charlie browned
08-26-2001, 08:50 PM
there was a brief discussion the other day about replacing umps with cameras and sensors...you have to admit that the computerized strike zone is the logical end result of Sandy Alderson's first attempts this year with the umpires to standardize the strike zone....well, thanks to MIT's Center for Sports Innovation, it may happen someday...
Finding the Strike Zone
An older pastime has not escaped the attention of Blair and his crew. This project involves designing an automated strike zone for baseball. One approach includes posting high-speed cameras at the correct angles to identify balls and strikes.
Another approach uses light beams that are broken by the baseball as it crosses home plate. Since strike zones vary according to each player's height, that information would have to be added to the program in advance.
Blair acknowledges that improvements such as these may not always be considered improvements. "There's always the risk of upsetting the way a game is played when you make technological changes," he says. "Baseball is a very traditional game. A few years ago, someone at MIT developed a dimpled baseball bat, just like the dimpled golf ball. The dimpled surface reduced the aeronautic drag on the bat so you could swing it faster than the standard bat. The inventor took it to the major leagues, and they said, 'No.'"
MIT Sports Innovation Center (http://www.riverdeep.net/teaching_the_news/news_2000/march/front.270300.mit.jhtml)
MIT Center for Sports Innovation slide (http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/csi/sld006.htm)
CSI main web page (http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/csi/index.htm)
Finding the Strike Zone
An older pastime has not escaped the attention of Blair and his crew. This project involves designing an automated strike zone for baseball. One approach includes posting high-speed cameras at the correct angles to identify balls and strikes.
Another approach uses light beams that are broken by the baseball as it crosses home plate. Since strike zones vary according to each player's height, that information would have to be added to the program in advance.
Blair acknowledges that improvements such as these may not always be considered improvements. "There's always the risk of upsetting the way a game is played when you make technological changes," he says. "Baseball is a very traditional game. A few years ago, someone at MIT developed a dimpled baseball bat, just like the dimpled golf ball. The dimpled surface reduced the aeronautic drag on the bat so you could swing it faster than the standard bat. The inventor took it to the major leagues, and they said, 'No.'"
MIT Sports Innovation Center (http://www.riverdeep.net/teaching_the_news/news_2000/march/front.270300.mit.jhtml)
MIT Center for Sports Innovation slide (http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/csi/sld006.htm)
CSI main web page (http://web.mit.edu/aeroastro/www/labs/csi/index.htm)