Cup of Coffee

July 15, 2014: All-Star Game

73 Comments

This'll be the first one in Minnesota since baseball was on my radar (I started watching in about mid-'86). I don't ask much - just a Suzuki homer, a Perkins save, three Jeter strikeouts and the stunning return of Kirby Puckett.

73 thoughts on “July 15, 2014: All-Star Game”

  1. I phoned in an AS game log post (Omaha's area code) -- I'll probably be at the airport when its scheduled to post; if it doesn't, can someone nudge it please?

    1. That. Is. Awesome. I didn't catch it in it's full glory last night - thanks for posting sean.

    2. That is glorious. I think we will be seeing that photo for a long long time.

  3. While yesterday's USA Today was replete with articles about Minneapolis, the Twins, & Target Field, today it's back to all-Jeter, all the time.

      1. I mean more that both had their receiving skills publicly lauded. And are current/former Twins. Those five gifs emphasize just how important framing is and why we need humans to not be judges of balls and strikes.

        1. I doubt framing is going to do much for you when the pitcher misses the intended target by a lot, which is the case in every one of these examples.

          1. The pitcher missed his spot, but still the ball went down the middle of the plate. The ump missed because of the framing/lack of it. Great framers set up and move such that they don't need to jerk their arm around and awkwardly catch the ball.

            1. Umps are human and I get that, but let's not take them off the hook. The ump allowed allowed himself to be influenced by something that happened after the ball went through the zone. I think the most important part of this article was showing how few truly bad calls have been made and how they have consistently been dropping, and I think that is a direct result of umps being evaluated and influenced by Pitch f/x. I don't think pitch framing is anything new, just the attempt to quantify the effectiveness of it. I think umps being able to review themselves and be evaluated by superiors has improved how they call the strike zone.

              1. The ump didn't allow himself to be influenced; he had no conscious control over it. #5 shows that nicely. It doesn't look like a strike whatsoever, but it was safely inside the zone.

                1. The umps don't look at it from that view. They watch if straight out of the pitcher's hand just like the batter. Plus, if umps had no conscious control over calling strikes, there would be way more examples of bad calls. I'm sure there are plenty more examples of umps getting it right despite a catcher completely screwing up.

                  1. They watch if straight out of the pitcher's hand just like the batter.

                    And they stop watching it halfway to the batter. A pitch takes about 400-500 ms to reach the catcher. The best reaction time is a bit under 200 ms. The last 20 feet of the trajectory no one consciously sees until it hits the mitt.

                    if umps had no conscious control over calling strikes, there would be way more examples of bad calls. I

                    Not quite. They have no conscious control over all of the influences. Because they miss the final third of the trajectory, they need other cues. Reactions of the batter and catcher factor into that. The umpire's subconscious (because he's called many thousands of pitches it's a habit) weighs everything and then the decision bubbles up to the conscious part and he thinks that was a ball.

                    Quite simply, framing will be large part of the game until humans aren't calling balls and strikes.

                    1. It's hard to imagine framing is so important to calling strikes properly when the Twins lead the AL in fewest walks despite having one of the worst catchers at framing.

                    2. And league-worst strikeout rate. They are a mere 12 walks better than the second-place Yankees, the same number separating second from fourth place. The gap between them and Baltimore in strikeouts is almost equal to the Orioles at #14 to the Mariners at #7.

                      Although Suzuki had the worst called ball, he's not the worst framer; just below average. The worst is firmly held by Doumit. The best are estimated at +50 runs.

        2. Computer umps would just remove that important catching skill.
          I think it would be kindof sad.

    2. I'm not sure I agree with any of those examples of "bad framing." In Samardzija's first one, the ball drops off the table at the back of the zone. In pretty much all of the others, the catcher gets crossed up with a ball thrown to the throwing-hand side.

      1. I think I'd consider the first Castillo one (#5) and Butera's to be mostly receiving/framing related. Butera was obviously crossed up, but his motion went way further to the side than it needed to to catch the ball. In #5, when the catcher's glove ends up on the ground as he catches the ball- well, it looks like it would have been a slow-pitch softball strike.
        I don't know what the ump was looking at in Suzuki's. That's a terrible one to miss (though Gonzalez in #4 is probably more egregious).

        I think that one key to framing is catching the ball while it's as close to the back of the strike zone as possible. That eliminates late movement from stealing strikes (like #5) and makes it easier for the ump to see where the ball crossed the plate. It also results in catchers getting cracked in the helmet with the bat and catcher's interference when they stick their glove slightly too far forward. Another reason I'd prefer the robot umps that wouldn't care how the catcher caught or tried to catch the ball.

    3. I might’ve already mentioned this here before, but, in spring training, a pitcher noted that Suzuki is quite a fine backstop. He’s got all the fundamentals down, he’s a nice enough blocker, and he can call a ballgame. But the pitcher noted that Suzuki has relatively short arms, so in order to move around the zone, sometimes he has to really reach, and that can cost him and his pitching staff strikes.

      Well, I don't think there's much we can do to lengthen Suzuki's arms. It also looked like Suzuki's was the worst call by an umpire. He didn't move that much or stab at it, and it was Matt Guerrier!

    1. I had a very similar experience moving from South Dakota to Iowa- it's not just Minnesota where people don't introduce themselves and try to make you welcome. In fact, I've moved a handful of times, and it always takes time to find a way to fit in, and sometimes it just doesn't happen.

      1. Definitely.

        I just don't understand the people that are openly hostile to the newcomers and blame them.

        1. I haven't read the article, but I think you misunderstand.
          We assume that we'd be bothering you.
          If we introduce ourselves, it implies we consider ourselves important enough for you to know us and more essential to your life than the people you already know.
          If we tell you about something, it implies a sense of superiority. You can probably find out well enough on your own.
          Should we really be assuming you want to be in Minnesota and want to make connections with Minnesotans? If you want something, you'll ask.
          (But if you seem too eager, there's something fishy about that, too. Maybe you just want to take advantage of us.)

      2. it's not just Minnesota where people don't introduce themselves and try to make you welcome.

        This.

        1. Exactly. We've moved several times, although all within South Dakota. Each time, we've found wonderful people--but we had to make the effort to go out and find them. If you wait for them to come find you, you'll have a long wait.

          1. The only situation I've found, and I think it would be true anywhere, is young families moving into new developments. Everyone in the neighborhood is new, and everyone is curious about their neighbors. The Golden Rule of welcoming is in effect.

        2. I am not letting the Twin Cities off the hook that easy. There are legitimate reasons that this area is more difficult than many large cities.

          A high percentage are from Minnesota and have established relationships.

          People stay inside for six months of the year which makes it difficult to meet new people.

          Many people head up north on the weekends.

          The dismissiveness is what bothers me the most.

          1. The dismissiveness is what bothers me the most.

            I'll agree with this- there's a lot of "that's how it's always been, the new people have to adjust to us" in Minnesota.

            The established relationships and people traveling on the weekends happens everywhere, though- I can't believe how many of our friends and relatives go camping almost every weekend during the spring/summer/fall, and you're always going to have "the natives" who have lived in the area for generations.

              1. Hah.

                NYC is in many ways EXTREMELY provincial, but with an "eff you, we're from New York!" superiority overlay. As for "the Hub," ask someone from New Hampshire some time.

                🙂

                1. I'm still going to call bS on this. I couldn't find data on state of birth but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minneapolis has 14.6% foreign born residents and NYC has 36.9%. I am going to go out on a limb and say NYC has a much higher percentage of residents born in other states than MPLS.

                  And there aren't many cities that have as many people that go to cabins as MPLS. For instance, the traffic in Chicago on the weekends is into the city, not out of it. (Although all traffic around Chicago just sucks in general.)

              1. I agree on nola. I've never been there but Louisiana has the highest percentage of people living in the state where they were born of any state.

      1. Well. I'd like to know your reaction if they were outside your house instead of 10 miles away, especially with young ones you hope sleep through the night.

        The biggest problem was that no one knew they were going to happen. If there had been a little more warning that sometime around midnight there's going to be some real loud fireworks for about 20 minutes and we know it's going to be a drag but it's a one time deal because of #ASG2014 then there would have been some grousing, but at least people would have expected it.

        1. Maybe I'm different than most parents, but if she woke up, my reaction would have been to get the kiddo over to the window to watch.
          also

          During a neighborhood meeting a month ago, attendees were told by the gala’s organizer that the display would begin at 11:45 p.m., last for 10 minutes and be modest in scope.

          It started half an hour later, went 5 minutes longer and wasn't modest - calm down folks.

          1. Assuming you could see it, the kid(s) were remotely old enough to appreciate it, and you didn't think the time to rouse them out of bed and find a good viewing spot was worth the effort for something they will see many more times.

            I wouldn't have complained because what's the point, but I can understand the problem.

            1. Fair enough. Mostly I shared it in the spirit of your "what's the point" sentiment. And probably (if I'm honest) to poke a little fun at those 'squares' complaining about fireworks.

            3. Fireworks are antithetical to Minnesota Nice. Loud, boisterous, all "look at me!"

    3. As someone who was born in Minnesota but was not raised in Minnesota, this article hits the nail on the head.

  6. Still trying to decide if I should drive up this afternoon/evening… My budget of $150-200 for a ticket means it's very unlikely I'd attend the game…

    2. Someone asked another Minnesota native – All-Star reliever Glen Perkins – if he wanted to be a starter when he first started in baseball. “Yeah, but I stunk at it,” he said. “And then I wanted to be a reliever.”

      That's so Perk.

    3. I saw the interview Neshek did yesterday on FSN when he was really struggling to hold back the emotion, and the tears. I'll admit to choking up a bit myself while I watched it.

  10. Bulls have amnestied Boozer. He would make a very nice, 20-25 minute/game off the bench option for someone in need of a deep post threat.

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