 |
| Cuzzi & Posey, CIN@SF, Gm 1 |
- Final, OAK@DET, Gm 1: HP Umpire Jim Reynolds: pfx (89/90 Balls, 39/54 Strikes = 128/144 = <90.0%)
- Final, CIN@SF, Gm 1: HP Umpire Phil Cuzzi: pfx (102/107 Balls, 38/44 Strikes = 140/151 = 92.7%)
- Final, OAK@DET, Gm 2: HP Umpire Mark Wegner: pfx (100/107 Balls, 45/50 Strikes = 145/157 = 92.4%)
- Final, WSH@STL, Gm 1: HP Umpire Paul Emmel: pfx (110/119 Balls, 39/51 Strikes = 149/170 = <90.0%)
- Final, NYY@BAL, Gm 1: HP Umpire Tony Randazzo: pfx (109/110 Balls, 55/62 Strikes = 164/172 = 95.3%)
- Final, CIN@SF, Gm 2: HP Umpire Brian O'Nora: pfx (102/103 Balls, 50/55 Strikes = 152/158 = 96.2%)
- Final, WSH@STL, Gm 2: HP Umpire Marvin Hudson: pfx (119/132 Balls, 35/45 Strikes = 154/177 = <90.0%)
- Final, NYY@BAL, Gm 2: HP Umpire Angel Hernandez: pfx (84/87 Balls, 45/48 Strikes = 129/135 = 95.6%)
- F/10, SF@CIN, Gm 3: HP Umpire Gerry Davis: pfx (100/104 B, 37/43 S = 137/147 = 93.2% [90.5% Raw])
- Final, DET@OAK, Gm 3: HP Umpire Dana DeMuth: pfx (89/92 Balls, 38/41 Strikes = 127/133 = 95.5%)
- Final, STL@WSH, Gm 3: HP Umpire Joe West: pfx (105/113 Balls, 47/53 Strikes = 152/166 = 91.6%)
- Final, SF@CIN, Gm 4: HP Umpire Dan Iassogna: pfx (110/115 Balls, 47/55 Strikes = 157/170 = 92.4%)
- F/12, BAL@NYY, Gm 3: HP Umpire Brian Gorman: pfx (89/94 Balls, 45/52 Strikes = 134/146 = 91.8%)
- Final, DET@OAK, Gm 4: HP Umpire Eric Cooper: pfx (86/90 B, 40/43 S = 126/133 = 94.7% [91.1% Raw])
- Final, SF@CIN, Gm 5: HP Umpire Tom Hallion: pfx (99/104 Balls, 44/55 Strikes = 143/159 = <90.0%)
- Final, STL@WSH, Gm 4: HP Umpire Jim Joyce: pfx (92/98 Balls, 33/49 Strikes = 125/147 = <90.0%)
- F/13, BAL@NYY, Gm 4: HP Umpire Fieldin Culbreth: pfx (124/127 Balls, 50/56 Strikes = 174/183 = 95.1%)
- Final, DET@OAK, Gm 5: HP Umpire Wally Bell: pfx (80/82 Balls, 35/47 Strikes = 115/129 = <90.0%)
- Final, BAL@NYY, Gm 5: HP Umpire Mike Everitt: pfx (87/88 Balls, 40/48 Strikes = 127/136 = 93.4%)
- Final, STL@WSH, Gm 5: HP Umpire Alfonso Marquez: pfx (137/141 Balls, 43/52 Strikes = 180/193 = 93.3%)
Notes
SF@CIN Gm 3 (Gerry Davis) was associated with a pitch f/x calibration error of ~.17 feet.
DET@OAK Gm 4 (Eric Cooper) was associated with a pitch f/x calibration error of ~.25 feet.
Plays
CIN@SF, Gm 1: Phillips eludes Scutaro's tag at second base as Davis makes excellent safe call
WSH@STL, Gm 2: Descalso/Jay combine for a time play, Jay out at second after run scores (2B: Jim Joyce)
NYY@BAL, Gm 2: Ichiro evades tag on play at plate to score Yankee run (HP Umpire: Angel Hernandez)
SF@CIN, Gm 3: Espinosa out on sacrifice bunt on close play at first base (1B Umpire: Jim Joyce)
BAL@NYY, Gm 3: McClouth caught stealing second as Jeter keeps tag on (2B Umpire: Mike Everitt)
STL@WSH, Gm 4: Espinosa pulled off base too early, disallows neighborhood play (2B Umpire: Hickox)
Oh boy Randazzo behind the plate, let's be honest, this is the last thing Joe Girardi wanted.
ReplyDeleteSurprised Wolf, Or Kulpa I know Im forgetting someone, surprised their not working playoff games.
ReplyDeleteCan someone, anyone, please explain to me Why does the first two games wild card 1 game play in games need cc working behind home plate, and then you see guys like Like Demuth taken a back seat by Jim Reynolds so to speak, country Joe West cc taken a back seat by strict but good umpire Paul Emmel .etc. Is this through MLB or the cc consent?
ReplyDeleteI bet Joe Girardi wanted Gorman on the road, and have Randazzo at yankee stadium. Joe and Tony, let's just say their not BFF's
ReplyDeleteInteresting, Tony, Born in Chitown, and Gorman born in Queens NY
ReplyDeleteI think this is the first time in a long time that Joe West, and Paul Emmel are reunited since the alleged blown call mariners at rays 8/06/2004
ReplyDeleteFor giving Tampa Bay a walkoff win over Seattle in 2004 after ruling that an infielder that had stood in front of Carl Crawford (the runner on third) and thereby prevented him from seeing a fly ball hit to the outfield. The ruling was "fielder's interference" and Emmel sent Crawford home with the winning run. (Seattle manager Bob Melvin was still seething the next day. As he handed the lineup card to the umpiring crew before the following game, he let loose on Emmel and Joe West ejected him before the game even started.)
If anyone can find that vid^ that would be great, improbable tough cuz it happened 8 years ago.
ReplyDeleteI'm interested to see how Phil Cuzzi does behind the plate tonight. He's one of those guys that always seems to somehow find himself in the middle of controversy.
ReplyDeletecuzzi's the biggest "surprise" out of the entire group for me...everyone else i'm really happy with, and i think MLB did very well.
ReplyDeleteReynolds has had a huge zone for Verlander so far. Many A's hitters unhappy.
ReplyDeleteYes, I wouldn't be surprised if Reynolds has to eject somebody before it's all said and done.
ReplyDeleteReynolds has had a couple of bad misses. That is all.
ReplyDeleteI take it the Brandon Belt catch over the foul railing in Giants gm doesn't constitute ordinary effort...
ReplyDeleteInteresting play with Cuzzi not granting the timeout request by Angel Pagan. Regardless, Cueto stops his motion because Pagan steps out of the box on his own and lo and behold, Cueto is injured. And remember folks, Cuzzi did NOT allow the timeout.
ReplyDeleteCuzzi, as always, drives me absolutely nuts with the way he wraps both his hands around the catcher on every pitch. I'm surprised MLB catchers stand for it.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be able to stand it if I were a catcher...I would feel so encroached and wouldn't be able to move around. I wouldn't be surprised if some catchers do complain...I've seen catchers complain about umpires placing their hand on their back.
ReplyDeleteGreat call by Gerry Davis! Marco Scutaro attempted to tag Brandon Phillips out on a ground ball, Scutaro wiffed on the tag and Davis nailed the call. It sounds like a really easy call when I explain it but it wasn't and I have seen many MLB Umpires miss this call.
ReplyDeleteGil, where were you able to find out that Emmel and Randazzo had the plate tommorow? I have not been able to find an article or press release with the order of Umpires anywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe AP put together a story earlier today about Scott Barry being the only umpire selected to the 2012 postseason with no previous postseason experience and listed the crew assignments in that story.
ReplyDeleteBTW, video of Phillips avoiding the tag (we've already received one e-mail claiming that by falling to the grass, Phillips was out of the baseline [insert smilie of some sort]): Votto out at first, Phillips safe at second on 4-3 play
Haha! Two consecutive infield fly rule plays in San Francisco's 9th inning. Wish the Reds had dropped one of those pop ups just to see what the runners would have done.
ReplyDeleteNice game for Cuzzi behind the plate...
ReplyDeleteAnd right on cue, Phil Cuzzi finds himself in the middle of controversy. Although, in this case he was right.
ReplyDeleteJim Reynolds...wow, not a good night for him behind the plate, to say the least.
I'm not a big Cuzzi fan, but I thought he called a good game tonight.
ReplyDeleteSolid plate job by Phil Cuzzi--plain and simple
ReplyDeleteAnd for those who dislike Cuzzi, his plate work just beat these 2011 DS umpires, Carlson,Randazzo,Danley,Cooper,Marquez,Iassogna,Barrett and crew chiefs,Davis,Scott,Layne and West.
ReplyDeleteHe beat 2011 CS umpires Miller,Everitt,Holbrook,Culbreth,Wolf,Vanover,and Welke, and he beat 2011 WS umpires Barrett,Marquez and Layne(game 7).
Why does Cuzzi work the plate like that? If I was a manager I would have a problem with him restricting my catcher like that besides the fact it looks just wrong looking!
ReplyDeleteBrian they want crew chiefs and the best plate umps in the deciding games starting with game 3. Unlike a 7 game series Joe et al will only get 1 game behind the plate so they don't want to "waste" them in game 1.
ReplyDeleteKulpa will most likely be in the DS since he did the WS last year. They gave younger guys a bone in the play in games and they won't be in the DS. IMHO
As far as the 2-3 I heard Torri say it was to not push WS game 7 beyond 11/1. If they played 4 double headers a year this could be avoided!
does anyone know for sure whether or not the LCS umpires will come from the WC crop?
ReplyDeleteThey are the same crews, but different rotations.
DeleteTITTB
Reynolds was off for sure, but by my count he gave Verlander 9 maybe 10 pitches off the plate (not counting up/down), BUT he gave Oakland pitcher 6 off the plate. According to the chart (unless I am reading it wrong) the furthest pitch was .5 feet or 6 inches off the plate.
ReplyDeleteBut if you read the Les Carpenter article on Yahoo, he says Verlander got a wide zone and some pitches were up to 12 inches off the plate.
Am I missing something, or is this article incorrect?
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/tigers-ace-justin-verlander-takes-advantage-of-wide-strike-zone-to-beat-a-s.html#more-id
What a surprise. A writer on Yahoo! is himself a Yahoo. The media is full of BS
ReplyDeleteSurprised Ed Hickox hasn't had the opportunity to work behind the plate for a division series yet...
ReplyDeletePaul Emmel is just terrible. Calls Matt Carpenter out on a pitch five inches outside and then squeezes Motte the next inning. Not crazy that he made the postseason.
ReplyDeleteWhy not Adrian Johnson, Bob Davidson, or James Hoye? All of whom had fairly good years. There are many more that deserve it more than Emmel, who continues to be bad.
I'm looking at Emmel's plot now. It's not just that he missed a handful of pitches off the plate, it's WHEN he missed them...when WAS was pitching he was wide in the 8th and 9th inning effectively killing any chance for StL to come back. No, I'm not crying conspiracy or bias on Emmel's part but it's tough for hitters to adjust when the umpire changes his zone late in the game.
ReplyDeleteWhen I umpire I often wonder if my zone is effected by pitching changes. Different deliveries, different arm angles, R or L pitcher, etc. I wonder if that is what happened to Emmel late in the game because he definitely got wider for WAS relievers late.
Wow, after 4 games Cuzzi still leads, and his was a game with 11 different pitchers like Emmel had today.
ReplyDeleteGil,
ReplyDeletehas there been a worse performance then Emmel's 87.6% in recent history. Just thought it was tough day to see with the shadows for Emmel and not a very good plate job!
Another 2 games today lost on errors, after the one lost yesterday on an error. Too bad the players cannot have an error free game in the first 4 games. Passed balls, 6 wild pitches. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteWow Randazzo has been Solid if not spectacular he is really impressing me tonight!
ReplyDeleteAwesome call By Angel at first on a skip throw...a 3 sounder which can be among the toughest calls!!
ReplyDeleteAgree with you on both accounts tmac. While Randazzo's zone has been big, it has been consistent and that is all you can really ask for. Angel has nailed a couple of calls at first base as well.
ReplyDeletetmac, regarding your Emmell accuracy question, I think Dale Scott might have had a worse accuracy during Game 3 of Rays-Rangers last year, but I don't remember for sure.
ReplyDeleteWhat an outstanding job in the night games by both O'Nora and Randazzo!!!Both with 1 incorrectly ruled ball in their respective games and O'Nora with a whopping 6 missed pitches. After a tough outing from Randazzo last season in the Playoffs, he was awesome tonight. Let's see what Hudson and Hernandez can give us tommorow, Hudson's first Playoff appearance behind the plate since 2005.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, that picture of Phil Cuzzi behind Buster Posey at the top of this page borders on obscene!
ReplyDeleteLooks like the stance of his former crew chief who worked 5 DS, 12 LCS, and 5 WS.
ReplyDeleteFinally, on the 6th game, an error free game in a 13-0 blowout. Players have been horrible.
ReplyDelete@ Anon 3:40
ReplyDeleteHonestly, Hoye is my favorite ump, but he didn't exactly have the greatest season ever.
Am I correct that Verlander got a call 8.3" off the outside edge of the plate? Where exactly is that "dot" measured from? Center of the ball?
ReplyDeleteNot that it makes much of a difference, but that "big miss" was 6.8" off the plate - the dot is supposed to be the ball's center, but remember that the workable zone is 23" wide (so basically, you have to take the center-center of the dot and draw 1.5" to either side to create an actual baseball and if any portion of that baseball touches the strike zone, it's a strike). Your calculation of 8.3" is absolutely spot on for the center of the ball, just have to subtract the 1.5" for the radius of it and you get 6.8" from edge (of ball) to edge (of home plate).
ReplyDeleteMarvin Hudson clearly being impacted by the shadows. Holiday took a pitch right down the middle for a ball in bottom of 1. And he isn't giving ANYTHING to Garcia...I suspect since he throws mostly breaking stuff.
ReplyDeleteThis is hard to watch.
Jon Jay got rung up in the first on a terrible pitch and now to end the 6th he rings up Holliday on a pitch no where near the zone. I don't think it is shadows as they are gone, I just think Hudson is having a brutal day. Garcia was squeezed in his two innings of work.
ReplyDeleteThe shadows are gone but Hudson's struggles continue. I'm not sure what the computer will spit out but man this is ugly. He may be saved by the lack of a close game but if this game gets tight Hudson's going to need to be A LOT better!
ReplyDeleteI take it back. The shadows have been gone since the 3rd inning or so, and Hudson is still all over the place. Good thing it's not a close game or I think people would be more in his face.
ReplyDeleteLOL...we must have came to post at the same time after watching that last Holiday ta bat. We practically said the same thing at the same time. Ugly.
ReplyDelete87% is generous for Hudson... If you take away the no brainer pitches.... more then 8 inches off the plate balls that bounce ETC the stats are just Ugly.... I think it's been 7 years since Hudson has worked a playoff plate and in the last few years with all of the injuries and ineligible (newbie/injured umpires/AAA FIll in) the % making the playoffs has been as much as 75% eligible umpires working postseason. That all being said whether it be nerves, shadows, or not being very good Hudson's performace was as bad as I've EVER seen in a postseason game. you just didn't know what he was going to call. The ONLY bright spot was he was consistant calling pitches 4-6 inches off the plate to righties.... Yipeeeeee!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a downer after O'nora and Randazzo were lights out. Lets hope Angel is better tonight. We all know he's a lighning rod! But I predict a consistant solid game!! Bizzarre things happen when Angel is on the field!!
How about a balk count for Hernandez tonight?
ReplyDeleteI saw this in the Postseason Assigment thread and I wanted to post it here since it may get swept under the rug. An anonymous poster has said that Tim Tschida is done for good as an MLB Umpire. To me, that was shocking to read. What are your guys's thoughts?
ReplyDeleteWhat astonishes me about Hudson's chart is not so much the wide strikes given to WAS pitchers (6 definite misses wide), but he BALLED 9 pitches from well inside the zone from WAS pitchers. At least you can't accuse him of favoring WAS pitchers. Look at those 2 right down the heart of the plate he balled. Ouch!
ReplyDeleteangel and cubby both 1/1 with close plays after half an inning!
ReplyDeleteAngel Hernandez just made an outstanding call at home Plate. Ichiro was trying to score from first on a base hit and it was one of those situations where the throw beat Ichiro by a ton. However instead of making the expected call,Angel realized Weiters completely wiffed on the tag. It was one of those situations where the runner isn't tagged but the runner doesn't touch home either so Hernandez made no call. Ichiro was able to get the plate the second time around and was called safe as he should have been. For all the flack that Hernandez gets, you can see by calls like this why he works the postseason every year.
ReplyDelete@Russ, we will keep an eye out for any newsbreaks or credible stories re: Tschida.
ReplyDeleteCousins has worked his final game too.
DeleteTITTB
Through seven games in the divisional round, there have been three sub 90% plate jobs. That is not exactly good. Out of three, I think Reynolds was by far the best. Even though those numbers are kind of ugly look at the actually pitch fx graphic. First of all he only called 1 ball incorrectly in the entire game. And out of his 15 missed strikes, almost all of them were in the same spot. So in Reynolds mind, those pitches were strikes and he was very consistent with it. He did go very wide at times, but I would rather his performance than Emmel's or Hudson's because at least he had a consistently large strike zone where as Emmel and Hudson were all over the place.
ReplyDeleteWHAT A CALL BY Angel!! and why is it the strangest things seem to happen when he's on the field!! Needed to see the miss swipe tag then adjust to see Ichiro touch the plate before the tag..... I can't begin to describe how tough a call that was in total. I've never been sure why he has so many detractors. He's an umpire's umpire who nails it and is NEVER scared to make the big call in the big moment... (SEE Sam Holbrook)
ReplyDelete@ Russ: I've heard there will be three openings from a good source.. I'm beginning to think there might have been some Kernals of truth to the Maddon article... although he went way over the top....BUT it's hard to say about openings b/c some elect the Hohn route so vacancies may not be filled oficially for over a year!!
I'm thinking that topic Russ might be good for another thread after the postseason.... I think we should keep this to the NLDS/ALDS as much as possible!!
I agree with those sentiments regarding Tschida. I just kindo of wanted to get that out there because it seems like pretty big news.
ReplyDeleteJust gota throw this out there but was Ichiro out of the base path cuss it looked like it was close
ReplyDelete6 errors in the 2 games today and the last one is not even over. Awful baseball from the players, if you want to call that playing.
ReplyDeleteWhy are there so many Angel haters. If he was that bad (with whatever those who dislike him give as a reason), the brass wouldn't put him on the games, because they would dislike him for the same reason. Everyone must be wrong and the brass right.
@wwjd, a runner is never required run in the base path. He is required to remain within 3 feet of his established baseline which is from the center of his body in a direct line to the base which he is attempting to advance when there is an attempted tag of the runner. In regards to plays at the plate, if the runner does not leave the dirt circle, he is within his right to return to the plate and baseline rules do not apply. If he leaves the dirt circle in an attempt to avoid the tag, he is liable to be put for being out of the baseline.
ReplyDeleteWhy are the umpires not balking the Orioles pitcher (O'Day)? He makes three or four steps with his free foot after coming set and before delivering.
ReplyDelete@ anon :
ReplyDeleteI'd say b/c the crew believes he is doing the same thing all of the time.... In a playoff series the crew will be well aware of what pitchers do and I'm sure this crew has deemed it NOT to be a balk. If they believed he was starting and stopping then they would call the balk but again b/c o'day is repeating the same motions all of the time it will not be a balk!! Hope that helps!
So if I run a red light every time I come to one that makes it ok? Didn't see the game and have no idea what the move looked like but the "he does it every time" argument isn't a good one
DeleteIts a specific rule....read 8.05 ..I swear some people think everything just gets made up
DeleteGreat game all around for Angel!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started following this site, I held this media-driven attitude that Angel Hernandez was a bad umpire...
ReplyDeleteAfter 3 years of closer observation, with the help of UEFL, I have found he is a great umpire. Terrific effort tonight by Angel, and great patience on that Ichiro play.
"He does it every time" is a perfectly legitimate explanation for not calling a balk if the motion is 'naturally associated with his pitch' (Rule 8.05a) and there is no intent to deceive the runner as to where/when he is going to be throwing.
ReplyDeleteRule 8.05 Comment: Umpires should bear in mind that the purpose of the balk rule is to prevent the pitcher from deliberately deceiving the base runner. If there is doubt in the umpire’s mind, the “intent” of the pitcher should govern.
Coming set and then lifting and putting your free foot back down three or four times -- whether it is done once or every time -- should be balked at any level.
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, the first sentence of the CCS/UEFL's balks article reads, "With runners aboard and Angel Hernandez umpiring, it is a balk when..."
ReplyDeleteSee Rule 8.05: it is a balk when—
Give Phil Cuzzi credit, he has very quietly improved over the last several years.
ReplyDelete@Anon 1157..
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly in the balk rule would constitute those actions as a balk...I've read the rule in it's entirety and am lost as to how I could call his actions a balk, so I need to be better informed.
Lifting one's foot and not stepping to a base would mean that it's a move associated with a pitch and would commit the pitcher to throw to the plate -- not put the foot back down and repeat the move a few more times before delivering.
ReplyDeleteBaseball wants to limit any controversial balks called anymore. The move that started all this garbage was the old move was Tiant and that,s where the bull about doing the same move all the time comes from. Balk it and get backed up by the League and they would stop. Step directly to the bag or get balked and have the League back it up and they would step directly. However, since everyone wants Billy ball, where you just sit and wait for a big inning, rule interpretations that would help, little ball, have gone the way of the dinosaur.
ReplyDeleteGil--can you keep the Maddon article just below this playoff article (so we don't have to fish for it) so those who start hearing about retirements can post under that article, since that article got everything about retirements started in the first place.
ReplyDeleteRapuano has officially retired.......that makes three.
ReplyDeleteTITTB
The balk rule does not state a move associated with 'a' pitch, it states a move associated with 'his' pitch, which means that each individual pitcher is allowed to have his own move.
ReplyDeleteNo where in Rule 8.01b (Legal Pitch Delivery, Set Position) does it state that a pitcher cannot lift his foot up and place it back down multiple times before delivering the pitch.
As long as his foot does not come down towards a base and this is what he does every time he delivers a pitch from the set position, then the delivery is rule-book legal.
could you explain the davis calibration adjustment??
ReplyDeleteI don't recall which post it was, but a previous UEFL post about pitch f/x and brooks mentioned that sometimes the pitch f/x system itself gets miscalibrated or jostled out of alignment due to the crowd moving the stadium due to their cheering, etc. In looking at not just Davis' chart for this game, but the plots of both Giants and Reds pitchers and comparing it all to another game in their respective careers, it's quite obvious the NLDS plot was miscalibrated toward the right batter's box.
ReplyDeleteAnother game lost by the players with a PB and an error. pathetic. how about winning a game with your play, rather than losing the game with errors.
ReplyDeleteI'm in court and not watching...
ReplyDeletebut apparently Jim Joyce missed a play at first in the second inning of STL-WSH?
Another banger at first base in what I believe is now an 8-0 game?
ReplyDeleteyes. R1, none out, bunt to F5, BR from washington beat the play by about 1/4 of a step but joyce called him out.
ReplyDeleteended up being irrelevant: next batter hit a GB to F5 that would have been a DP ball (either 5-3 or 5-4-3) and the following batter flew out to CF.
This is funny. Joyce had about 5 close calls during that game where they had to go to replay to determine right or wrongness, he missed one and got four right. ESPN's big ump study said umps miss 20% of close calls or..... One in five, which amounts to around one call per game. And of course mainstream media is up in arms about another call going the Cardinals way.
ReplyDeleteI thought there was something funny about the TBS strike zone box during Eric Cooper's Oakland plate game. Pitches off the right batter's box edge of home plate kept being CONSISTENTLY called as strikes and on the graph, they showed as balls. Twitter was brutal to Cooper (and really to all plate umps) this series, assuming TBS' graphic was automatically right and the umpires were wrong. Of course, TBS doesn't have the integrity to tell the truth about how their little system is incorrectly calibrated. That's why I like MLB Network's broadcast. No computerized box and they (ie Bob Costas) are more than fair to umps.
ReplyDeleteHow did you figure out the calibration errors for Davis and Cooper? It seems like they make about a 3% difference which is pretty significant.
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me that pitch f/x itself could be improperly calibrated until I read UEFL's posts about it. Just guessing here, but could one of the differences between PFX and Zone Evaluation be that Zone Eval attempts to correct for PFX's miscalibration, similar to how UEFL is reporting Cooper (and Davis)'s adjusted percentages vs. their raw scores without the calibration adjustment? I know we talked about how a catcher catches the pitch and so-called "acceptable misses," but could ZE also have to do with trying to right the wrong of a PFX system that is wrongly set an inch or so to the right or left of home plate? I mean Cooper's zone was offset by 0.25 feet, which is 3 inches. That is a heck of a lot of PFX error!
ReplyDeleteA rough comparison is made between where pitchers have historically located their pitches and what the current PFX plots demonstrate. Similarly, an umpire who, according to current (e.g., 2012 postseason) PFX plots has deviated significantly from historical calling tendencies, when the current zone appears "off-set" on the current plot, this is not an indication that the umpire cannot accurately call the same part of the front plane to both LHH and RHH, it is indicative of an improperly calibrated PFX system. Truth be told, nearly every 2012 postseason game has suffered from PFX miscalibration (again, umpires don't unilaterally miss calls over, say, the right box edge of home plate for both LHH and RHH), I've just chosen to manually adjust only the two cases where this error has been most obvious. This is a large reason why the accuracy numbers you see above seem significantly lower than what we've seen in the past, even with QuesTec (95.38% in 2007, 94.91% in 2006, etc.).
ReplyDeleteIn 2010, Mike Fast determined that the most egregious case of miscalibration was -5.5 inches (Rangers Ballpark, ALCS Game 6), with error fluctuating from 0.0 and -0.1 inches in Games 1 & 2 of the NLCS in Philadelphia to -2.5 in San Francisco (Game 4), -2.1 in New York (Game 4) and the aforementioned -5.5 in Arlington.
Mike's method: "I calculate this offset by comparing where pitchers have located their pitches to left-handed and right-handed batters throughout the past few seasons to where the pitchers located their pitches in the game under consideration."
And his conclusion: "PITCHf/x plate locations, and thus the television PitchTrax locations, really were off by about 5-6 inches in Friday's Game 6. Please retract all tomatoes thrown at Brian Gorman on the basis of the PitchTrax data."
interesting game for wally bell tonight... most likely our next mlb cc working a game 5
ReplyDeleteyes, hope he has a good game! everitt could also get the dish on game 5 if the orioles can push the series...interesting that everitt would get that position over angel, who was basically an acting CC for most of the season.
ReplyDeleteHow can you arbitrarily decide the machine is miscalabrated? Either the machine works or it doesn't. To say, pitchers historically have throw pitches in a certain spot is laughable. You are doing your site a disservice by not sticking to the official data. Did pitch f/x come out and say it was miscalabrated? If so, then I can understand your point. Otherwise it looks like you are playing favorites with umpires that didn't score as well as you had hoped.
ReplyDeleteWhen Mike Fast, the EXPERT when it comes to calibration, says historical trends are relevant, it might be wise to listen. PFX and TBS would never say its data is wrong, that would mean loss of money and ratings and we all know those people are not honest enough to admit the system is susceptible to a basic flaw. At least here you get both raw and adjusted numbers, unlike MLB ZE which is big behind the scenes to-do.
ReplyDeleteWho is Mike Fast? Who qualified him to be an expert? Did he have a hand in setting up the plotting calculations of the current system? I'm sorry if this has already been discussed. I must have missed it.
DeleteCurious to see Hallion's final #s, looks a little wild. Reds fans sure are having no problem blaming a six run inning on the umpire and not their pitcher for losing it.
ReplyDeleteAnd also for a key strike three call on a 3-2 count with runners going. Bases loaded 0 out for CIN turns into runner on 2nd, two outs.
ReplyDeleteGreat call By Eddie Hickox at 2nd IMO the most underrated umpire in the world.... Another call that a lot of guys would pass on b/c it's taking the crappy end of the stick but it's the right call as the throw took the fielder off the bag!
ReplyDeleteIs it just me or has Jim Joyce been all over the place Today? From what I've seen, he has had a very rough game.
ReplyDeleteNot just you.
ReplyDeleteWhat the pitchFX fails to show on Joyce's plate job today is all the swinging strikes that the Cardinal batters had to take at pitches outside the strike zone once it was clear Joyce was going to call the zone WIDE. But even on callable pitches alone, it isn't pretty.
ReplyDeletevery dissapointed by JJ's performace today let's hope Cubby puts on a clinic!
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought Angel Hernandez would have the second best DS plate.
ReplyDeleteBlue ball bag?
ReplyDeleteI noticed that too..wtf?
DeleteWhat is it with the Plate performances is the Cardinals-Nationals series. The three worst of this round have all been from this series. The only one who didn't have a sub 90 performance was West and he didn't exactly rake like O'Nora or Hernandez. I do think we will see the best performance of the series tommorow from Marquez. His zone is always quite solid.
ReplyDeleteThe one I am really interested to see is Wally Bell. Even though he is a veteran, to be honest I don't know much about his strike zone at all and have been following strike zone tendencies for awhile. Bell is one of those Umpires who quietly goes about his business and usually goes unnoticed but has not had a good playoff record of late for reasons I cannot figure out. Does anybody know what Bell's zone is normally like?
Bell has a HUGE zone. One of the biggest in the game. Expect to see hitters swinging early and often.
ReplyDelete@ Russ i expect Wally's Zone to be very consistant and a little tight. Though judging by the wideness of several of these zones i'm not sure what "tight" means. Bell is very good behind the plate I often wonder if he hasn't had a lot of showcase games due to his weight.
ReplyDeleteCubby looks great so far!!
lol total opposite responses!
ReplyDeleteWow, joyce had an absolute shocker behind the plate! I thought he did a fantastic job at 1st despite all the media hyperbole, getting a couple of very close calls right. But his plate performance is pretty terrible.
ReplyDeleteCubby stole the show tonight!!
ReplyDeleteAnother noteworthy fact is that all four division series have gone/will go the full 5 games. When's the last time that happened?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like Fieldin Culbreth as an umpire and love to watch games where he has the plate, especially his punch-outs. But how do you get Cubby out of Culbreth? Is that a UEFL nickname or do some of you know him?
Mike Fast, described as one of the "finest analytical minds" in baseball, formerly of Baseball Prospectus. Now of the Houston Astros. Sabermetrician and pitch f/x expert. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/author/mike_fast/
ReplyDeleteIf you're publishing the numbers of correct ball and strike calls, why not publish the actual percentage for those umpires who finish below 90%? It's not as if the actual result is a secret.
ReplyDeleteWow...Wally Bell had a big, but consistent zone? Who could have predicted that......
ReplyDeletefonzie for game 5...best in the business
ReplyDeleteinterested to see what everitt's zone will be like today - He can be a hitters ump at times but also can be "tight" on the edges.
ReplyDeleteWow the PC Richard and Son (it's a NY electronics store) strikeout whistle at Yankee Stadium comes across very loudly (and annoyingly) on the TBS broadcast.
ReplyDeletecubby, gorman, hernandez, carlson with a quick review, really looked to me like it hit the foul pole and changed the direction. If the O's loose then wow we will have controversy!!!!!
ReplyDeletewell that was a nighmare... looks like the ball changed direction after touching foul poll was it an optical illusion? Did the umpires have access to TBS's replay... what did they look at?
ReplyDeleteI sense controversy a brewin'
I think that Smoltz and Ripken did a good job analyzing that controversial play
ReplyDeleteCraig Sager said that an usher in the second deck told him that it did nick the foul pole.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting for the Anonymous who likes to call everyone plumbers and generally has a condescending attitude toward us all to weigh in on this.
ReplyDeleteI think the one angle that makes it appear that it nicked the pole was an optical illusion. They have shown another angle where you can see daylight the whole way past the pole.
ReplyDeleteHere's my problem with the call----for ONCE---can the arrogant yank fans and team get screwed over in a big game...
ReplyDeleteHere is my list---and this is just off the top of my head.
'77 - Reggie Jackson commits interference by sticking his hip in the way of the ball in the WS
'96 - Jeffrey Maier interferes with the first out of the 8th inning, and it's not called
'98 - Tino Martinez is struck out on a 3-2 pitch in a tie game, yet it's called ball 4, and he hits a grand slam on the next pitch
'99 Two huge calls incorrectly go against Atlanta, Cox gets tossed.
'00 - Roger Clemens is incorrectly NOT ejected in the first inning of game 2 when he viciously and intentionally throws a bat at Mike Piazza
'01 - J. Giambi called out at the plate against Oakland when he wasn't, just because Jeter runs across the field and the overrated SS influences the call
'08 - Joe Mauer hits a ball that's 2 feet fair in extra innings, called foul by Phil Cuzzi.
'09 - Berkman is struck out, but Wendelstedt calls in a ball and then he homers on the next pitch. Gardy tossed.
'12 - A home run that hits the pole and is called foul---reviewed--and still called foul
I encourage ANYbody to provide an example where the yanks were victimized by an umpire's call in a postseason game.
Cox did not get ejected in 1999, that was 1996 by Tim Welke on a call that wasn't even his.
ReplyDeleteClemens probably should have been tossed, but good luck with that in a world series
Giambi was very clearly out, not sure where you get that from
The Mauer call was in 09 and the Gardy ejection was in 10, but yes those were bad calls
There is no possible way you can say there was clear and concise evidence to overrturn the foul ball call by one of the best Umpires in the gmae currently.
Great job by Mike Everitt tonight like I expected. He is one of the best in the game and he showed it. This series had by far the best plate work. 4 guys over 93% accuracy and one was still 91% which isn't horrible. I expect to see a few world series Umps from this crew. I guessed Culbreth and Hernandez before the Playoffs started but all these guys really made a good case.
ReplyDeleteruss---i noticed though you couldn't provide a single example where in the postseason the yanks were on the other side of a controversial call
ReplyDelete@Josh7377, you asked for one example, here you go: Damon ruled out at first by Dale Scott. Yes, this was the infamous 2009 ALCS between the Yanks and Angels were Tim McClelland and Dale Scott blew nearly every close call thrown their way.
ReplyDeleteAnd guess who isn't umpiring in the 2012 playoffs at all...
What about the 1998 ALCS when Travis Fryman was
ReplyDeleteHit in the back with a throw after a bunch when he was
CLEARLY out of the basepath that allowed the winning run to score?
excellent series by all the plate guys on Gorman's crew...want to start a WS predictions thread or can we throw it in here??
ReplyDeleteanon 6:49....ok glad you found one...albeit in a 4-0 game with 2 out and nobody on---not exactly a game changer or a momentum shift, but OK.
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced Scott isn't in the playoffs because I still maintained he handled the game in Atlanta against the Mets right after the all-star incorrectly and not in the spirit of the rules....i didn't get much agreement on the board, but I didn't get enough disagreement to be swayed.
What situation are you talking about in Atlanta? Where he got blocked out on the catch/no catch in left field and his partners helped him out saying ball skipped? Please tell me you weren't expecting an out on that play!
DeleteAs for Dale Scott, the Padres/Dodgers ejection and fair foul call could have doomed his fate back in April for this postseason.
ReplyDeleteFantastic jobs behind the plate by both Marquez and Evereitt. Hopefully the good umpiring will continue in the LCS.
ReplyDeleteAnd who came in 10th out of 20 plate jobs? None other than Mr. Cuzzi who most say is dead last among umpires. Oh well, someone must be wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou are rolling the dice with Cuzzi. He is an umpire who is consistently in the wrong position to make calls on the bases. Why he always had the runner between him and the tag is beyond me......almost every play. He takes all plays at the plate from the first base line extended. Worst spot possible. As far as his plate job, I'm very happy he got through it without incident. Remember last year when he lost the count in Seattle.... Walked Maybin from SD on three balls....Maybin steals second and scores on a dribbler through the infield. Seattle lostthe game 1-0. How about in NYM where ftirstbaseman's pulled his foot...he refuses to get help and Nationals end up losing the game in the 9th. He is a time bomb. MLB played Russian roulette letting him on the playoff diamond. I'm glad it was an empty chamber.
DeleteThe Yankees lost the biggest "protest" when the Commissioner tossed aside the rulebook and disallowed Martin's protest with the pine tar bat after the umpires ruled Bret out.
ReplyDeleteCCS, which umpiring crew will be at yankee stadium tonight?
ReplyDelete