{"id":251,"date":"2019-10-11T22:34:42","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T22:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/?p=251"},"modified":"2019-10-16T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2019-10-16T14:54:10","slug":"strike-zone-irony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/2019\/10\/11\/strike-zone-irony\/","title":{"rendered":"Strike Zone Irony"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The stream of text messages I exchanged with friends included the phrases \u201camazing\u201d, \u201cstunned\u201d, and \u201chow many times have you seen two HRs in a row on Kershaw?!?!?\u201d Oh yeah. It\u2019s the second time\u2026in the postseason! I\u2019m not sure that even San Francisco Giants fans could believe what they saw when the Nat’s Howie Kendrick hit a ball that just cleared the center field wall to hang another four runs on the Dodgers’ bullpen late in the 5th<\/sup> game of the 2019 NLDS. But, what I’m thinking about today came moments before these game-changing (dare I say career-changing?) events. Some agree Cy Young award winner, Clayton Kershaw is to blame for the loss. Others blame Dave Roberts. But nobody is blaming the system. Nobody is blaming the fact that umpires get balls and strikes wrong all the time – on average 14 pitches every game<\/a>. Why? It\u2019s too hard to blame a system. It’s much easier to blame people. And, it’s a lot easier to blame an individual. This mindset is bred deep within each little leaguer – never blame a loss on the umpire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does “the system” have to do with Kershaw and the outcome of the 2019 NLDS? The Nats won it with their bats, right? I invite you to look at the timeline and consider another perspective. Kershaw comes in from the bullpen in leading 3-1 in 7th<\/sup> inning and quickly induces a 3-pitch strikeout, retiring the side. Kershaw heads into the dugout with supreme confidence. Roberts\u2019 bias towards his Cy Young pitcher is confirmed. Roberts made the right decision and Kershaw delivered. Or did they? In a cruel twist of irony, the plate umpire got it wrong. Two of the three pitches Kershaw threw to the Nat\u2019s Adam Eaton were balls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kershaw’s three pitches against Adam Eaton. Found at mlb.com<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Pitch 2 was outside:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Adam Eaton and Home Plate Umpire Alfonso Marquez seeing the pitch going outside the zone. (Photo Credit: TBS and MLB.tv)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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All of TBS\u2019s viewing audience seeing the ball well outside the zone. Even with Dodger’s catcher, Will Smith, lined up outside and a clear view of the plate, Marquez missed the call (Photo credit: TBS and MLB.tv)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pitch 3 was way low but we\u2019re only left to wonder if Eaton\u2019s check-swing didn\u2019t cross the front of the plate. I\u2019m sure Adam Eaton and the rest of the Nats would agree Eaton got hosed. But, would Kershaw or Roberts agree? When Kershaw left the mound after a three-pitch strikeout, Kershaw\u2019s confidence was flowing as he pounded his mitt with his fist. He was on the best team in the National League, arguably the best Dodgers team in the last 50 years. And, he had just moved his team to within just 6 outs of moving on. He was caught up in the moment just as much as the home plate umpire, Alfonzo Marquez, was caught in the moment. The umpire\u2019s confidence in Kershaw got the best of Kershaw. Perhaps that first out is exactly what Kershaw didn\u2019t need. Maybe if he would\u2019ve battled Eaton to full count and struck him out on his merits as a Cy Young-winning pitcher, he wouldn\u2019t have left cookie in Rendon\u2019s kitchen and we the fans would’ve been able to see another epic pitcher vs batter battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Look, even this Giants fan wants to see Kershaw get his ring. His regular season record warrants it. His Cy Young awards warrant it. The way he approaches the game warrants it. But, he is to baseball what Phil Mickelson once was to golf. And, the system of umpires getting caught up in the moment (as all of us humans are prone to do) and of ringing up a batter for a Cy Young pitcher isn\u2019t helping out a guy like Kershaw and it isn\u2019t helping baseball. It\u2019s time for umpires to embrace the same kinds of things that airline pilots, construction workers, surgeons, and even soccer moms are using \u2013 it\u2019s time to embrace umpire-assistive technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wonder if Alfonso Marquez wants that one back…probably not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stream of text messages I exchanged with friends included the phrases \u201camazing\u201d, \u201cstunned\u201d, and \u201chow many times have you seen two HRs in a row on Kershaw?!?!?\u201d Oh yeah. It\u2019s the second time\u2026in the postseason! I\u2019m not sure that even San Francisco Giants fans could believe what they saw […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6,8,7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mlb","category-officiating","category-strike-zone","category-world-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9FCho-43","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":262,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251\/revisions\/262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wanderlanemedia.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}