Re: _Eric Gregg's strike zone_, Ed Grinnell wrote to Terry May on 13 Oct 97:
 EG> It's funny but it's those morons like McCarver who have allowed this
 EG> to become the norm. They say "I don't mind it as long as they call it
 EG> both ways" and because it's a former player, nay, former catcher, it's
 EG> ok and the umpires see it as a way of justifying their strike zones.
Someone brought up an interesting point on Usenet, pointing out that NBC 
stopped using their computer tracking device very early in that game, no 
doubt because they didn't want to embarass Gregg.  These announcers seem like 
they're afraid to criticize these umpires, and even when their new high-tech 
simulation right in front of their eyes shows a called strike way out of the 
strike zone, they still maintain it was "on the black" or "on the corner of 
the plate."  I guess they're afraid that it will hurt the integrity of the 
game to show just how bad some of these umpires are, but IMO, the integrity 
is already being hurt by letting their incompetence continue unchecked.
Mind you, I still maintain MLB has the best officials in a major sport.  They 
have a very tough job, but get it right the vast majority of the time.  But 
some, like Gregg, are so arrogant they have their own set of rules, and even 
admit it ("my strike zone").  Calling balls and strikes is not as easy as it 
looks on TV, and calls are going to be missed.  But when you START with your 
own interpretation of the strike zone, which has nothing to do with what's in 
the rule book, you shouldn't have that job.  Their job is to ENFORCE the 
rules, not CREATE them. 
... Multitasking:  Start download; grab a beer; watch some baseball.
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