[ifinnegan]

What’s the best technology to do it?

[867V309]

What’s the best technology to do it?

Technology? We don't need no steeenking technology. Let the batters call their own. They could be sworn to honesty before each game.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Seems to me the tech could be built into the plate. Maybe a small bead in the center of the ball? The plate could detect where the ball passed over the plate, and the height of the ball. Umps would still have to determine whether the ball was low or high, determined by the stature of the player.
But I haven’t cared about baseball since the Indians traded Rocky!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

That accuracy [of the umpires] quickly improved [after technology gave the umpires feedback] and is now at 86% now that umpires can more accurately see which pitches they are getting right and more importantly, the pitches they get wrong.

What’s the best technology to do it?

Article says that a simple 2-D model of the strike zone is "instantaneous.” And projects that it is about 95% accurate. Claim is that it takes about 3 seconds to process a 3-D model of the strike zone.

IMHO if one 2-D model (of the front plane of the zone) is instantaneous, two 2-D models (one of the front plane of the zone, one of the same size but of a plane parallel to it, and as far back as to meet the foul lines) should also be pretty much instantaneous. And IMHO that would be about 98% accurate.

Taking that a step further, calculating whether the ball

1. did not cross the front plane of the zone, or

2. did not cross a plane along the 3rd base line portion of the zone, or

3. did not cross a plane along the 1st base line portion of the zone,

would IMHO be an essentially perfect indication of a ball. For a ball to be a strike while passing those three criteria it would have to drop from just barely above the zone, and curve to just left of the left back plane, or just right of the right black plane. That is possible, but it’s can’t be that common . . .

Of course it would be possible for a pitch thrown a la a slow pitch softball to be lobbed above the front plane of the strike zone and fall below the back planes of the strike zone . . . but c’mon. I have experience of pitching that way, and the only effective way to do it is to pitch inside, and land the ball just beside the back of the plate. Pitches which hit the plate were automatic balls.

My opinion is that my three-plane strike zone implementation would be fast enough (run the front plane first, you’ve already got a 95% confidence interval; 4% of the time the ump makes a delayed call on a high curve or changeup - which the batter probably swings at anyway). Maybe 1% of strikes, all high curve balls (or the occasional high knuckle ball), you miss. Boo hoo. It the ump thinks it is obvious, he calls a strike in defiance of the system.