I have a friend of the blog, Batgirl, living in MN05 that wonders if the USPS is going to take an even deeper hit now that the primary there is over.
34 thoughts on “August 12, 2020: In The Red”
It's a good name.
I'm announcing my baseball newsletter: Cup of Coffee.
Cup of Coffee, which will include my "And That Happened" feature and a daily baseball news digest, is a one-stop daily briefing before your first cup of coffee.
I like Craig's writing and am looking forward to Craig unleashed.
This. I'm into it.
Tonight's game is this week's Zoom Game. I'll have login info in the game log. Stop in and say hi to Stick and me.
Was your friend Batgirl?
...
i was involved in a group chat with said friend talking about the race, and i was indeed following the tweeter last night. now that you mention it, yup, i've likely conflated the two... sorry! that's what you get writing these at 1am.
seriously worried about the hit to USPS now that the #MN05 race is over
Unrelated, and I know we talked about her books recently, but... last night I finished a different book and the first acknowledgement was Anne Ursu. She seems to be popping up everywhere for me.
Well, what was the book? Inquiring minds want to know.
The Girl Who Drank The Moon.
Oh, that's such a good book! Kelly is another Minneapolis author, and she and Anne have known each other and supported each other's work for a long time.
That makes a lot of sense. Hey, when's our next book post? I'm actually reading my third consecutive MN author book right now...
Um, I meant to put up a book post a week ago Monday. You got a time machine? 😉
Work has been crazy, but I can try to do something for next week if it doesn't interfere with one of our other features. *looks pointedly at jobu*
I hear she's been doing some acknowledging lately too...
?
She did recommend an objectively excellent book to another author a few days ago.
Huge turning point in the game- if Kepler had gotten the walk he should have, would've loaded the bases with no outs. Then when the next batter (Polanco?- yep, had to check the boxscore but that was right) hit into a double play, it would have scored a run instead of ending the inning.
Not saying the ump could have known that was going to happen, but he gave the Brewers a free out and they capitalized on it.
And I'll give Morris credit for calling out the blown calls- he was not happy about it.
That's why I look forward to the electronic strike zone. People say, "Well, they don't miss very many." But a few missed calls--sometimes even one missed call--at the right (or wrong) time can completely change the course of the game.
I've had this debate with a few people in the stands, and I was able to win them over by suggesting that the umpire just has an earpiece that beeps when it's a strike.
Edit: google tells me that's how it works in the minor leagues anyway
This brings up a great pondering...if the uncertainty of ball/strike due to human "error" is "eliminated," just how dialed in will pro batters be able to be regarding the strike zone, and should that be manifested in improved offense or at the very least, to throw way back, reduced min/BIP?
I would like to know what the measurement error is going to be on any robot ump system and what the decision-making logic and time lag would be on wobbler calls.
The dimensions of the strike zone vary with the dimensions of the batter. Measuring those dimensions dynamically will be challenging. Will it be set by the batter standing upright, or by the batter in his stance? If the former, where do those measurements come from? If the latter, how will they adjust throughout an at-bat?
Or is this just going to be a Cyclops-like system for calling pitches left or right of the plate, leaving to the ump to determine the vertical?
also, do we trust the Astros not to hack the umping system?
Well, how do the umps determine the strike zone now? No reason sensors can't duplicate that. And if players/ pitchers get too dialed in, adjust the strike zone appropriately.
it's a wet black box with human umpires, but they generally make calls quickly and decisively.
I'm not diametrically opposed to the concept of computer or computer-aided umpiring. But I am skeptical. It seems like a much harder problem to solve satisfactorily with tech than the tennis line calls.
With tennis, the court is fixed and the lines are fixed and the relevant space is two dimensional. With baseball, the width and depth of the space is fixed, but the height is dynamic.
It's eminently doable.
The Atlantic League did it for half a season so we know how it would be done. For accuracy, turns out you can match up the zone called by umps with an electronic zone by applying a simple formula for the player's height to get the top and bottom. I hope MLB does something a bit more official (machine learning!!) but you can get close with simple guesses.
With your own eyes.
Umpire Jerry Meals took the bat out of Max Kepler's hands.
just got 4.25" rain in about two hours when the forecast did not call for rain this morning. so thats cool.
And I got the lawn mowed at lunch when it called for 40% chance of rain (it's sunny right now). Looks like the StL Weather Defense Shield is operational again.*
*I've been told by co-workers that Omaha also has one, and it's called the OmaDome.
Twice in the last two weeks I failed to clean up the yard before a rain and had to pick up wet, soggy dog poop afterwards. Maybe I should set a weather alert for rain on the cell phone.
It's a good name.
I like Craig's writing and am looking forward to Craig unleashed.
This. I'm into it.
Tonight's game is this week's Zoom Game. I'll have login info in the game log. Stop in and say hi to Stick and me.
Was your friend Batgirl?
...
i was involved in a group chat with said friend talking about the race, and i was indeed following the tweeter last night. now that you mention it, yup, i've likely conflated the two... sorry! that's what you get writing these at 1am.
Unrelated, and I know we talked about her books recently, but... last night I finished a different book and the first acknowledgement was Anne Ursu. She seems to be popping up everywhere for me.
Well, what was the book? Inquiring minds want to know.
The Girl Who Drank The Moon.
Oh, that's such a good book! Kelly is another Minneapolis author, and she and Anne have known each other and supported each other's work for a long time.
That makes a lot of sense. Hey, when's our next book post? I'm actually reading my third consecutive MN author book right now...
Um, I meant to put up a book post a week ago Monday. You got a time machine? 😉
Work has been crazy, but I can try to do something for next week if it doesn't interfere with one of our other features. *looks pointedly at jobu*
I hear she's been doing some acknowledging lately too...
?
She did recommend an objectively excellent book to another author a few days ago.
That's... something.
Huge turning point in the game- if Kepler had gotten the walk he should have, would've loaded the bases with no outs. Then when the next batter (Polanco?- yep, had to check the boxscore but that was right) hit into a double play, it would have scored a run instead of ending the inning.
Not saying the ump could have known that was going to happen, but he gave the Brewers a free out and they capitalized on it.
And I'll give Morris credit for calling out the blown calls- he was not happy about it.
That's why I look forward to the electronic strike zone. People say, "Well, they don't miss very many." But a few missed calls--sometimes even one missed call--at the right (or wrong) time can completely change the course of the game.
I've had this debate with a few people in the stands, and I was able to win them over by suggesting that the umpire just has an earpiece that beeps when it's a strike.
Edit: google tells me that's how it works in the minor leagues anyway
This brings up a great pondering...if the uncertainty of ball/strike due to human "error" is "eliminated," just how dialed in will pro batters be able to be regarding the strike zone, and should that be manifested in improved offense or at the very least, to throw way back, reduced min/BIP?
I would like to know what the measurement error is going to be on any robot ump system and what the decision-making logic and time lag would be on wobbler calls.
The dimensions of the strike zone vary with the dimensions of the batter. Measuring those dimensions dynamically will be challenging. Will it be set by the batter standing upright, or by the batter in his stance? If the former, where do those measurements come from? If the latter, how will they adjust throughout an at-bat?
Or is this just going to be a Cyclops-like system for calling pitches left or right of the plate, leaving to the ump to determine the vertical?
also, do we trust the Astros not to hack the umping system?
Well, how do the umps determine the strike zone now? No reason sensors can't duplicate that. And if players/ pitchers get too dialed in, adjust the strike zone appropriately.
it's a wet black box with human umpires, but they generally make calls quickly and decisively.
I'm not diametrically opposed to the concept of computer or computer-aided umpiring. But I am skeptical. It seems like a much harder problem to solve satisfactorily with tech than the tennis line calls.
With tennis, the court is fixed and the lines are fixed and the relevant space is two dimensional. With baseball, the width and depth of the space is fixed, but the height is dynamic.
It's eminently doable.
The Atlantic League did it for half a season so we know how it would be done. For accuracy, turns out you can match up the zone called by umps with an electronic zone by applying a simple formula for the player's height to get the top and bottom. I hope MLB does something a bit more official (machine learning!!) but you can get close with simple guesses.
With your own eyes.
Latest NL Central standings:
1. Reds
2. Pirates, 1 GB
3. Brewers, 2 GB
4. Cubs, 3 GB
5. Cardinals, 12 GB
NL East:
1. Braves
2. Mets, 1 GB
3. Nationals, 6 GB
4. Phillies, 7 GB
5. Marlins, 8 GB
just got 4.25" rain in about two hours when the forecast did not call for rain this morning. so thats cool.
And I got the lawn mowed at lunch when it called for 40% chance of rain (it's sunny right now). Looks like the StL Weather Defense Shield is operational again.*
*I've been told by co-workers that Omaha also has one, and it's called the OmaDome.
Twice in the last two weeks I failed to clean up the yard before a rain and had to pick up wet, soggy dog poop afterwards. Maybe I should set a weather alert for rain on the cell phone.