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Comment by Loughla | Hacker News Reader

The entire premise of sports relies on the assumption that the rules are adjudicated fairly.

Part of the soul of the game is learning the umpire's particular strike zone and adjusting accordingly.

I'm with OP. Fun is being replaced by data.

I agree entirely. Baseball is about the accumulation of (very) small advantages. No umpire is being unfair (whatever particular fans may think about certain umpires - though, yes, some are better than others), but each umpire is unique, and learning and adapting to individual umpires' idiosyncrasies is a dimension across which the best players can distinguish themselves. Removing that flattens the game.

I don't hate the challenge system as much as I would an entirely-automated strike zone - and I'll probably appreciate the occasional corrected call, and the game-within-a-game of when to spend your challenges - but it's all of a piece with the general flattening of baseball. The DH, and now the universal DH. Interleague play. Balanced schedules. Three true outcomes hitters. Outlawing certain defensive positioning. Maniacal pursuit of spin-rate. Manfred runners. All of these eliminate elements of the game that made it more interesting - at least from this Old Man's perspective.

(As counter-examples: I like the pitch clock, and I'm OK with enlarging the bases; those increase the premium that accrues to specific skills, and heighten the stakes of particular situations. Those are the directions in which positive changes should point.)

"The tie goes to the runner" died with instant replay, and I think that is sad. If you need multiple super slow-motion angles to determine if they were out or safe, it should be a tie, in my opinion.

I also just say watch every angle at full speed for those types of replay, no slow-mo. Keeps the magic, but let's you correct egregious calls.

Tie goes to the runner was never in the rules.

And that's what makes baseball awesome.

Everyone knows the tie goes to the runner but it's not an official rule apparently.

The soul of baseball is in the squishy parts. Quantifying the life out of it is not a good idea.

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