Data Shows Home Plate Umpires Hate the Sox

[Frater Perdurabo]

After two full months of baseball, the data shows that bad ball and strike calls by umpires have cost the Sox more than any other team besides the Dodgers.

Bring on the robot umps!

[LITTLE NELL]

I watch a lot of baseball on TV and it just might be a coincidence with the Sox and Dodgers as those 2 teams might be getting some of the lousier umps. Over all, the umpiring this year calling balls and strikes might be the worse I've ever seen.

[voodoochile]

I watch a lot of baseball on TV and it just might be a coincidence with the Sox and Dodgers as those 2 teams might be getting some of the lousier umps. Over all, the umpires this year calling balls and strikes might be the worse I've ever seen.

I don't think it's dramatically worse. I just think we are all more aware of it because graphics have gotten so much better so we can see when they miss in real time. Heck, Sox broadcasts show the location of the pitch as it crosses home plate immediately. Then they break down bad and good calls even more in the next few seconds.

[Moses_Scurry]

I don't think it's dramatically worse. I just think we are all more aware of it because graphics have gotten so much better so we can see when they miss in real time. Heck, Sox broadcasts show the location of the pitch as it crosses home plate immediately. Then they break down bad and good calls even more in the next few seconds.

Yep. Imagine having that graphic and ump scorecard when Glavine was pitching!

[LITTLE NELL]

I don't think it's dramatically worse. I just think we are all more aware of it because graphics have gotten so much better so we can see when they miss in real time. Heck, Sox broadcasts show the location of the pitch as it crosses home plate immediately. Then they break down bad and good calls even more in the next few seconds.

The Rays and Marlins have those strike zones for every batter and sometimes they'll show a computer graphic from just about every angle.

[Frater Perdurabo]

I don't think it's dramatically worse. I just think we are all more aware of it because graphics have gotten so much better so we can see when they miss in real time. Heck, Sox broadcasts show the location of the pitch as it crosses home plate immediately. Then they break down bad and good calls even more in the next few seconds.

But in this case the eye test aligns with the data: the Sox are getting screwed more than any other team besides the Dodgers.

[FielderJones]

But in this case the eye test aligns with the data: the Sox are getting screwed more than any other team besides the Dodgers.

For the Sox, it always seems to be on a crucial pitch. Yesterday Grandal was called out on a 3-2 pitch four inches outside, with a runner on first and one out. Completely changed the situation for the pitcher. These are athletes performing at the highest level. When they execute, pitcher or batter, they need to be rewarded, not screwed.

[Dick Allen]

The balls and strikes calls seem to get worse with each passing year. I don’t know how reliable a robot umpire would be, but it’s way past time. We can’t have umpires influencing the outcomes of games like this.

[blurry]

I'm 100% in favor of robot umps for calling balls and strikes. They can still make the judgement calls for everything else and ensure proper rules are being enforced.

[Foulke You]

The balls and strikes calls seem to get worse with each passing year. I don’t know how reliable a robot umpire would be, but it’s way past time. We can’t have umpires influencing the outcomes of games like this.

Yeah, Madrigal also had two of the worst strike calls in the entire game on pitches about 6-8 inches outside that he couldn't have hit with a boat oar. It happened in two different ABs. I saw Madrigal flail at an outside pitch and ground out shortly later in the AB about 1 pitch after the bad call. Changed the entire AB because he wouldn't have swung at it if the ump hadn't just called one out there. I'm usually slow to embrace a change as drastic as robot umps but if they can calibrate it well and it is consistent, I am slowly coming around on it based on the umpiring i've seen so far this year.

[PaleHoser]

I think this is a side effect from having a patient lineup willing to take pitches and work the count.

Seeing more pitches will increase the chances for missed calls.

[voodoochile]

Yep. Imagine having that graphic and ump scorecard when Glavine was pitching!

Or Pedro... I still remember that game in Boston when the Sox pitching coach got booted for folding up a towel about 3 feet across to demonstrate the width of the plate he was getting

[Harwar]

Yep. Imagine having that graphic and ump scorecard when Glavine was pitching!

Yea, and i seem to recall one game in the 1997 World Series, where Liván Hernández was consistently getting pitches called way outside the strike zone.

[LITTLE NELL]

Yea, and i seem to recall one game in the 1997 World Series, where Liván Hernández was consistently getting pitches called way outside the strike zone.

That's going back a few years, I attended games 6 and 7 at what was then Pro Player Stadium, Hernandez was MVP of the Series. Craig Counsell was the hero driving in the winning run in the 11th inning of game 7.

[JazzyCyclist]

Yea, and i seem to recall one game in the 1997 World Series, where Liván Hernández was consistently getting pitches called way outside the strike zone.

That was against Atlanta. The Atlanta players were complaining about it after the game, to which announcer Joe Morgan had the perfect response: “Atlanta is the last team that should be complaining about an umpire’s strike zone.”