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magnumo
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The story about Martin's ejection from yesterday's game is all over the media. The main point made by the writers seems to be Martin's intensity..... having Leroux's back when he thought the umpire was squeezing the strike zone.
Another thought occurred to me, however. I HOPE this situation did not result from all the publicity we've seen about "pitch framing," and Martin's (and other catchers') reported skill at "stealing" strikes. I wonder if the umpires are paying any attention to THAT story. It seems understandable (and perhaps quite natural) for umpires to be unhappy about pitch framing..... and further, it seems possible that squeezing the strike zone might result.
Some of the stuff I've read indicates that weaker teams (e.g., the Pirates) and younger pitchers (e.g., Leroux) suffer from negative "bias" on ball-and-strike calls anyway, whether conscious or unconscious on the part of the umpires. It would be sad if that bias is exacerbated by a negative reaction from the umpires to Martin's reported pitch framing skills.
The more I think about stuff like this, the more convinced I become that baseball would be better off if calling balls and strikes were done by technology rather than umpires.
Another thought occurred to me, however. I HOPE this situation did not result from all the publicity we've seen about "pitch framing," and Martin's (and other catchers') reported skill at "stealing" strikes. I wonder if the umpires are paying any attention to THAT story. It seems understandable (and perhaps quite natural) for umpires to be unhappy about pitch framing..... and further, it seems possible that squeezing the strike zone might result.
Some of the stuff I've read indicates that weaker teams (e.g., the Pirates) and younger pitchers (e.g., Leroux) suffer from negative "bias" on ball-and-strike calls anyway, whether conscious or unconscious on the part of the umpires. It would be sad if that bias is exacerbated by a negative reaction from the umpires to Martin's reported pitch framing skills.
The more I think about stuff like this, the more convinced I become that baseball would be better off if calling balls and strikes were done by technology rather than umpires.
