcher, velocity, and angle of release, and completely eliminate worrying about Umpire X's potential wider zone. The way batters sit on fastballs now, they would soon enough be able to sit on strikes from almost every pitcher.

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