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New System May Revolutionize Baseball Stats

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 10, 2009 11:06 AM CDT

(Newser) – Branch Rickey once complained that “there is nothing on earth anybody can do with fielding,” but that's about to change thanks to a complex new camera and computer system, the New York Times reports. The system, which will be unveiled for baseball executives tomorrow, records the exact speed and location of every ball and every player, giving stat geeks a mountain of new data. The idea is to get a better handle on intangibles such as which outfielder has the best arm.

The system is already being tested in the Giants' ballpark, and it could be in all 30 parks by 2010. MLB's Internet arm wants to make the data public, but teams may keep a lid on some of it for competitive reasons.“It can be a big deal,” says Cleveland GM Mark Shapiro. “You almost have to change the structure of the front office to make sense of it.”

[Images (1)]

[Quotes (2)]

This image from Sportsvision, the company that created the yellow first down line for football broadcasts, shows some of the information the company's new system can provide. (Sportsvision)

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It’ll be neat to find out what the numbers are. People will learn about playing defense, which has gone by the wayside as people have cared so much about offense and hitting the ball out of the ballpark. - Vernon Wells, Blue Jays player

I would say it would be threatening to more scouts than not — here come the stat rats. - Paul Ricciarini, veteran Astros scout

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 4 comments

Forderon

Jul 10, 2009 7:09 AM CDT

There are already stats like UZR (a measure of a fielder's range) for fielding. This is simply an incremental step above and I think it's awesome. The more the better when it comes to this stuff because there are way too many stupid announcers and TV talking heads who keep spouting cliches and making statements that are absolutely wrong because they're biased, delusional, or simply too lazy to look at the facts.

hungrydave

Jul 10, 2009 5:28 AM CDT

It could be good from a manager's perspective (assuming the stats are relevant) though. It could sort of be a new Moneyball type stat like OBP.

nick

Jul 10, 2009 5:26 AM CDT

How about coming up with a computer assisted, wizz-bang system that could accurately determine a ball from a strike ... working off an established, universal strike zone. It's pathetic, sometimes, to see the two pitches, each thrown in the same location, with one called a strike, the other called a ball. IMO, that technology would drastically improve the game.

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Technology • Sports

sports • technology • MLB • San Francisco Giants • Cleveland Indians • statistics • baseball • defense • Mark Shapiro • Branch Rickey

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