Scouting Umpires

Here’s an interesting article about the fact that more teams are creating detailed scouting reports on umpires.  It doesn’t surprise me, and more detail in such reports is more possible today than it once was, because every game is now videotaped and teams go over videotape carefully.

However, Texas manager Ron Washington understates it when he says that in his day players only knew whether an umpire was a high-ball or low-ball umpire.  The pitchers and catchers, in particular, and the better or at least more observant hitters paid attention to things like how wide a zone umpires call, particularly with pitchers who can hit the catcher’s target just off the plate, and whether the ump will call the inside strike (a lot of umps are more willing to call a strike an inch or two off the plate away than call the inside strike on the black).

Also, pitchers and hitters have always been aware of which umpires have consistent strike zones and which one don’t.  Needless to say, both pitchers and hitters prefer the umpires with consistent zones, because they at least know what to expect and can adapt accordingly.

I wasn’t surprised either to see in the article that some teams make very detailed reports on umpires, but that other teams don’t make umpire reports at all.  The one problem with getting all the information that could possibly be useful is that you can end up with too much information to digest it all effectively.  Just ask the CIA on that.

I, for one, don’t see a lot of game-to-game use of knowing that an ump works as a cop in the off-season or likes to attend University of Wisconsin football games (at least, so long as there’s no observable bias in the umpire’s calls with respect to any particular MLB team, like, say, the Brewers.)  On the other hand, knowing that an umpire doesn’t like to call third strikes on close pitches is extremely valuable information, at least for those hitters who have a good enough eye to lay off corner pitches with two strikes (there are fewer of them than you might think, even at the major league level).

In fact, some players don’t want all that extra information because it gives them too many things to think about when they’re on the mound or in the batters’ box.  Most hitters would find it useful to know that the league’s pitchers are trying are trying to get them out with fastballs inside and sliders away (actually, that applies for most hitters in baseball), but don’t necessarily need or want to know anything more than that.

For a lot of players, keeping it simple is the name of the game.  Go up to the plate and sit on a certain pitch in a certain location the pitcher has had success with against you in the past.  If you get it, you clobber it.  If not, it’s grab some pine, meat! (to borrow Mike Krukow’s line)

Most players need to have a certain zen quietude in their minds to throw their pitches the way they want to or to swing at pitched balls.  Too much thinking about extraneous stuff in the heat of the moment isn’t as good as playing naturally and instinctively, i.e. letting their talent, practice and experience have free reign without too much in-depth analysis.

Still, in the long run, more information is almost always better than less information.  Even if only five or six players on your team find the additional information useful, it might help them win a couple of more ball games for the team over the course of the season.  At the major league level, that can be enough to decide whether a team is still playing in mid-October.