Like a lot of you, I watch a good deal of baseball on TV (and attend about 10 MLB and 10 MiLB games a year). With all the advancements they've made (Fox trax, X-mo, etc), I wish they'd include the following (at least occasionally):
1. For fast guys (Trout, Ichiro, Pedroia, Pierre,Crawford, etc.) show us how fast they are by displaying -unobtrusively- the time it took them to reach first base from the point of contact. Obviously, not all guys are running full force on every at-bat. But on a potential infield hit, they most certainly are. I get sick of hearing that "[Insert name] has lost a step." Oh, really? Why don't you show how fast he is now compared to before? Likewise, it would be cool to KNOW who is the fastest guy. Baseball lends itself particlularly well to this type of simple measurement because most of the baserunning occurs on a straight line. (It would be really cool if they could show "ghost runners" for comparison. Like showing the "ghost" of Mike Trout running against Bryce Harper).
2. In a similar vein, I'd like to know how fast the catchers are throwing on steal attempts. It doesn't seem that it would be too difficult to do this with all the speed guns that are already aimed at the pitchers. And if that's not possible, it's a pretty simple time/distance formula. So, if we can't see MPH, at least show us the time from the catcher's release to the time it's caught. (I know the ball slows down the longer it travels. For the sake of comparison, however, it would be good to know). I'd like to know who's more to blame for the steal --the pitcher or the catcher. These times are no secret to the teams. But for some reason, we're never shown them on tv. [I know that throwing speed is not the most important part of the equation. Footwork, positioning, and accuracy play equally important parts. None of those can be measured though. Again, I'd like to see whether a guy is dropping off the cliff or whether his pitcher is hanging him out to dry]. And while we're at it, how about showing how long it takes a runner to reach second on his steal attempt. There are some catcher vs. runner match-ups where it's a near statistical certainty that the runner cannot be thrown out. (If the runner can steal a bag in 3 seconds and the pitcher-catcher combo could only achieve a successful throw in 3.4 seconds). It would be interesting, to me, to know the situation.
3. This is almost the same as no. 2 (and no. 1, for that matter). I want to know how fast the fielders are throwing. This, too, seems like it's a simple mathematical formula- even if they can't aim a radar gun on each fielder. Using a computer, they only would need to overlay a grid, click on the point where the throw originated from, click on the point where the throw arrived, and calculate the distance/time. We argue over who has the best arm at 3B or RF, but none of us really know. Plus, there's probably a lot of guys who are living on their reputation from the past, but don't really have it anymore. It would be nice if, for once, we actually had some measurable figure. For example, if there's a runner tagging from third and can make it home in 4.2 seconds, and the left fielder can throw 85 mph, there is almost a line in the sand that can be drawn to show how deep a sac fly would need to travel before a runner could score even on a perfect throw.
Anyway, like I said before, I watch a lot of baseball. I'm not interested in seeing the above stats for every single throw, basehit etc. If employed carefully, these stats could provide some interesting context and insight to what we're watching, at least in my opinion.
1. For fast guys (Trout, Ichiro, Pedroia, Pierre,Crawford, etc.) show us how fast they are by displaying -unobtrusively- the time it took them to reach first base from the point of contact. Obviously, not all guys are running full force on every at-bat. But on a potential infield hit, they most certainly are. I get sick of hearing that "[Insert name] has lost a step." Oh, really? Why don't you show how fast he is now compared to before? Likewise, it would be cool to KNOW who is the fastest guy. Baseball lends itself particlularly well to this type of simple measurement because most of the baserunning occurs on a straight line. (It would be really cool if they could show "ghost runners" for comparison. Like showing the "ghost" of Mike Trout running against Bryce Harper).
2. In a similar vein, I'd like to know how fast the catchers are throwing on steal attempts. It doesn't seem that it would be too difficult to do this with all the speed guns that are already aimed at the pitchers. And if that's not possible, it's a pretty simple time/distance formula. So, if we can't see MPH, at least show us the time from the catcher's release to the time it's caught. (I know the ball slows down the longer it travels. For the sake of comparison, however, it would be good to know). I'd like to know who's more to blame for the steal --the pitcher or the catcher. These times are no secret to the teams. But for some reason, we're never shown them on tv. [I know that throwing speed is not the most important part of the equation. Footwork, positioning, and accuracy play equally important parts. None of those can be measured though. Again, I'd like to see whether a guy is dropping off the cliff or whether his pitcher is hanging him out to dry]. And while we're at it, how about showing how long it takes a runner to reach second on his steal attempt. There are some catcher vs. runner match-ups where it's a near statistical certainty that the runner cannot be thrown out. (If the runner can steal a bag in 3 seconds and the pitcher-catcher combo could only achieve a successful throw in 3.4 seconds). It would be interesting, to me, to know the situation.
3. This is almost the same as no. 2 (and no. 1, for that matter). I want to know how fast the fielders are throwing. This, too, seems like it's a simple mathematical formula- even if they can't aim a radar gun on each fielder. Using a computer, they only would need to overlay a grid, click on the point where the throw originated from, click on the point where the throw arrived, and calculate the distance/time. We argue over who has the best arm at 3B or RF, but none of us really know. Plus, there's probably a lot of guys who are living on their reputation from the past, but don't really have it anymore. It would be nice if, for once, we actually had some measurable figure. For example, if there's a runner tagging from third and can make it home in 4.2 seconds, and the left fielder can throw 85 mph, there is almost a line in the sand that can be drawn to show how deep a sac fly would need to travel before a runner could score even on a perfect throw.
Anyway, like I said before, I watch a lot of baseball. I'm not interested in seeing the above stats for every single throw, basehit etc. If employed carefully, these stats could provide some interesting context and insight to what we're watching, at least in my opinion.
![[Image: 36cc0864-5f8d-4b58-93b8-fdc0967187ff_zps685e4742.jpg]](http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff429/Uvaspina/36cc0864-5f8d-4b58-93b8-fdc0967187ff_zps685e4742.jpg)
Always looking for Verlander, Cabrera, Maybin, Mike Stanton (marlins), and Avisail Garcia.
*TRYING TO COMPLETE MY VERLANDER ROOKIE COLLECTION. 44/47. ONLY 3 TO GO!*
![[Image: Boston.jpg]](http://i486.photobucket.com/albums/rr228/pointfiter/Boston.jpg)