As the pitches come in, they show up as little numbered balls corresponding to the location they are thrown. It's the type of thing I hate in principle - a flashy graphic imposed on us by a network that doesn't really know much about broadcasting baseball - but I don't totally despise it (yet, anyway). Anything that makes you pay less attention to Chip Caray, you know?
The one thing I wonder about is whether this is computerized like MLB Gameday and PitchFX or they have someone on the production team manually assigning locations. If it's the latter, then we might as well be judging balls and strikes from the couch, but if it's the former, I can see some utility in it. Regardless of the accuracy, it does show you the approach being taken by the pitcher and displays it a lot more clearly that your mental record could.
The one thing I wonder about is whether this is computerized like MLB Gameday and PitchFX or they have someone on the production team manually assigning locations. If it's the latter, then we might as well be judging balls and strikes from the couch, but if it's the former, I can see some utility in it. Regardless of the accuracy, it does show you the approach being taken by the pitcher and displays it a lot more clearly that your mental record could.
Aesthetically, it looks kind of terrible, even though the portion of the screen that it's blocking is never really going to show anything, save for a flash of a grounder to third. It's certainly no yellow first down line in terms of value add, but it does give you some interesting context. For instance, when Phil Hughes faced Orlando Cabrera, you could see that every pitch he threw was either high or outside, nothing close to down or in:
It tells you that A) Cabrera is a low/inside, pull type of hitter and B) Hughes was consistently hitting his spots. I watch the games pretty closely but I've gotta admit that some of the pitch sequencing gets lost to me.
I wouldn't want to see this on every YES game, but for the postseason, I guess I don't really mind it. Ideally you'd like to be able to turn it and off via remote, but we're obviously a little ways down the road from that kind of functionality. I'm trying to look at the bright side here, but I'm sure there are a bunch of you who are going to vehemently hate it. I'd be willing the bet the umps do.
Haters? Appreciators? Agnostics?
I wouldn't want to see this on every YES game, but for the postseason, I guess I don't really mind it. Ideally you'd like to be able to turn it and off via remote, but we're obviously a little ways down the road from that kind of functionality. I'm trying to look at the bright side here, but I'm sure there are a bunch of you who are going to vehemently hate it. I'd be willing the bet the umps do.
Haters? Appreciators? Agnostics?
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For me, new graphics in televised sports are like new facebook layouts. Initially, they're greeted with unanymous revulsion, but slowly we become accustomed to them and soon cannot fully enjoy the experience without them.
ReplyDeleteGreat analogy, Anon. I can't watch a football game without the first down lines anymore. I'm not sure this has quite the same level of value-add, but it is helpful. The fact that this hasn't been universally panned on the internets already speaks to that.
ReplyDeleteI would agree that the umpires must despise something like this on every pitch. When we all watch from home the view of the strike zone is distorted with the camera angles so this does add a bit of confirmation with the pitch location. I sometimes question these trackers though. Are they set up with an imaginary home plate or is the pitch spotted just as it crosses the plate. Also with the strike zones, are they edited to take the batters height into factor? Not that it makes a huge difference but pitches do curve around the front side of the plate and wind up hitting the zone.
ReplyDeleteI think it's pretty good actually. Not only does it help in showing pitch location, but is a quick and easy way to see how deep a plate appearance is running in terms of pitch count - an issue for both Hughes and Mo last night.
ReplyDeleteEither way, this is infinitely more useful than that stupid lead tracker TBS used in previous years.
Daryll - All good points there. The zone doesn't seem to fluctuate with batter's height, but they never swap it out in the same shot, so it's hard to tell. It would be interesting to know when exactly they are determining location: front of the plate, middle, back? Like you point out, it matters a lot with breaking pitches.
ReplyDeleteMatt - Agree that it does become more useful as the AB goes on. You can't always remember what kind of pitch each of them was, but it does allow you to scroll through the sequence easily in your head much more easily.
That lead tracker was so, so stupid. A stolen base happens so infrequently, and that tracker didn't even help predict them. You can look at the screen and have a decent idea of the lead a guy is getting. Wish I had remembered that when I was writing the post.
They used the lead tracker in the Cardinals-Dodgers game. Hope they don't use it in the Yanks series.
ReplyDeleteAlso, what is up with the new "shut down era" stat that they keep talking about?
How was the announcing during the game?
ReplyDeleteJason - That's awful. I'm sure it will show up in the Red Sox-Angels game, too. Hopefully they don't have that technology with this crew...
ReplyDeleteDaryll - I watched it with a bunch of other people, so I can't really comment. There's some good commentary of if over here:
http://www.boston.com/sports/columnists/wilbur/2009/10/08/baseball_and_stale_chips/index.html
And one hilarious line at the end of the 2nd PP over here:
http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2009/10/alds-game-one-exactly-what-we.html
Thanks for the links. Much better just going to the game.
ReplyDeleteI like it, as you said, for the post season, and for some of the same reasons. I'd like to add that having a PitchTRAX graphic negates the need to cut away from live baseball to a replay of every pitch of an at-bat in sequence the way YES typically does, which takes infinitely more time, since PTRAX takes none at all, and can lead to missed pitches or plays when they don't cut back to the action in a timely manner.
ReplyDeleteNetworks can, and do, still show replays of great pitches, hits, etc., but pitch sequence replays include all the crap dirt balls and missed spots we can see just fine with the TBS system.
Now, if we could just get TBS to stop lighting up all three bases and the plate on the info graphic at the top whenever someone hits a homer, we'll be in much better shape. Every time someone knocks one out it looks like they hit a grand slam.
All in all, I don't have a problem with it, although I listen to games on XM and check Gamecast often. I like being able to see if a pitcher is hitting his spots so I find it useful. Also it's a nice way to see what kind of strike zone the umps are giving.
ReplyDeleteI like it in theory for the reasons suggested about keeping track of how the at-bat is going but I wish it was more in sync with how the game is being called.
ReplyDeleteToo many times I have seen pitches shown as balls but called strikes. Case in point, last night's at bat for Matt Holliday: He struck out looking on a 2-2 pitch. In fact he looked at all 5 pitches. The PitchTrax had all five pitches WAY inside.
Cant stand it. It just gets in the way...it takes my eye off the game. Just it being there...plain and simple...its in my way. I think you should have the option to remove it.
ReplyDeleteIn cricket there are all sorts of flashy ways TV has developed to show things like whether a ball would have hit the stumps if the batsman hadn't got in the way. They're generally designed by people like aviation engineers and are, therefore, several million times more accurate than the naked eye.
ReplyDeleteAnd the commentators *still* question the displayed outcome. Ian Botham in particular will swear blind that an umpire's decision was wrong even in he face of overwhelming video evidence - and he does it regularly. More often than not, even.
So you have that to look forward to from Joe Morgan next season... "I've played the game and I can tell you he should have swung at that pitch."
I hate it. I absolutely hate it. It is a major distraction. I find myself looking over there after each pitch even though I JUST SAW where the pitch crossed the plate, you can't help it.
ReplyDeletePeople who enjoy this feature are the ones who don't watch a lot of baseball. Those who watch 162 games, KNOW what is a strike and what isn't.
I love it. I absolutely love it. It is a major addition. I see myself checking out pitch location and whether the umps are right or wrong. Umps are human and react to the crowd way to often. It is not possible for me to say, "I JUST SAW a pitch" because I am off angle and at home. I truly love it. Make it a must have for all games next year, post it on the big screen and get rid of the home plate umps.
ReplyDelete@ 11:58 Anon - The problem is that we don't really know if what we're looking at is a strike or not for reasons explained by this video.
ReplyDeletehttp://slatev.com/player.html?id=44114526001
You probably feel like you have a good grasp on the strike zone but in reality the picture you're seeing varies by ballpark and is always skewed in one way or another.
@5:44 Anon - Not sure I would go quite as far as to say we need to get rid of home plate umps or can judge balls and strikes flawlessly by it, but it at least gives us a good grasp of location and pitch sequence.
I don't know for sure, but I think Pitchtrax is a Questec thing, which means it's the same data that Gameday uses.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDeleteI truly love it...post it on the big screen and get rid of the home plate umps.
I couldn't agree more! It's what I've been saying all season.
Let the plate umpire call plays at the plate and maybe check swings, but leave the balls and strikes to this technology, as many umps are awful at it.
This has got to be the wave of the future.
It is god-awful. The zone they use is tiny, so pretty much everything above the waist and on the inner/outer 2 inches of the plate is called a ball. It would be OK if they used MLBs Gameday zone to show (much more accurate than the garbage TBS uses), but if they can't even put the balls in the right spot, whats the point of having it?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you kool-aid drinkers think the pitchtrax is 100% accurate? You realize that the strike zone depends on each batter's height, right?
ReplyDeleteI am amazed how many of you think that little graphic is the Messiah of the MLB strike zone.
Do any of you even know how each pitch is calculated in proportion to each hitter??
Those of you who like it, I'd like to know: how many baseball games do you watch in a given season?
I wouldn't mind if they showed it after a close pitch occasionally but it doesn't need to be there every pitch.
Neither Pitchtrax nor Gameday are Questec, but they are the same people/system/technology. During the time that Questec had the umpire evaluation job, MLB was developing their own pitchtracking system to rival/replace Questec's. While I am not sure if Questec is still around, the gameday and all the TV graphics you see are MLB. I don't know how accurate Questec is but what I see on TV is pretty bad. Not only is it off for the most part, but it's also 2 dimensional and doesn't take into account breaking balls' paths nor the height of batters.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteToo many time we see umps make questionable calls on balls and strikes.
We all know the difference between a ball and strike can be game changing. The fact that the game only progresses when outs are made puts an emphasis on needing the correct calls made during a pitch.
These men spend most of their lives just trying to get a shot to play, when they finally do we should give them the opportunity to shine, not the called strike and ump made when the pitch was clearly a ball.
The technology is out there for a system that calls strikes and balls more accurately than human umps.
I'm more than willing to bet when this game was first created and the technology was there and readily available they would have used it instead of relying on the eyes of a person.
Long story short. I like it.
Pitch trax makes no sense and doesnt prove anything! Honestly its not like the umpire uses it so why are we seeing it. Sometime it shows the pitch was in the box so theoretically its a strike but your wrong the umpire says it was a ball. So please tell me what the point of it is? Is it really needed for every single pitch also?
ReplyDeletePitch Trax is awful. Too redundant. I don't even like that crap on close pitches, but at least that I can live with.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is not even close to scale or accurate. I don't trust it, and it is a complete distraction.
And as far as knowing how guys are CURRENTLY getting pitched to, well hey; pay attention. If you can't remember something like the LAST PITCH then you probably don't NEED that information anyway. Pitch sequences don't need to be broadcasted on every hitter. REDUNDANT.
ReplyDeleteIt's not like baseball is this crazy, fast paced game. It can't be that difficult to follow. Get rid of it.
Anyone know how I can comment directly to TBS to voice my displeasure? I went to their site and it has nothing (that I saw) in the way of contacting them.
The graphic should stay! Arugments may develop over a pitched ball but now this graphi may solve the argument. I would just like to know HOW it is done. Has it been set up accurately? Also would like to know how many "missed" calls by the umpire. If it's only several points, no problem. But I have seen umpires set up way on the outside and some way on the inside and giving very bad calls. Maybe the graphic technicians could work with the umps in setting it up!
ReplyDeleteThe graphic may solve the argument?.. hahahaha!! Baseball has always been decided by the human eye. The graphic is just more clutter taking up space on the scrren. It is not accurate and proves nothing!
ReplyDeleteGET RID OF PITCHTRAX PERIOD!!!!! WE DONT NEED IT SPREAD THE WORD
ReplyDeleteFrustrating to watch a pitch that goes over the middle of the plate and Pitchtrax shows it clipping the left edge. It throws all credibility out the window for me.
ReplyDeleteexplain the TBS playing field graphics on TV screen of previous times at bat during a game. How do you read them? They are shown for 3 seconds.
ReplyDeleteDo the playing field graphics have information to compare previous times at bat?
ReplyDelete