When Is a Strike a Strike or The Saga of Milton Bradley

Milton Bradley of the Chicago Cubs was ejected from a game the other day for arguing balls and strikes. The volatile Bradley was also handed down a two game suspension for making incidental contact with the umpire while arguing the call.

He was of course thrown out for saying the magic word or words that you’re not allowed to say to an umpire or on the radio, unless you want the FCC to come down on you.

I didn’t even notice the contact, and the only way you can really even see it is with a DVR and going in slow motion.

I’m not here to debate whether the pitch was a ball or a strike, or whether Bradley deserved the suspension. I’m here to debate if it should even have come down to this.

It’s a known fact that every umpire has his own strike zone, based on his interpretation of what is a strike. All a player asks for is for the umpire to be consistent.

I don’t buy that.

I don’t care if an umpire is consistent, if he’s consistently calling pitches that should be a ball a strike. That affects the whole game for both teams, because the hitters have to adjust to each umpire’s individual strike zone.

Therefore, every day there is a different strike zone.

How do you adjust if the umpire is giving the pitcher six inches off the plate like Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine lived on throughout their careers?

You can’t adjust because those pitches are unhittable and that’s why both of them will be first ballot Hall of Famers.

The strike zone is supposed to be from the knees to the letters or armpits, and across the diameter of the plate. Unfortunately that strike zone has not been in effect for many year.

When do you see a letter high pitch called a strike, even if it cuts the plate in two?

The announcers question the pitch saying it’s high, and how can you call that pitch a strike. But it is a strike, and I think it’s time major league baseball started enforcing the real strike zone.

In 2001, they made an attempt to do just that with the advent of QuesTec, a system that has cameras in various spots around the ballpark and judges how umpires call pitches based on the results of viewing their calls.

The umpires did not like this system, and did not like being judged on how they did their job.

Of course, none of us are ever judged on that. We are never evaluated by our bosses.

Give me a break.

The technology for QuesTec. was not available in all ballparks, but in a sampling of nine parks around baseball.

The suspicion raised among players and fans was that games were called differently in parks with QuesTec.

The umpires were hoping to get a high grade on their test results.

Over time, it became clear that QuesTec accomplished its goal of narrowing the strike zone closer to the width of the plate, and allowing for lower and higher strikes to be called as baseball rules require.

In 2009, a new system is in place called Zone Evaluation. It relies on data already collected from cameras in all thirty parks that track pitches for MLB.

According to Mike Port, baseball’s vice president of umpiring, it will more accurately evaluate an umpires’ performance.

But why do we even need the human element, when it seems a system is in place that can do the job better and eliminate the subjective strike zone of each individual umpire?

Also, when is a strike a strike?

Is it when it crosses the plate, or is it when the catcher receives the ball?

According to the rules and Bob Brenly, current Cub color analyst and a major league catcher for many years, it’s when the ball crosses the plate.

But if that’s the case, why does the catcher frame the pitch so the umpire can make the call? Shouldn’t it already be too late, based on that theory, to judge if it’s a ball or strike?

How many times does the ball cross the plate a strike, but ends up in the dirt when the catcher retrieves the ball? Do you even see that pitch called a strike?

The batter would go even crazier than the certified loon Bradley if that were the case.

Let’s eliminate this part of the game that can be so easily corrected.

I’m not saying get rid of the home plate umpire. I’m just saying let him just call plays at the plate and not balls and strikes.

You’re not allowed to argue balls and strikes and a manager is automatically ejected if he does. A player usually gets a little more latitude, but if they step over the line like Bradley did the other day, they’re going to be ejected. 

If you eliminate umpires calling balls and strikes, you also eliminate players and managers arguing about the calls.

You can’t argue with a robot, or an inhuman device.

To sum up, a strike should be a strike no matter who is umpiring that particular day. It should not be subjective.