I've been saying this for years; combine the major and minor leagues umpires. With today's technology allowing for a good rating system, move the 5 worse umps down a league while moving the best 5 up. Do this every winter break. No one is fired but it does give incentive to do their best.
Great idea, and at the same time let's introduce promotion and relegation to American sports teams! You can't afford to just tank your season if you'll get relegated, it keeps teams honest.
@@markh3271 I’m not saying you’re wrong but it says something about your belief structure that without fear of being fired people don’t have incentive to perform at a high level. There’s virtually no way I could be fired from my job and I don’t make much but I still perform at a high level because it’s the right thing to do. FWIW I am also an umpire and probably couldn’t get fired from that job either and I still try to do my best. Even when I have a lousy game it’s not because I was mailing it in.
@@Niel2760 I agree with you that most people try their best at every opportunity. An occasional bad outing can happen. That being said, why are there only a few who make the lowlight reels with regularity. Joe West and Angel Hernandez are 2 that come to mind. In most jobs any one making that many mistakes would be asked to seek other employment.
Angel Hernandez: "Runner is OUT" Fan: "No he was safe" After a replay review the crew chief signals 'Safe' Hernandez: "What's your name?" Fan: "Stevie Wonder"
Great video. The league is slowly heading in the direction of robo umps, and it's because people are fed up with low-quality umpiring. The irony is that if the Umpires Union had any accountability, they would be able to improve their on-field performance and we might not need robo umps, so in a way, they're removing themselves from the game. The arrogance.
See it’s crazy because sometimes the calls are what make the game the game I don’t rlly think every call being called right will be better .. I think the same people complaining about real umpires will be definitely the same people complaining about robot umps because they won’t get the calls wrong so ppl gotta remember that yea the human miss calls but what one do you want a couple bad calls or every call being right I think I would stick with the one or two bad days .. my opinion
@@Yankeesarod13 I...but...*what*? Why are you okay with anything less than 100% correct? This isn't the fucking WWE. This is the stupidest fucking thing I've read all day. You *want* bad calls? Jesus Christ, pack it in boys, fans want umpires fucking things up for everyone.
@@Yankeesarod13 Thats the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Of course, most people want the right call every time. Sound to me your team has benefitted from more bad calls going their way rather than going against them
It’s a vicious cycle. The worst umps turn into the most egotistical umps because they know the union has their back and no one’s going to take their job away no matter how much they deserve it. Probably some Dunning-Kruger mixed in there too.
@@untexan Yeah, over the years (decades, really) Ive noticed unions have turned into the very thing that made them necessary in the first place. Corruption eventually gets into everything.
How cute you don't think they're doing what they're told. No union in the world can stop someone from getting fired for poor performance. They're kept around bc the league knows they'll help dictate outcomes
@@deusvult6920 it's even worse in the NFL. Where blatant holds and face masks go on called and random pass interference gets called to help cover or not cover the spread
@@deusvult6920 Actually some unions make it really hard to fire someone. It's a problem for education as well. Really hard to fire bad teachers because unless you can 100% prove they are doing a bad job, which is hard, you are getting sued.
The kind of farm system they have for umpires is actually insane. It just proves that they actually don’t have to fold to the union. If I was getting paid 2k per month and someone offered me 200k per year to abandon all loyalty to the union, I wouldn’t hesitate for a single second
the issue with this is the fact that since its so hard to get a job and that the union probably has some say on who makes it given their strength they'll find umpires who will obey the union more so that the ones that won't
I simply do not understand how there is any sort of umpires union why would MLB condone such an organization when there is clearly no need to negotiate with them
@@christiangrosjean2980 my only guess is they legally bind the umpires to the union from the very beginning. Like you can’t take the course without pledging loyalty to the union in a legally binding manner. Somewhat similar to how non disclosure agreements work so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a binding agreement
I think it's also worth pointing out how often instant replay shows that they got the (incredibly difficult) calls right. Thank you for addressing this subject so fairly.
One out of 76 positions opening up isn’t sustainable. Unless we end up with 95 year old umpires at the major league level! Now that would really be a problem, haha!
There should be a mandatory retirement age for any sports officials. They already have pensions . I work with a woman in her 70s and a good portion of my day is correcting things she is unaware of because of her poor eyesight
You also need ball and strike tracking for minor league games. Then, you can get excellent ump performances there to get more attention, creating demand to bring up the good performers into the majors.
I like that idea! The stats of MLB umpires giving pressure for demotion of bad umps, and stats of MiLB umpires giving pressure for promotion of good umps.
ive seen a player thrown out because he said to himself i can't believe i swung at that. say another guy thrown out for laughing at a joke a fan said to him about a tv show
Bad example. The rules of the game specifically prohibit arguing balls and strikes. However, a player or manager should not be ejected for asking the location of a pitch.
One of the problems with human umps is that they basically _have_ to have big egos. Fans are absurdly mean to umps, and if they're not mentally resilient they basically can't be umps at any level. A lot of the time that resilience takes the form of a huge ego.
@@jgray2718 but being truly resistant to that stuff would require setting aside that ego, not taking it so personally that they affect game outcomes because of their feelings.
I like to use this analogy when talking about called strikes/balls, especially with older people/traditionalists who seem to defend umpires at all costs. If a baseball player had a fielding percentage of around 94%, they'd say that he's a bad fielder (I know. There are way better fielding metrics but bear with me). When umpires routinely scores below that on Umpire Scorecard, no one bats an eye. They both have their challenges, no doubt. But I think we all know which job is by far more difficult.
Yeah, the calling of balls and strikes is clearly the more difficult one. You don't like a SS fielding at 94% because probably 85% of their plays are the easiest plays they have to make. Not so with an umpire working the plate. I mean, pitching is literally about working the edges of the zone, the precise place where the harder calls are. Yes, they still miss pitches down the middle from time to time, but SS also miss handle weak grounders.
I understand, and agree their will always be the human element to getting calls wrong. I have no issue on close calls. But some of these umpires are blowing calls that are not even close. I don't even mind when an umpire behind the plate has a wide or high/low strike zone, so long as they are consistent. Problem is too many umpires call the same pitch differently too often. I pitcher could throw the same pitch in the same location 4 times and the count can be 2-2. I had the same thought in my playing days (quite some time ago). If an umpire behind the plate was calling the same pitch the same way for an entire game, then I has a hitter could adjust.
It's always been that way, that pitchers and batters can adjust. The inconsistency really does point to a problem. Also, you can't miss by a full baseball width. Gotta catch some plate. Gotta be high or low enough to hit.
Baseball umps are too old, fat, bitter, jaded, childish and hold grudges. I promise you, if you got younger, hungry umps dying to do that job and do it right, you'd see a HUGE improvement in games called. But noooo..the union fights for people like Angel Hernandez or fatty Joe West who had been doing it for like 40 years who would hold personal grudges and was completely comfortable knowing nothing could happen to him cause the union would back him
It doesn't even make sense to me that mlb deals with this idiotic situation with umpires union, since all the mlb umps in their union suck anyway and aren't getting the job done that the mlb pays for
Great video - great analysis and content. I wish the umpires - or at least the crew chief would be required to give postgame press interviews like the managers do. They would be immediately accountable for any poor performance from that game.
Those interviews would be pointless most of the time. Reporter: "What happened on that call at first base in the 6th?" Crew Chief: "I don't know. I was at third base."
Thanks for this. As a lifetime baseball fan, I had no idea of many of these details, like the umps' union's bogus rating system. I went to a AAA game in my adopted hometown of Albuquerque this season and saw a game with electronically-called balls and strikes. I'm an old man, but this didn't bother me at all, and I have younger friends who thought it was a travesty because, I guess, tradition. I think electronics are ultimately the answer for the strike zone. I don't have time to look up who the best umpires are -- my job takes up about 60 hours a week and I barely have time to watch a few ballgames. But I see enough bad ball and strike calls just in a single game that I've started feeling optimistic about electronic calls, and your video doesn't give me much hope for positive change in the level of umpiring excellence. (BTW, one of the things I like about the top level of baseball is that it's not THE MLB, it's just Major League Baseball. The NFL may be "the NFL," and same with the NHL and the NBA, but "the MLB" really doesn't mean anything grammatically.)
Thank you so much for making this video!! This is something that has blown my mind since I've become a fan of baseball. Bring on the robots or just some younger umpires.
keep the umps. step 1: take away inside/outside calls, give them an ear-piece that beeps when the ball in the zone (over the plate). umpire still calls high and low, and check swings. Step 2: take away high and low calls. again, now the ear -piece beeps when the ball is completely in the zone. they are still there to 'manage the game', call check swings, balks, plays at the plate, etc. Step 3: take away the check swings. again, now the ear-piece beeps when the player's swing crosses the plate. after Step 3, the umpire is essentially just there to call balks, call time, plays at the plate, etc. now, all other calls are reviewable, so if they screw up a play at the plate, ultimately that gets reviews. problem solved. umpire union is happy, because everyone still has a job. fans happy, because balls and strike calls are now automated, nothing to complain about. you are welcome
Unions serve a hugely important role in our society, but anything can go too far, and this issue of unions preventing accountability happens outside of baseball. Think police unions that make it hard to get rid of bad cops, teachers unions protecting bad teachers, etc. - I think this happens more often when a union has membership in an organization that doesn't have a good competitor if the organization fails. Think monopolies (like MLB) and government institutions (like police departments).
I will say most of the time the umpires get the calls correct but sometimes its really bad. I know the images of broadcast are not official we have all watched a game where you cannot possible believe how bad the calls are. Its very frustrating for fans There needs to be accountability for umpires. I understand the umpire union's job if to look out for its members but they need to be held to a high standard and should not be excused from that high standard just because they are in a union. In the next round of contract negotiations I hope MLB plays hardball with them the same way they did with the players. This is just one of many issues the MLB needs to address. They have an aging fan base with less newer fans coming in. Change needs to happen in many areas.
At 9:06 just realized thats the New Britain Bees stadium with the Stanley works adds in the back. Grew up going to that field when they were still the rock cats. Love to see them included in the background footage
I would like to see automated balls and strikes. That would mean the strike zone is uniform each game. The pitchers and batters will know what the strike zone is. Imagine if in tennis, the lines moved depending who the officials are. The home plate umpire should be there for calls at the plate and giving new balls to the catcher.
The problem with robot ups is that you take away a vital skill from catchers in framing, a lot of back ups and low end catchers make their living from that. Plus unlike every other sport that uses hawkeye systems the strike zone is not consistent & people underestimate how much they would miss the human element
@@mclowes1546 as a former pitcher, I would have preferred a consistent strike zone. As for framing, isn’t that a bit like lying? It would be a totally unnecessary skill. Would you miss oil changes in an all EV world?
The thing is, the strike zone height changes from batter to batter. Not sure if the technology can adjust. I haven't noticed, but does the strike zone box on TV change with every batter, or is it the same square? I know each TV station has a different k zone.
@@mae2759 In the minors, each team gets a set amount of strike zone challenges per game - and if they win the challenge, they keep it. A camera is located in dead-center field, and the challenge is done via computer. It adjusts well for each individual player's strike zone.
@@mae2759on tv? Yes that strike zone box changes with the batter. The ABS system (robo ump) does change with each batter, they are also currently working on making the system able to handle a 3d strike zone, currently it is a 2d strike zone. Personally with a little more development im sure we will see a perfect system in the near future. Honestly all you really need are a few more cameras at multiple different angles and can write a program that is able to take that data and piece together a three dimensional zone to see if a ball crosses. You need 1 camera looking directly down on home plate from above, 2 both looking at home plate at 45 angles 1 on each side of the plate and the one that we already have that shows the 2d zone on tv. Should be enough imo.
I'm not an employment lawyer. But to me it seems like the MLB should refuse to deal with the 'major league umpire's association'... It seems to me like the mlua is like a vendor who promises to supply you with a product, but their product (umpires) is substandard because the mlua won't let you return or throw away any of the product.
Robot umps aren't infallible. A pitch, probably a bouncing breaking ball, can be so bad that it is called good. The minor-league player who was ejected for "arguing with the robot" was actually arguing with the human ump who refused to override a ridiculous call by the robot.
@@roberthudson1959Some years ago they tried out a ball/strike calling system. That system went away once the catchers figured out that they could get a strike every time by putting their glove in the strike zone.
People overestimate the accuracy of robo umps. But they give the appearance of accuracy, and you are never going to get a terribly called game from them.
I have seen other videos point out that the overall accuracy numbers of an umpire's ball/strike calls isn't the most important stat. You really should ONLY look at pitches that a) aren't swung at, and b) were close enough that the umpire actually needed to use judgement. I'd guess that the umpires that perform below average would look even worse when it is broken down that way. Caveat: for pitches that were swung at, you might also consider the accuracy of umps calling whether a swing was checked or not, whether the ball was fair or foul, etc. And, of course, you'd want to look at more than balls and strikes anyway. I think collecting and publishing data on how often calls get overturned upon instant replay review would be a good idea as well.
I am so tired of people citing those three bad calls in this manner. Two of the calls were super close. Getting all shitty at someone because they missed a super close call is not a reasonable thing to do. And then, in an even shittier move, you cite a lawsuit that had been filed well over a year earlier as if it were filed in the 2018 offseason. As for the meat of the video, I don't hate your discussion. Personally, I've been thinking there needs to be a relegation/promotion system. Not sure how many positions, but the idea of the best AAA umps getting a shot every year and the worst MLB umps getting dropped down for at least a year is interesting. The first few years it might be a bit off given that the AAA umps will all be rookies, but after a few years, you will have umpires jumping back and forth enough that a good number of the AAA umps will be former MLB umps. This will never happen, but it's a nice idea with probably a fatal flaw I haven't found. I'd also be up for umpire specialization. There is no reason for every ump to need to work the plate. If I were in charge, at least half of the umpires wouldn't call strikes. This will also never happen because I doubt any umpire would want to do that and basically suffer the crowd every night rather than one in four. Automated zones would really help with this.
As a man who went to the Wendelstedt school in Florida, it seemed like if I wanted to get selected to be a minor league umpire I needed to not only graduate the class that year but would've had to go on the road in a semi-pro league making just enough to survive and pay for the next "year" at the school and only then if I was good enough would I even be considered for a position in the minors. I say that because in my class out of the 150 people that were in my class 20-30 got selected for a secondary selection process and all that were selected were 2nd straight year guys could be a coincidence yes but far too coincidental to not be noted. Also upon graduation every single student I talked to at the school under the age of 25 was told they "had what it takes but would just need to hone skills for another year and try again".
Fantastic video! I have another solution: If MLB Umpires impact players financially, because of bad calls, the players should sue the umpire personally. Although I am an attorney, I do think society is way to litigious, however, sometimes the only way to right a wrong is to address the issue in court. And usually, when money is involved, and in this case, the MLB and players, we are talking millions of dollars in contracts for players and stats are everything. So maybe if MLB umpires start getting personally sued for their “malpractice,” like any other professional who makes mistakes, maybe the system will change.
@@Fryed_Bryce lol… I always wonder why people respect doctors and not lawyers. You know what a doctor’s lifetime professional batting average is? 0.000 Every single one of their patients die. They save no one. My professional batting average? Win/loss? 0.900 or above. Hhhmmmmm…….
@@robertpinizzotto1548 Where i come from, we respect Sanitation Professionals more than lawyers! Was it Shakespeare who noted that attorneys engaged in the 2nd oldest profession, and that it bore some striking resemblance to the oldest profession?
@@inconnu4961 lol…. I have heard them all. Imagine if we used the same jokes and comments but put in other occupations and professions. What do you, or did you, do for a living. Here is an example: What do you call a bus load of cops (put your occupation/profession here) who drive off a cliff? A good start. Not so funny? Lighten up. We lawyers have put up with that stuff for hundreds of years. PS: Most of my clients hated lawyers too. Right up until the time they retained me to represent them for whatever they did wrong.
Every video that mentions Angel Hernandez has this comment in the comments sections, but I haven't seen it yet, so I'll say it; If Angel Hernandez had an extra eye, he would be a cyclops.
There seems to be a some trends with unions that applies to the umpire problem pretty well. 1) Positions of authority and power do not need unions. The entire point of a union is to level bargaining power. 2) Positions of authority and power are best-equipped to form a union by the fact that the position is authoritative and powerful. 3) Unions for positions of authority and power are the most publicly accepted unions because people are far more willing to give benefit of the doubt or outright deference to authority and power. 4) Unions for positions of authority and power erode accountability and degrade quality because no union for such position can serve the intended purpose of a union. Which is why A) supporting unions in general is not incompatible with opposing unions for certain people or positions B) the Umpire's union is far stronger than the Player's union C) the Umpire's union isn't going away
Best way to fix bad umping is to change the crews to have 2 good home plate umps on each crew. Let the home plate umps rotate and let the field crew rotate around the diamond. Aka you can't fire angel hernandez at least never let him call balls and strikes again!
The attitude and unprofessionalism needs to be addressed as well. They are human and will make mistakes but when they instigate or are confrontational or basically act like a spoiled child. They forget the game isn't about them.
The reason people are even discussing robo-umps is because the umpire union keeps bad umpires in MLB games. How can they not see that they are shooting themselves in the foot? How is it they don't see that Angel Hernandez being a household name has tarnished their reputation? If the umps are just good enough to not impact the game with bad calls we wouldn't be having this conversation. Great video.
I’ve always been amazed by the extra 2” MLB & the ump union use for grading umpires. Home plate is 17” wide. If you give an extra 2” on each side, those 4” represent a 24% error across the 17” plate. Where else in this world do you get to be 24% wrong, declare it accurate and keep your job?
Unless you've put on a Umpire mask, called balls and strikes, or had "Bang Bang" play at first base, people will never understand just how hard it is to umpire baseball, regardless of what level..
Yes. Anyone can make the call when the replay is slowed down and you watch it 3 times. Technology has exposed that officiating baseball is difficult and imperfect at game speed
@@Downsouthroots unfortunately, people won't. They watch the (inaccurate) broadcaster's box on the TV and then think they can do better than the real umps.
What about introducing relegation for umpires? Bottom 7 get dropped to AAA each year and you bring up some fresh meat with younger eye balls Oh yeah…unions
I've said the only way to remedy this is to hit them in the wallet. If an ump makes an obvious bad call, the end result is usually an argument with the manager, who then gets thrown out. If managers then either refuse to leave, or forfeit the game and take their team into the locker room, fans will demand their money back. That would force MLB to take a look at the situation and maybe make changes.
Simple system, but they'll never go for it: If, by whatever grading system the umps want to use (MLBs, or their own, or a third party), if you finish in the bottom ten percent of the grading, you don't get fired, but you get demoted down to AAA, and the requisite number of the best umps in AAA get promoted for the next season. This would apply throughout the system. Bottom get sent down to the next lowest level, best get called up a level. Refuse to be demoted, you get suspended (since Unions don't like firing anyone). If that demoted ump performs good enough at the lower level to be promoted again, then go ahead and send them back up. Maybe they've worked on their craft and learned how to be more accurate. If they can have a system that grades their umpires enough to decide who gets to work postseason games, they can expand the privileges to working on the MLB level at all. The best performing umps, even at the bottom levels of the minor league, are guaranteed to move up and get their shot to move up again or stay at the higher level if they can stay out of "relegation." Unions will make themselves obsolete if they continue to shelter their poorest performing members (and this goes for all unions, not just sports) at the expense of making their product better by getting better people in the system. We're looking at robotic strike zones because umpire unions refuse to change themselves or insist on excellence from their own ranks. They tolerate the Angel Hernandez's of the world, but that doesn't mean MLB has to.
You're probably too young to remember the Umpire Strikes of 79 and 99 but the replacement umps we got for those seasons were so awful it makes guys like Hernandez and CB Bucknor looks good. Hence why the Umpire's union has the power it does. Maybe with MLB itself doing the invitation only Umpire's school we could see more consistent officiating.
I remember when I was in little league there was an umpire nobody liked. There was an A level minor league baseball team in town whose games I would go to often, and he was an ump there a few times too. Nobody liked him at the minor league game either. I never really thought about it back then, but every once in a while now, many years later, I think about that umpire and I wonder about the average umpire career progression. I really didn't like him.
Good presentation, great background on the path for Umpires to Major League level. Great Stats backing up your argument. Question: If MLB employs 76 umpires and an average of 1 retiree per year, that would mean that an umpire would be in the SHOW for 76 years. This past year and If I recall previous years there have been 10 or more per year. Do I agree its a tough and darn near impossible road to the majors, its understated in this presentation. You go and try to find a 90+mph fastball flying at you and judge 2 inches left or right in the blink of an eye. With the distraction of a batter and catcher in your face. Don't add in the pressure of a game, score, managers, coaches, fans, and other intangibles in there. Do you have a margin of error in your job? Did you have any stats or #'s in your presentation incorrect, without the added pressure and blink of an eye timing needed? Oh my apologies. I do agree that umpiring can improve, incentives to become improved and perform better, absolutely. You suggest that MLB should openly post statistics and report cards for umpires. Sounds like a good idea, I'd be in support of that. More use of Robo-Umpire strikezone, but define the strike zone please. Define check-swing? Define runner's path. Oh gosh wait, it requires a bit of interpretation and judgement.
It goes beyond bad calls too. Umpires, the enforcer of the rules, don't even have to know the rules half the time. They can pick and choose what rules to enforce at whim. They can nit pick the most obscure rule, ones that let them affect the game. Or blatantly ignore a violation if they want. Umpires are human yes, and at times that is a problem as they let emotions decide how they enforce rules. I am not usually one for AI or robots taking over human jobs, but I think Robo Umpires will massively help Baseball. As long as the people don't the programing keep it fair.
I’m a little divided on this. I think that everything should be done to make every call in the field correctly. Fair/foul; calls at first; home runs; catches: all of these need to be right, and umps who have a problem with these calls being overturned when they’ve made a mistake should be fired or demoted. Everyone should accept that mistakes will sometimes be made. It’s great that they can be fixed under replay. As far as the strike zone is concerned, I’m worried that perfection is being demanded. So many of the great pitchers have had the ability to get home plate umps to expand the strike zone as the game has gone on because of their precision. Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine come to mind. There used to be a real difference between AL and NL strike zones, when AL umps used external chest protectors, and stood up at full height to call balls and strikes. This had an effect on the World Series, especially. Strike zone quirks are part of the game as much as ballpark quirks, in my opinion, and should remain part of the game. Getting rid of them would materially change the game, at least.
You just don't fully understand what you're talking about. The umps ARE actually accountable, there is a system which grades them, according to this metrics they receive playoff assignments for example. And yes, they can be fined for their poor performance. But what the general public don't understand is what considered to be poor performance. Making an out call where there should've been safe is NOT a mistake! It's a judgement call. It's written in the rules! Mistakes are poor positioning, poor game management (including comm skills) and, of course, misinterpretation of the rules. For that they are accountable and they CAN actually be fined and disciplined otherwise. Yes, the union has its own policies and they don't disclose any info to the public. The reason being, umps are subject to enormous pressure as it is, disclosing this info will only add to that. Moreover, the majority of the people can't properly assess the umps work, because they just don't have necessary skills to do that! As for the strike ball calling, all metrics systems which we have (umps scorecards, UEFL and others) show the umps have become significantly better in this regard for the past 5 years, the average score being 96-97% which is fantastic! Robo ump just cannot do that! It';s actually much worse than the reasonably well trained human umpire! Instead of focusing on Angel, focus on Tumpane, Libka, Guccione, Hoberg, May, just look at what they do!
Here's the MLB umpire problem in a nutshell, IMHO. I worked over 3,000 ball games as an amateur umpire, almost all of it for one association. We were trained, for example, while on the bases to kill the ball if we saw a batted ball hit a batter in the foot. We immediately raised our arms and yelled "DEAD BALL". Not "FOUL BALL" because we had no idea where the batter was and even if we did it's the plate umpire's call as to where the batter was. In the Majors we've all seen the umpire's huddle and try to figure out if a batted ball hit the batter. We've all seen them rule that it did hit the batter. That means one of the three base umpires SAW it hit the batter, yet said NOTHING at the time. The reason they won't call it when they see it is because a) they don't want an argument, and b) they don't want to "show up" another umpire. It's asinine. If it looks like it did hit the batter's foot and you do or don't call it, you're going to get an argument either way. If you see it, call it, and know the argument was inevitable. As for showing up another umpire, that's a pure ego thing and an umpire's ego is meaningless once you step out onto the field. Simply put, we are there to get the calls right and to apply the rules in order to give each to an equal shot at winning the game under the rules. MLB umpires are fast becoming like the modern cops. Arrogant beyond all belief because they know they will never be held to account.
The biggest problem Angel has isn’t so much his zone. It’s that he’ll randomly just have some completely awful calls, which makes it particularly difficult to hit against. You just never know when he’s going to forget what the strike zone looks like for a pitch. Then he goes back to calling a decent game for about 20 pitches.
Ya, there needs to be a website just like the game report cards for umps that records and compiles their stats over the year. And like others have said, electronic balls and strikes takes alot of the guesswork out of it. Umps are still needed for a host of all other calls and situations, but for balls and strikes, just leave that to the computers. Makes their job easier and there's no disputing or arguing against a computer.
I'd offer another partial solution. Introduce 10% Ump promotion and relegation while restructuring ump payscales to a base plus system. Base plus would incentivise and reward good performances while giving MLB and the union a mechanism for advertising both the quality of ump work and the integrity of the game (ie congrats to this July's ump of the month who had and accuracy rating of 98.4... Or congrats to ump "Fred" who has earned X bonus level)... and hopefully stave off robo-umps. Also umps should compete for playoff starts based on purely their work in the season (no seniority).
MLB umpiring has been in decline for some time, especially with respect to interpretation of the strike zone. I remember the Braves' trio of Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine consistently getting six inches on the outside of the strike zone. It got so flagrant Braves catcher Javy Lopez would often set up with one foot outside of the catchers' box. How often do you see a strike called on a pitch above the belt buckle? I'm frustrated to the point of being in favor of an automated strike zone system.
Since the pandemic, there are only 4 levels of official Minor League Baseball - Single-A, High-A, AA, AAA. The Rookie and Short-Season levels were abolished -- most of those leagues either folded or became college summer leagues. I'm not sure there are as many umps in the system, but (to be fair) this doesn't really change the odds much. No matter, though, because electronic umpiring is making its way to The Show.
This is the subject that is the second reason why I have not attended a professional Baseball game. The other is the cost per person of everything in the game.
@@Fryed_Bryce Let's see: Where do you live that pro MLB tickets are $8. My children, well, 2 are doctors, one is a lawyer, and my daughter is a US Navy F-18 pilot. No they are not dumb.
Totally agree. Now, the errors, bad calls & arguments are all part of the game. But to your point,... I love the new evaluation process of umpires so they can be held accountable & we can rate how good they are. MLB should stop covering for them umps and the ump union is full of crap. they should fire Hernandez immediately. Fire the bottom 20% every year so better umps can move up. Force bad umps out. Umps should move up to the ML's, and down to the minor's just like players.
the fact of the matter is, most of the MLB umpires do an excellent job. there are just a few who do a consistently lousy job and/or handle situations badly. it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones (Marty Foster, Hernandez, Ron Kulpa, etc.)
I used to work in the press box next to the guys who judged the umps in double A. And we spoke often, the guy admitted that the average ump in AA in 2019 was better than the average ump in MLB and that's considering they only have 3 umps instead of 4.....it's ridiculous. Also, by the way, if an ump doesn't move up to the next level in 3 seasons they get demoted no matter no matter what. Even if the only reason they didn't move up was just because there wasn't a slot in the next level.
Honestly if your average drops below 94% you should be moved down a level and whoever has the highest accuracy rating moves up. It should be on a monthly basis too, if you're on a bad streak you'll move down and want to tighten up to get back up to the majors.
Balls and strikes are by far the biggest problem. Humans are no where near good enough to be considered competent at calling a good enough game regarding balls and strikes.Players are forced to “adjust” to the umpire which is completely counter to both roles. Plays on the field are also tough, but the video challenge has helped a lot.
I'm a new fan of baseball (within the last 3 years) but I've always felt the degree of leeway with umps is more about the purity of human error in baseball. Not saying this to defend them but more saying as scrutiny and tech improved other aspects of baseball has to improve as well. I get having human error be a factor but it's wrong when players don't get that same respect for human error.
I actually noticed Holberg’s perfect game, because strike calling is notoriously bad. If umpires don’t want replaced with robots calling games, they certainly aren’t doing themselves any favors. Angel Hernandez is the biggest case exhibit for robot umps. I completely agree with the presence and need for unions, but the Umpire’s Union needs to realize that they’re representing themselves out of existence. They have got to make some concessions if they don’t want replaced, because robo umps don’t need union representation.
He is so right. It sounded good but it will NEVER fix the problem! The union is not going to do one thing to make things any better. They don't have too. Look at the people running MLB today. Not one of them has a backbone. Every one of them will make a regular trip to a lumber yard to pick up a 2 x 4 to use to help them be able to stand up right. You would think that when joe west left things would have gotten even a little better. The day he retired should have been made a holiday in the league all the way down to Single "A" ball. It is not the union, the leaders of MLB or even the owners that can fix this very bad problem. It is the FANS that HOLD ALL the POWER! And I mean ALL the POWER to change things or better yet runoff some umps. Look at a game where an ump tosses a player. If the player even touches the ump, he gets some time off & he is going to be writing a check. But the ump can grab a player or coach, push him or just put their hands on them & what happens? I have seen an ump rush the mound to get to a player or how about rubbing a player's hand to look for something that is even not there. The player opens his mouth & he is GONE!! NOTHING-NOT ONE DAM THING HAPPENS TO UMPS! You ever hear of an ump being fine & going some time off for even touching a player or coach? All the FANS need to do is pick out just ONE game. A game that is going to be on National TV. Then use social media & tell ALL the FANS to not go to that GAME! A game that is broad cast nationwide for everyone to see. The league will lose their mind. I bet we see a couple of heads explode! The OWNERS will go crazy. Think about ALL the MONEY they will lose on just ONE GAME. It does to stop there. There are people that sell everything from Hot Dogs to Beer to ice cream to peanuts. The FANS can tell MLB that these umps must answer up just like the Players & Coaches. People make mistakes & I can see that but look at hernadaz. He is the WORST after west. Then to SLAP the FANS in the face Joe wanted to allow the worst ump in the league from pro to farm clubs work a playoff game!!! BOYCOTT JUST ONE GAME-JUST ONE GAME & the fans fix the problem. Remember this "BOYCOTT" one game!!!!!
@@charlesbarkley223 It is so true but we the fans hold ALL the POWER. It is up to us to save a great game our own National Pastime. If the Fans could just get together pick a game & then BOYCOTT, it. Not one single person goes into watch the game-NOT ONE! The league would come unglued & go CRAZY. The owners would lose their mind. Think about the money they would lose if the FANS were to boycott just that one game. Don't forget the networks. I don't know what they would do. One thing that would be easy is to have the players walk off the field. The problem with that the league & owners would see that as a work stoppage. But they could not bring their "A" game. Either way it is up to "We the People" to save the game!!
@@mitchellfraser634 that's true but that would also be so bad for the game I don't want to kill the game to save it baseball is already losing enough fans if rob Manfred cared about baseball he would know the umpires union is bad for the mlb and its honestly obnoxious af that this union thinks they're bigger than the game
So I had been putting off watching this video but I had to stop at the part with the two inch margin of error. So when we're looking at pitch data, typically it is done with a 2D strikezone. The margin of error is there because a strike zone is 3D and pitches move. A LOT. So that is there to account for pitches that will move into the zone but wasn't in the zone initially. We need technology to catch up before we can get rid of the margin of error.
Admittedly, it is often difficult and scarce to see. Shadows and game situation. They don't have a SloMo view from above like we do. But a VAR? But they also mess it up, look at soccer. But they definitely have an aggression problem or complex ones, and are resistant to argumentation. Like this. I don't want the job. But they need good new staff. And that UNTIL YESTERDAY!!
Would be great to have the AAA umps involved in a forced rotation of best performing AAA replacing the worst performing MLB umps each year. To do that we'd need those accuracy and disciplinary stats made public. As an added bonus maybe some of the more offensive umps would change their on-field behavior?
I remember in highschool there was this game where the pitcher threw it into the dirt and it bounced into the catchers glove. The umpire called it a strike and EVERYONE was in disbelief. I was the pitcher so the next inning I threw one in the dirt and yelled at the umpire for not calling it a strike. He then threw me out and there was a riot after the game. Let’s just say the umpire never came back.
Baseball is the only sport where umps have an outside personality. For some reason it always disturbed me when local sports radio guys interviewed umps like Joe West hocking his next music album that nobody will buy. I wouldn't have a problem with horrible calls if the people behind those calls didn't have egos who think they're beyond the game. Modern technology is only confirming what boomer fans have witnessed for decades. I'm glad we now have real ways to measure how bad MLB umpires have always been.
With 76 umps it won't be 1 call up per year for long unless umps are built to last 110+ years. I would think 2-4 per year on average over a long period of time is more likely.
I used to be opposed to robo umps calling games. But after seeing Hernandez in action way too many times, I'm now fully in support of robo umps calling the games.
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You are a bullshitter. Umpires are better trained than ever. Your expectation of perfection is childish and naive.
I've been saying this for years; combine the major and minor leagues umpires. With today's technology allowing for a good rating system, move the 5 worse umps down a league while moving the best 5 up. Do this every winter break. No one is fired but it does give incentive to do their best.
Great idea, and at the same time let's introduce promotion and relegation to American sports teams! You can't afford to just tank your season if you'll get relegated, it keeps teams honest.
Your assumption is that umpires are not giving their best effort?
@@Niel2760 They have little to no incentive to do their absolute best at every game.
@@markh3271 I’m not saying you’re wrong but it says something about your belief structure that without fear of being fired people don’t have incentive to perform at a high level. There’s virtually no way I could be fired from my job and I don’t make much but I still perform at a high level because it’s the right thing to do. FWIW I am also an umpire and probably couldn’t get fired from that job either and I still try to do my best. Even when I have a lousy game it’s not because I was mailing it in.
@@Niel2760 I agree with you that most people try their best at every opportunity. An occasional bad outing can happen. That being said, why are there only a few who make the lowlight reels with regularity. Joe West and Angel Hernandez are 2 that come to mind. In most jobs any one making that many mistakes would be asked to seek other employment.
Angel Hernandez has two estranged sons.
Their names are Strike and Zone.
He hasn't seen either one in years.
🤣🤣🤣
Funded by FTX (check his shirt)
bravo!
Slow clap....
Angel Hernandez: "Runner is OUT"
Fan: "No he was safe"
After a replay review the crew chief signals 'Safe'
Hernandez: "What's your name?"
Fan: "Stevie Wonder"
Great video. The league is slowly heading in the direction of robo umps, and it's because people are fed up with low-quality umpiring. The irony is that if the Umpires Union had any accountability, they would be able to improve their on-field performance and we might not need robo umps, so in a way, they're removing themselves from the game. The arrogance.
We should still get robo umps because getting calls right is more important than having them be made by some jackass wearing blue.
Umpires are improving, umps are better than ever especially new young umps
See it’s crazy because sometimes the calls are what make the game the game I don’t rlly think every call being called right will be better .. I think the same people complaining about real umpires will be definitely the same people complaining about robot umps because they won’t get the calls wrong so ppl gotta remember that yea the human miss calls but what one do you want a couple bad calls or every call being right I think I would stick with the one or two bad days .. my opinion
@@Yankeesarod13 I...but...*what*? Why are you okay with anything less than 100% correct? This isn't the fucking WWE. This is the stupidest fucking thing I've read all day. You *want* bad calls? Jesus Christ, pack it in boys, fans want umpires fucking things up for everyone.
@@Yankeesarod13 Thats the most ridiculous thing I ever heard. Of course, most people want the right call every time. Sound to me your team has benefitted from more bad calls going their way rather than going against them
Good umpires and referees need to be highlighted more. They are what make the game work.
Yes we do!
In his book Baseball is a Funny Game, Joe Garagiola writes that the best compliment an umpire can receive is after the game nobody knows his name.
Everyone know Angel Hernández's name
It’s a vicious cycle. The worst umps turn into the most egotistical umps because they know the union has their back and no one’s going to take their job away no matter how much they deserve it. Probably some Dunning-Kruger mixed in there too.
You gotta give it up to the union for keeping around an almost completely obsolete profession lol
Between the umpire union and the police unions constantly sticking up for their very worst members, they’re really giving unions a bad name
@@untexan
Yeah, over the years (decades, really) Ive noticed unions have turned into the very thing that made them necessary in the first place. Corruption eventually gets into everything.
@@untexan Don't forget the teacher's union. Probably the worst, most destructive, and dangerous union in existence.
@@toddgaak422 Government schools just shouldn't exist
Those umps definitely do online sports gambling
How cute you don't think they're doing what they're told.
No union in the world can stop someone from getting fired for poor performance. They're kept around bc the league knows they'll help dictate outcomes
@@deusvult6920 it's even worse in the NFL. Where blatant holds and face masks go on called and random pass interference gets called to help cover or not cover the spread
@@deusvult6920 Actually some unions make it really hard to fire someone. It's a problem for education as well. Really hard to fire bad teachers because unless you can 100% prove they are doing a bad job, which is hard, you are getting sued.
I know I would if I was an ump 😂
@@deusvult6920 police unions would like to talk to you.
The kind of farm system they have for umpires is actually insane. It just proves that they actually don’t have to fold to the union. If I was getting paid 2k per month and someone offered me 200k per year to abandon all loyalty to the union, I wouldn’t hesitate for a single second
the issue with this is the fact that since its so hard to get a job and that the union probably has some say on who makes it given their strength they'll find umpires who will obey the union more so that the ones that won't
I simply do not understand how there is any sort of umpires union why would MLB condone such an organization when there is clearly no need to negotiate with them
@@christiangrosjean2980 my only guess is they legally bind the umpires to the union from the very beginning. Like you can’t take the course without pledging loyalty to the union in a legally binding manner. Somewhat similar to how non disclosure agreements work so I don’t see why it wouldn’t be a binding agreement
I think it's also worth pointing out how often instant replay shows that they got the (incredibly difficult) calls right. Thank you for addressing this subject so fairly.
They are about 50% on bang-bang plays.
Both you and Foolish Baseball have had the best videos on Umpires this year. I love it. Keep up the great work.
Baseball doesn't exist is good too
@@raymondg.6872 They’re the Triple Play of Baseball content. I love all three of them.
I think it’s worth noting that younger less experienced umpires perform better than older more experienced umpires
One out of 76 positions opening up isn’t sustainable. Unless we end up with 95 year old umpires at the major league level! Now that would really be a problem, haha!
There should be a mandatory retirement age for any sports officials. They already have pensions . I work with a woman in her 70s and a good portion of my day is correcting things she is unaware of because of her poor eyesight
You also need ball and strike tracking for minor league games. Then, you can get excellent ump performances there to get more attention, creating demand to bring up the good performers into the majors.
I like that idea! The stats of MLB umpires giving pressure for demotion of bad umps, and stats of MiLB umpires giving pressure for promotion of good umps.
another major issue is the umps' egos. they throw out players and managers for showing a slight disagreement of the umps strike zone.
ive seen a player thrown out because he said to himself i can't believe i swung at that. say another guy thrown out for laughing at a joke a fan said to him about a tv show
Bad example. The rules of the game specifically prohibit arguing balls and strikes. However, a player or manager should not be ejected for asking the location of a pitch.
One of the problems with human umps is that they basically _have_ to have big egos. Fans are absurdly mean to umps, and if they're not mentally resilient they basically can't be umps at any level. A lot of the time that resilience takes the form of a huge ego.
@@jgray2718 but being truly resistant to that stuff would require setting aside that ego, not taking it so personally that they affect game outcomes because of their feelings.
@@stevepolychronopoulis If it's so easy why don't you do it.
I like to use this analogy when talking about called strikes/balls, especially with older people/traditionalists who seem to defend umpires at all costs. If a baseball player had a fielding percentage of around 94%, they'd say that he's a bad fielder (I know. There are way better fielding metrics but bear with me). When umpires routinely scores below that on Umpire Scorecard, no one bats an eye. They both have their challenges, no doubt. But I think we all know which job is by far more difficult.
Yeah, the calling of balls and strikes is clearly the more difficult one. You don't like a SS fielding at 94% because probably 85% of their plays are the easiest plays they have to make. Not so with an umpire working the plate. I mean, pitching is literally about working the edges of the zone, the precise place where the harder calls are. Yes, they still miss pitches down the middle from time to time, but SS also miss handle weak grounders.
@@mrjimi1 i guess it would be more difficult... If you're legally blind 😂. Btw nice random stat of 85% you made up
@@SenorTortas - someone who has never umpired in their life
@@P-7 THANK YOUUUU Charles. I had no idea I'm talking to a real big league umpire. How lucky am I!
I understand, and agree their will always be the human element to getting calls wrong. I have no issue on close calls. But some of these umpires are blowing calls that are not even close. I don't even mind when an umpire behind the plate has a wide or high/low strike zone, so long as they are consistent. Problem is too many umpires call the same pitch differently too often. I pitcher could throw the same pitch in the same location 4 times and the count can be 2-2. I had the same thought in my playing days (quite some time ago). If an umpire behind the plate was calling the same pitch the same way for an entire game, then I has a hitter could adjust.
It's almost as if calling balls and strikes is difficult!
It's always been that way, that pitchers and batters can adjust. The inconsistency really does point to a problem. Also, you can't miss by a full baseball width. Gotta catch some plate. Gotta be high or low enough to hit.
Baseball umps are too old, fat, bitter, jaded, childish and hold grudges.
I promise you, if you got younger, hungry umps dying to do that job and do it right, you'd see a HUGE improvement in games called. But noooo..the union fights for people like Angel Hernandez or fatty Joe West who had been doing it for like 40 years who would hold personal grudges and was completely comfortable knowing nothing could happen to him cause the union would back him
Thats one of the problems with unions; the people who have been there the longest get precedent, no matter how bad they are.
It doesn't even make sense to me that mlb deals with this idiotic situation with umpires union, since all the mlb umps in their union suck anyway and aren't getting the job done that the mlb pays for
@@charlesbarkley223 it doesn't make sense to any of us. It's truly mind blowing
Great video - great analysis and content. I wish the umpires - or at least the crew chief would be required to give postgame press interviews like the managers do. They would be immediately accountable for any poor performance from that game.
Those interviews would be pointless most of the time.
Reporter: "What happened on that call at first base in the 6th?"
Crew Chief: "I don't know. I was at third base."
As a Braves fan I saw first hand how Angel Hernandez was the cause of many ejections for Bobby Cox & Freddy Gonzalez over decades.
Thanks for this. As a lifetime baseball fan, I had no idea of many of these details, like the umps' union's bogus rating system. I went to a AAA game in my adopted hometown of Albuquerque this season and saw a game with electronically-called balls and strikes. I'm an old man, but this didn't bother me at all, and I have younger friends who thought it was a travesty because, I guess, tradition. I think electronics are ultimately the answer for the strike zone. I don't have time to look up who the best umpires are -- my job takes up about 60 hours a week and I barely have time to watch a few ballgames. But I see enough bad ball and strike calls just in a single game that I've started feeling optimistic about electronic calls, and your video doesn't give me much hope for positive change in the level of umpiring excellence. (BTW, one of the things I like about the top level of baseball is that it's not THE MLB, it's just Major League Baseball. The NFL may be "the NFL," and same with the NHL and the NBA, but "the MLB" really doesn't mean anything grammatically.)
Go Topes!
Thank you so much for making this video!! This is something that has blown my mind since I've become a fan of baseball. Bring on the robots or just some younger umpires.
keep the umps. step 1: take away inside/outside calls, give them an ear-piece that beeps when the ball in the zone (over the plate). umpire still calls high and low, and check swings. Step 2: take away high and low calls. again, now the ear -piece beeps when the ball is completely in the zone. they are still there to 'manage the game', call check swings, balks, plays at the plate, etc. Step 3: take away the check swings. again, now the ear-piece beeps when the player's swing crosses the plate. after Step 3, the umpire is essentially just there to call balks, call time, plays at the plate, etc. now, all other calls are reviewable, so if they screw up a play at the plate, ultimately that gets reviews. problem solved. umpire union is happy, because everyone still has a job. fans happy, because balls and strike calls are now automated, nothing to complain about. you are welcome
I use to be against replays and automatic strike zone. I’ve changed my mind the last year tho and think this will help a lot with bad umps
Unions serve a hugely important role in our society, but anything can go too far, and this issue of unions preventing accountability happens outside of baseball. Think police unions that make it hard to get rid of bad cops, teachers unions protecting bad teachers, etc. - I think this happens more often when a union has membership in an organization that doesn't have a good competitor if the organization fails. Think monopolies (like MLB) and government institutions (like police departments).
I like Unions, But I think any union that prevents people from being fired for poor job performance is bad
Don't forget doctors as well as transportation services such as the one in New York city.
I will say most of the time the umpires get the calls correct but sometimes its really bad. I know the images of broadcast are not official we have all watched a game where you cannot possible believe how bad the calls are. Its very frustrating for fans There needs to be accountability for umpires. I understand the umpire union's job if to look out for its members but they need to be held to a high standard and should not be excused from that high standard just because they are in a union. In the next round of contract negotiations I hope MLB plays hardball with them the same way they did with the players. This is just one of many issues the MLB needs to address. They have an aging fan base with less newer fans coming in. Change needs to happen in many areas.
You could solve half the problem by firing fat Joe and Angel Hernandez
Says: ...bad calls by the MLB.
2:00 And big as day on the Umps unis, FTX ad.
A Union is ruining things? I never…..
Keep it as it is. Heckling the umps is part of the game.
ABS challenge system. You can still heckle em, while giving players a few challenges to try to overturn calls.
At 9:06 just realized thats the New Britain Bees stadium with the Stanley works adds in the back. Grew up going to that field when they were still the rock cats. Love to see them included in the background footage
I would like to see automated balls and strikes. That would mean the strike zone is uniform each game. The pitchers and batters will know what the strike zone is. Imagine if in tennis, the lines moved depending who the officials are. The home plate umpire should be there for calls at the plate and giving new balls to the catcher.
The problem with robot ups is that you take away a vital skill from catchers in framing, a lot of back ups and low end catchers make their living from that. Plus unlike every other sport that uses hawkeye systems the strike zone is not consistent & people underestimate how much they would miss the human element
@@mclowes1546 as a former pitcher, I would have preferred a consistent strike zone. As for framing, isn’t that a bit like lying? It would be a totally unnecessary skill. Would you miss oil changes in an all EV world?
The thing is, the strike zone height changes from batter to batter. Not sure if the technology can adjust. I haven't noticed, but does the strike zone box on TV change with every batter, or is it the same square? I know each TV station has a different k zone.
@@mae2759 In the minors, each team gets a set amount of strike zone challenges per game - and if they win the challenge, they keep it. A camera is located in dead-center field, and the challenge is done via computer. It adjusts well for each individual player's strike zone.
@@mae2759on tv? Yes that strike zone box changes with the batter. The ABS system (robo ump) does change with each batter, they are also currently working on making the system able to handle a 3d strike zone, currently it is a 2d strike zone. Personally with a little more development im sure we will see a perfect system in the near future. Honestly all you really need are a few more cameras at multiple different angles and can write a program that is able to take that data and piece together a three dimensional zone to see if a ball crosses. You need 1 camera looking directly down on home plate from above, 2 both looking at home plate at 45 angles 1 on each side of the plate and the one that we already have that shows the 2d zone on tv. Should be enough imo.
I'm not an employment lawyer. But to me it seems like the MLB should refuse to deal with the 'major league umpire's association'... It seems to me like the mlua is like a vendor who promises to supply you with a product, but their product (umpires) is substandard because the mlua won't let you return or throw away any of the product.
Robot umpires is the only solution to having mistake free umpiring, though half of the fans at the game will think they called it wrong.
Robot umps aren't infallible. A pitch, probably a bouncing breaking ball, can be so bad that it is called good. The minor-league player who was ejected for "arguing with the robot" was actually arguing with the human ump who refused to override a ridiculous call by the robot.
@@roberthudson1959Some years ago they tried out a ball/strike calling system. That system went away once the catchers figured out that they could get a strike every time by putting their glove in the strike zone.
People overestimate the accuracy of robo umps. But they give the appearance of accuracy, and you are never going to get a terribly called game from them.
@@billcook4768until they stop working like in the minor league and forgot what a strike was
I have seen other videos point out that the overall accuracy numbers of an umpire's ball/strike calls isn't the most important stat. You really should ONLY look at pitches that a) aren't swung at, and b) were close enough that the umpire actually needed to use judgement. I'd guess that the umpires that perform below average would look even worse when it is broken down that way.
Caveat: for pitches that were swung at, you might also consider the accuracy of umps calling whether a swing was checked or not, whether the ball was fair or foul, etc. And, of course, you'd want to look at more than balls and strikes anyway. I think collecting and publishing data on how often calls get overturned upon instant replay review would be a good idea as well.
I am so tired of people citing those three bad calls in this manner. Two of the calls were super close. Getting all shitty at someone because they missed a super close call is not a reasonable thing to do. And then, in an even shittier move, you cite a lawsuit that had been filed well over a year earlier as if it were filed in the 2018 offseason.
As for the meat of the video, I don't hate your discussion. Personally, I've been thinking there needs to be a relegation/promotion system. Not sure how many positions, but the idea of the best AAA umps getting a shot every year and the worst MLB umps getting dropped down for at least a year is interesting. The first few years it might be a bit off given that the AAA umps will all be rookies, but after a few years, you will have umpires jumping back and forth enough that a good number of the AAA umps will be former MLB umps. This will never happen, but it's a nice idea with probably a fatal flaw I haven't found. I'd also be up for umpire specialization. There is no reason for every ump to need to work the plate. If I were in charge, at least half of the umpires wouldn't call strikes. This will also never happen because I doubt any umpire would want to do that and basically suffer the crowd every night rather than one in four. Automated zones would really help with this.
As a man who went to the Wendelstedt school in Florida, it seemed like if I wanted to get selected to be a minor league umpire I needed to not only graduate the class that year but would've had to go on the road in a semi-pro league making just enough to survive and pay for the next "year" at the school and only then if I was good enough would I even be considered for a position in the minors. I say that because in my class out of the 150 people that were in my class 20-30 got selected for a secondary selection process and all that were selected were 2nd straight year guys could be a coincidence yes but far too coincidental to not be noted. Also upon graduation every single student I talked to at the school under the age of 25 was told they "had what it takes but would just need to hone skills for another year and try again".
That system feeds into why they're mediocre.
Fantastic video!
I have another solution:
If MLB Umpires impact players financially, because of bad calls, the players should sue the umpire personally. Although I am an attorney, I do think society is way to litigious, however, sometimes the only way to right a wrong is to address the issue in court. And usually, when money is involved, and in this case, the MLB and players, we are talking millions of dollars in contracts for players and stats are everything.
So maybe if MLB umpires start getting personally sued for their “malpractice,” like any other professional who makes mistakes, maybe the system will change.
You sound like the lawyer from that meme in the shitty suit where it says 'if your lawyer's pant legs look like this you goin to jail'
@@Fryed_Bryce lol… I always wonder why people respect doctors and not lawyers. You know what a doctor’s lifetime professional batting average is?
0.000
Every single one of their patients die. They save no one.
My professional batting average? Win/loss? 0.900 or above.
Hhhmmmmm…….
@@robertpinizzotto1548 Where i come from, we respect Sanitation Professionals more than lawyers! Was it Shakespeare who noted that attorneys engaged in the 2nd oldest profession, and that it bore some striking resemblance to the oldest profession?
@@inconnu4961 lol…. I have heard them all.
Imagine if we used the same jokes and comments but put in other occupations and professions. What do you, or did you, do for a living. Here is an example:
What do you call a bus load of cops (put your occupation/profession here) who drive off a cliff? A good start.
Not so funny?
Lighten up. We lawyers have put up with that stuff for hundreds of years.
PS: Most of my clients hated lawyers too. Right up until the time they retained me to represent them for whatever they did wrong.
Every video that mentions Angel Hernandez has this comment in the comments sections, but I haven't seen it yet, so I'll say it;
If Angel Hernandez had an extra eye, he would be a cyclops.
There seems to be a some trends with unions that applies to the umpire problem pretty well.
1) Positions of authority and power do not need unions. The entire point of a union is to level bargaining power.
2) Positions of authority and power are best-equipped to form a union by the fact that the position is authoritative and powerful.
3) Unions for positions of authority and power are the most publicly accepted unions because people are far more willing to give benefit of the doubt or outright deference to authority and power.
4) Unions for positions of authority and power erode accountability and degrade quality because no union for such position can serve the intended purpose of a union.
Which is why
A) supporting unions in general is not incompatible with opposing unions for certain people or positions
B) the Umpire's union is far stronger than the Player's union
C) the Umpire's union isn't going away
Best way to fix bad umping is to change the crews to have 2 good home plate umps on each crew. Let the home plate umps rotate and let the field crew rotate around the diamond. Aka you can't fire angel hernandez at least never let him call balls and strikes again!
That's a terrible idea because you lose all consistency at the plate.
@@orthanus I think [he] meant rotate during a series, e.g., those two take turns umping the plate every-other game, not mid-game.
11:25, I think the fact that you’re still getting 4% of the calls wrong with 2 inches added to the zone is egregious in its own right.
Great video, but I couldn't help laughing everytime I saw those FTX patches. Especially on Hernandez! What a perfect pair!
Bro people act like 200k-400k a year isn’t absolute bank
The attitude and unprofessionalism needs to be addressed as well. They are human and will make mistakes but when they instigate or are confrontational or basically act like a spoiled child.
They forget the game isn't about them.
The ump that caressed Bumgarner while staring at him should've been fired.
They are killing baseball and it’s not even an argument
I could see a system of religation work well. Like using triple a as a way to train reform umps that hit below the 90 percentile
To be fair to Angel, on that particular night where three of his calls were overturned, two were extremely close only one of the calls was “bad.”
5 of his calls were reviewed. I watched that game
One of the better videos on the topic.
The reason people are even discussing robo-umps is because the umpire union keeps bad umpires in MLB games. How can they not see that they are shooting themselves in the foot? How is it they don't see that Angel Hernandez being a household name has tarnished their reputation? If the umps are just good enough to not impact the game with bad calls we wouldn't be having this conversation. Great video.
I’ve always been amazed by the extra 2” MLB & the ump union use for grading umpires. Home plate is 17” wide. If you give an extra 2” on each side, those 4” represent a 24% error across the 17” plate. Where else in this world do you get to be 24% wrong, declare it accurate and keep your job?
weather forecasting. they get 50-50 odds.
Politics. Where you can fuck up 100% and get re-elected. In Canada, see Brian Mulroney, and Justin Trudeau.
Unless you've put on a Umpire mask, called balls and strikes, or had "Bang Bang" play at first base, people will never understand just how hard it is to umpire baseball, regardless of what level..
Yes. Anyone can make the call when the replay is slowed down and you watch it 3 times. Technology has exposed that officiating baseball is difficult and imperfect at game speed
@@downsouthrailroad9143 Exactly!!! Wish everyone else understood that...
@@Downsouthroots unfortunately, people won't. They watch the (inaccurate) broadcaster's box on the TV and then think they can do better than the real umps.
What about introducing relegation for umpires?
Bottom 7 get dropped to AAA each year and you bring up some fresh meat with younger eye balls
Oh yeah…unions
I've said the only way to remedy this is to hit them in the wallet. If an ump makes an obvious bad call, the end result is usually an argument with the manager, who then gets thrown out. If managers then either refuse to leave, or forfeit the game and take their team into the locker room, fans will demand their money back. That would force MLB to take a look at the situation and maybe make changes.
Are you seven years old
@@Fryed_Bryce Are you? Why are you on a video about bad umpiring? people are frustrated, and dislike the status quo ( in case you couldnt tell!)
Simple system, but they'll never go for it: If, by whatever grading system the umps want to use (MLBs, or their own, or a third party), if you finish in the bottom ten percent of the grading, you don't get fired, but you get demoted down to AAA, and the requisite number of the best umps in AAA get promoted for the next season. This would apply throughout the system. Bottom get sent down to the next lowest level, best get called up a level. Refuse to be demoted, you get suspended (since Unions don't like firing anyone). If that demoted ump performs good enough at the lower level to be promoted again, then go ahead and send them back up. Maybe they've worked on their craft and learned how to be more accurate. If they can have a system that grades their umpires enough to decide who gets to work postseason games, they can expand the privileges to working on the MLB level at all. The best performing umps, even at the bottom levels of the minor league, are guaranteed to move up and get their shot to move up again or stay at the higher level if they can stay out of "relegation." Unions will make themselves obsolete if they continue to shelter their poorest performing members (and this goes for all unions, not just sports) at the expense of making their product better by getting better people in the system. We're looking at robotic strike zones because umpire unions refuse to change themselves or insist on excellence from their own ranks. They tolerate the Angel Hernandez's of the world, but that doesn't mean MLB has to.
You're probably too young to remember the Umpire Strikes of 79 and 99 but the replacement umps we got for those seasons were so awful it makes guys like Hernandez and CB Bucknor looks good. Hence why the Umpire's union has the power it does. Maybe with MLB itself doing the invitation only Umpire's school we could see more consistent officiating.
Damn this one came from the heart
I remember when I was in little league there was an umpire nobody liked. There was an A level minor league baseball team in town whose games I would go to often, and he was an ump there a few times too. Nobody liked him at the minor league game either. I never really thought about it back then, but every once in a while now, many years later, I think about that umpire and I wonder about the average umpire career progression. I really didn't like him.
The most brutal ump disaster was the’97 NLCS game 5, b/n the Braves & Marlins.
The disaster….Eric Gregg
Soccer-style Umpire relegation
Good presentation, great background on the path for Umpires to Major League level. Great Stats backing up your argument. Question: If MLB employs 76 umpires and an average of 1 retiree per year, that would mean that an umpire would be in the SHOW for 76 years. This past year and If I recall previous years there have been 10 or more per year. Do I agree its a tough and darn near impossible road to the majors, its understated in this presentation. You go and try to find a 90+mph fastball flying at you and judge 2 inches left or right in the blink of an eye. With the distraction of a batter and catcher in your face. Don't add in the pressure of a game, score, managers, coaches, fans, and other intangibles in there. Do you have a margin of error in your job? Did you have any stats or #'s in your presentation incorrect, without the added pressure and blink of an eye timing needed? Oh my apologies.
I do agree that umpiring can improve, incentives to become improved and perform better, absolutely. You suggest that MLB should openly post statistics and report cards for umpires. Sounds like a good idea, I'd be in support of that. More use of Robo-Umpire strikezone, but define the strike zone please. Define check-swing? Define runner's path. Oh gosh wait, it requires a bit of interpretation and judgement.
Excellent.
It goes beyond bad calls too. Umpires, the enforcer of the rules, don't even have to know the rules half the time. They can pick and choose what rules to enforce at whim. They can nit pick the most obscure rule, ones that let them affect the game. Or blatantly ignore a violation if they want. Umpires are human yes, and at times that is a problem as they let emotions decide how they enforce rules.
I am not usually one for AI or robots taking over human jobs, but I think Robo Umpires will massively help Baseball. As long as the people don't the programing keep it fair.
This isn't the first video to mention Angel Hernandez as a bad umpire
They bring in Roboumps and they might as well just make baseball a video game
I’m a little divided on this. I think that everything should be done to make every call in the field correctly. Fair/foul; calls at first; home runs; catches: all of these need to be right, and umps who have a problem with these calls being overturned when they’ve made a mistake should be fired or demoted. Everyone should accept that mistakes will sometimes be made. It’s great that they can be fixed under replay. As far as the strike zone is concerned, I’m worried that perfection is being demanded. So many of the great pitchers have had the ability to get home plate umps to expand the strike zone as the game has gone on because of their precision. Pedro Martinez, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine come to mind. There used to be a real difference between AL and NL strike zones, when AL umps used external chest protectors, and stood up at full height to call balls and strikes. This had an effect on the World Series, especially. Strike zone quirks are part of the game as much as ballpark quirks, in my opinion, and should remain part of the game. Getting rid of them would materially change the game, at least.
Excellent video
You just don't fully understand what you're talking about. The umps ARE actually accountable, there is a system which grades them, according to this metrics they receive playoff assignments for example. And yes, they can be fined for their poor performance. But what the general public don't understand is what considered to be poor performance. Making an out call where there should've been safe is NOT a mistake! It's a judgement call. It's written in the rules! Mistakes are poor positioning, poor game management (including comm skills) and, of course, misinterpretation of the rules. For that they are accountable and they CAN actually be fined and disciplined otherwise. Yes, the union has its own policies and they don't disclose any info to the public. The reason being, umps are subject to enormous pressure as it is, disclosing this info will only add to that. Moreover, the majority of the people can't properly assess the umps work, because they just don't have necessary skills to do that! As for the strike ball calling, all metrics systems which we have (umps scorecards, UEFL and others) show the umps have become significantly better in this regard for the past 5 years, the average score being 96-97% which is fantastic! Robo ump just cannot do that! It';s actually much worse than the reasonably well trained human umpire! Instead of focusing on Angel, focus on Tumpane, Libka, Guccione, Hoberg, May, just look at what they do!
Agreed.
Here's the MLB umpire problem in a nutshell, IMHO. I worked over 3,000 ball games as an amateur umpire, almost all of it for one association. We were trained, for example, while on the bases to kill the ball if we saw a batted ball hit a batter in the foot. We immediately raised our arms and yelled "DEAD BALL". Not "FOUL BALL" because we had no idea where the batter was and even if we did it's the plate umpire's call as to where the batter was. In the Majors we've all seen the umpire's huddle and try to figure out if a batted ball hit the batter. We've all seen them rule that it did hit the batter. That means one of the three base umpires SAW it hit the batter, yet said NOTHING at the time. The reason they won't call it when they see it is because a) they don't want an argument, and b) they don't want to "show up" another umpire. It's asinine. If it looks like it did hit the batter's foot and you do or don't call it, you're going to get an argument either way. If you see it, call it, and know the argument was inevitable. As for showing up another umpire, that's a pure ego thing and an umpire's ego is meaningless once you step out onto the field. Simply put, we are there to get the calls right and to apply the rules in order to give each to an equal shot at winning the game under the rules.
MLB umpires are fast becoming like the modern cops. Arrogant beyond all belief because they know they will never be held to account.
The biggest problem Angel has isn’t so much his zone. It’s that he’ll randomly just have some completely awful calls, which makes it particularly difficult to hit against. You just never know when he’s going to forget what the strike zone looks like for a pitch. Then he goes back to calling a decent game for about 20 pitches.
6:20 Class A Short Season was discontinued in 2021, there are now 5 classifications plus the 4 “indy ball” partner leagues.
Ya, there needs to be a website just like the game report cards for umps that records and compiles their stats over the year. And like others have said, electronic balls and strikes takes alot of the guesswork out of it. Umps are still needed for a host of all other calls and situations, but for balls and strikes, just leave that to the computers. Makes their job easier and there's no disputing or arguing against a computer.
1997 NLCS Game 5 - Eric Gregg. I was at the game.
I'd offer another partial solution. Introduce 10% Ump promotion and relegation while restructuring ump payscales to a base plus system. Base plus would incentivise and reward good performances while giving MLB and the union a mechanism for advertising both the quality of ump work and the integrity of the game (ie congrats to this July's ump of the month who had and accuracy rating of 98.4... Or congrats to ump "Fred" who has earned X bonus level)... and hopefully stave off robo-umps. Also umps should compete for playoff starts based on purely their work in the season (no seniority).
MLB umpiring has been in decline for some time, especially with respect to interpretation of the strike zone. I remember the Braves' trio of Maddux, Smoltz, and Glavine consistently getting six inches on the outside of the strike zone. It got so flagrant Braves catcher Javy Lopez would often set up with one foot outside of the catchers' box. How often do you see a strike called on a pitch above the belt buckle? I'm frustrated to the point of being in favor of an automated strike zone system.
You always make it interesting.
MLB and the umpire union should be paying you.
*If you have PBS Passport, you can stream it in the app for free!*
This is such a great idea for a documentary
Since the pandemic, there are only 4 levels of official Minor League Baseball - Single-A, High-A, AA, AAA. The Rookie and Short-Season levels were abolished -- most of those leagues either folded or became college summer leagues. I'm not sure there are as many umps in the system, but (to be fair) this doesn't really change the odds much. No matter, though, because electronic umpiring is making its way to The Show.
This is the subject that is the second reason why I have not attended a professional Baseball game. The other is the cost per person of everything in the game.
You don't have to buy literally anything. I don't drink and those hot dogs are filled with corn syrup. Ditch your dumb kids and go buy an $8 ticket
@@Fryed_Bryce Let's see: Where do you live that pro MLB tickets are $8. My children, well, 2 are doctors, one is a lawyer, and my daughter is a US Navy F-18 pilot. No they are not dumb.
Totally agree. Now, the errors, bad calls & arguments are all part of the game. But to your point,... I love the new evaluation process of umpires so they can be held accountable & we can rate how good they are. MLB should stop covering for them umps and the ump union is full of crap. they should fire Hernandez immediately. Fire the bottom 20% every year so better umps can move up. Force bad umps out. Umps should move up to the ML's, and down to the minor's just like players.
the fact of the matter is, most of the MLB umpires do an excellent job. there are just a few who do a consistently lousy job and/or handle situations badly. it should be easier to get rid of the bad ones (Marty Foster, Hernandez, Ron Kulpa, etc.)
I used to work in the press box next to the guys who judged the umps in double A. And we spoke often, the guy admitted that the average ump in AA in 2019 was better than the average ump in MLB and that's considering they only have 3 umps instead of 4.....it's ridiculous.
Also, by the way, if an ump doesn't move up to the next level in 3 seasons they get demoted no matter no matter what. Even if the only reason they didn't move up was just because there wasn't a slot in the next level.
Honestly if your average drops below 94% you should be moved down a level and whoever has the highest accuracy rating moves up. It should be on a monthly basis too, if you're on a bad streak you'll move down and want to tighten up to get back up to the majors.
I would opt for an end of the season move. During winter break the 5 worst umps go down and the 5 best go up.
Rather than keeping the standard where it needs to be, the Umpire Union makes way for robo umps
They will strike as soon as any attempt to introduce a robotic umpire happens.
@@dspsblyuth their strike will make a good case for robot umpire 😂
@@hughle9617 robots can’t replace all officials immediately .
Balls and strikes are by far the biggest problem. Humans are no where near good enough to be considered competent at calling a good enough game regarding balls and strikes.Players are forced to “adjust” to the umpire which is completely counter to both roles. Plays on the field are also tough, but the video challenge has helped a lot.
There will be 3 challenges per team per game at the plate. That will be a good start.
I'm a new fan of baseball (within the last 3 years) but I've always felt the degree of leeway with umps is more about the purity of human error in baseball. Not saying this to defend them but more saying as scrutiny and tech improved other aspects of baseball has to improve as well. I get having human error be a factor but it's wrong when players don't get that same respect for human error.
I actually noticed Holberg’s perfect game, because strike calling is notoriously bad. If umpires don’t want replaced with robots calling games, they certainly aren’t doing themselves any favors. Angel Hernandez is the biggest case exhibit for robot umps. I completely agree with the presence and need for unions, but the Umpire’s Union needs to realize that they’re representing themselves out of existence. They have got to make some concessions if they don’t want replaced, because robo umps don’t need union representation.
I know it would be hard to call and enforce but IMO there should be a rule against pitch framing.
He is so right. It sounded good but it will NEVER fix the problem! The union is not going to do one thing to make things any better. They don't have too. Look at the people running MLB today. Not one of them has a backbone. Every one of them will make a regular trip to a lumber yard to pick up a 2 x 4 to use to help them be able to stand up right. You would think that when joe west left things would have gotten even a little better. The day he retired should have been made a holiday in the league all the way down to Single "A" ball. It is not the union, the leaders of MLB or even the owners that can fix this very bad problem. It is the FANS that HOLD ALL the POWER! And I mean ALL the POWER to change things or better yet runoff some umps. Look at a game where an ump tosses a player. If the player even touches the ump, he gets some time off & he is going to be writing a check. But the ump can grab a player or coach, push him or just put their hands on them & what happens? I have seen an ump rush the mound to get to a player or how about rubbing a player's hand to look for something that is even not there. The player opens his mouth & he is GONE!! NOTHING-NOT ONE DAM THING HAPPENS TO UMPS! You ever hear of an ump being fine & going some time off for even touching a player or coach? All the FANS need to do is pick out just ONE game. A game that is going to be on National TV. Then use social media & tell ALL the FANS to not go to that GAME! A game that is broad cast nationwide for everyone to see. The league will lose their mind. I bet we see a couple of heads explode! The OWNERS will go crazy. Think about ALL the MONEY they will lose on just ONE GAME. It does to stop there. There are people that sell everything from Hot Dogs to Beer to ice cream to peanuts. The FANS can tell MLB that these umps must answer up just like the Players & Coaches. People make mistakes & I can see that but look at hernadaz. He is the WORST after west. Then to SLAP the FANS in the face Joe wanted to allow the worst ump in the league from pro to farm clubs work a playoff game!!! BOYCOTT JUST ONE GAME-JUST ONE GAME & the fans fix the problem. Remember this "BOYCOTT" one game!!!!!
I haven't paid for a game in over 10 years.... even tho the astros have gone to 4 WS
Rob Manfred hates baseball and the mlb umpires are scumbags that hate baseball too
@@charlesbarkley223 It is so true but we the fans hold ALL the POWER. It is up to us to save a great game our own National Pastime. If the Fans could just get together pick a game & then BOYCOTT, it. Not one single person goes into watch the game-NOT ONE! The league would come unglued & go CRAZY. The owners would lose their mind. Think about the money they would lose if the FANS were to boycott just that one game. Don't forget the networks. I don't know what they would do. One thing that would be easy is to have the players walk off the field. The problem with that the league & owners would see that as a work stoppage. But they could not bring their "A" game. Either way it is up to "We the People" to save the game!!
@@mitchellfraser634 that's true but that would also be so bad for the game I don't want to kill the game to save it baseball is already losing enough fans if rob Manfred cared about baseball he would know the umpires union is bad for the mlb and its honestly obnoxious af that this union thinks they're bigger than the game
I've said for years, and there's many other crews around the country, is our hardest adjustment would be a 4 man crew.
Gotta love those FTX logos on the umps. Are they the FTX of Baseball? 🤣🤣
So I had been putting off watching this video but I had to stop at the part with the two inch margin of error. So when we're looking at pitch data, typically it is done with a 2D strikezone. The margin of error is there because a strike zone is 3D and pitches move. A LOT. So that is there to account for pitches that will move into the zone but wasn't in the zone initially. We need technology to catch up before we can get rid of the margin of error.
Admittedly, it is often difficult and scarce to see. Shadows and game situation. They don't have a SloMo view from above like we do. But a VAR? But they also mess it up, look at soccer. But they definitely have an aggression problem or complex ones, and are resistant to argumentation. Like this. I don't want the job. But they need good new staff. And that UNTIL YESTERDAY!!
Would be great to have the AAA umps involved in a forced rotation of best performing AAA replacing the worst performing MLB umps each year. To do that we'd need those accuracy and disciplinary stats made public. As an added bonus maybe some of the more offensive umps would change their on-field behavior?
I remember in highschool there was this game where the pitcher threw it into the dirt and it bounced into the catchers glove. The umpire called it a strike and EVERYONE was in disbelief. I was the pitcher so the next inning I threw one in the dirt and yelled at the umpire for not calling it a strike. He then threw me out and there was a riot after the game. Let’s just say the umpire never came back.
In the old days, we accepted that bad calls usually balanced out over a game or a season. We were fine. I miss those days.
Baseball is the only sport where umps have an outside personality. For some reason it always disturbed me when local sports radio guys interviewed umps like Joe West hocking his next music album that nobody will buy. I wouldn't have a problem with horrible calls if the people behind those calls didn't have egos who think they're beyond the game.
Modern technology is only confirming what boomer fans have witnessed for decades. I'm glad we now have real ways to measure how bad MLB umpires have always been.
I agree. The union needs to be dealt with in a more firm manner.
With 76 umps it won't be 1 call up per year for long unless umps are built to last 110+ years. I would think 2-4 per year on average over a long period of time is more likely.
I used to be opposed to robo umps calling games. But after seeing Hernandez in action way too many times, I'm now fully in support of robo umps calling the games.