[Mick]

It must exist, at least in some rudimentary form, as it is now used almost universally in baseball telecasts.  I trust it more than I do most umpires.

Didn't Sandy Alderson take charge of the umpires a number of years ago?  I think he put the fear of "A Power Greater Than Themselves" in them at that time.  IIRC, Alderson's tenure covered the period of the umpire strike (no pun intended) and as a result there was a pretty hefty turnover of personnel at that time.  Seems to me that any effect, however, was temporary.

About 20-25 years ago, I saw a show on umpiring that postulated that the strike zone had been turned on its side...in other words, that anything above the belt was routinely called a ball (baseball definition is knees to letters), but that the outside part of the strike zone was that a ball that barely grazed the outside black part of home plate was a strike...and the worst offender was an umpire named Eric Gregg who would routinely call pitches 3-4 inches outside strikes.  Here's proof as Gregg umpires the 1997 NLCS championship game:

[url][/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3eK5gCChMurl]

Two interesting things about Gregg.  First, his weight ballooned to 400 pounds, and he died at the age of 55.  His autobiography was titled Working the Plate.

Second, he was part of a Richie Phillips-directed labor action in which 22 umpires voluntarily resigned in 1999 over a dispute with MLB, their employers, on the theory that MLB would prefer not to pay  millions in severance pay and would reconsider their stance in labor negotiations.  Instead, MLB accepted the resignations, though they rehired a few of the umps. 

[Mick]

It must exist, at least in some rudimentary form, as it is now used almost universally in baseball telecasts.  I trust it more than I do most umpires.

Didn't Sandy Alderson take charge of the umpires a number of years ago?  I think he put the fear of "A Power Greater Than Themselves" in them at that time.  IIRC, Alderson's tenure covered the period of the umpire strike (no pun intended) and as a result there was a pretty hefty turnover of personnel at that time.  Seems to me that any effect, however, was temporary.

About 20-25 years ago, I saw a show on umpiring that postulated that the strike zone had been turned on its side...in other words, that anything above the belt was routinely called a ball (baseball definition is knees to letters), but that the outside part of the strike zone was that a ball that barely grazed the outside black part of home plate was a strike...and the worst offender was an umpire named Eric Gregg who would routinely call pitches 3-4 inches outside strikes.  Here's proof as Gregg umpires the 1997 NLCS championship game:

[url][/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mR3eK5gCChMurl]

Two interesting things about Gregg.  First, his weight ballooned to 400 pounds, and he died at the age of 55.  His autobiography was titled Working the Plate.

Second, he was part of a Richie Phillips-directed labor action in which 22 umpires voluntarily resigned in 1999 over a dispute with MLB, their employers, on the theory that MLB would prefer not to pay  millions in severance pay and would reconsider their stance in labor negotiations.  Instead, MLB accepted the resignations, though they rehired a few of the umps. 

[Mick]

In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Cal and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.

[Mick]

In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Cal and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.

[standfan]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=14908.msg160857#msg160857 date=1460743634]
In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Low APR U and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.
[/quote]

Agreed. My son played at Mountain View HS and was Lin's year so he played against, and as his team's best defensive player tried to guard, Lin a couple of times. My son's senior year he also played against Drew Gordon who I think was a SO at the time. If I had been given the chance to bet on which of the two would be an NBA player, I would have lost a lot of money. Lin was a good HS player but not an obvious future star in Division 1, much less the NBA.

[standfan]

[quote author=Publius link=topic=14908.msg160857#msg160857 date=1460743634]
In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Low APR U and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.
[/quote]

Agreed. My son played at Mountain View HS and was Lin's year so he played against, and as his team's best defensive player tried to guard, Lin a couple of times. My son's senior year he also played against Drew Gordon who I think was a SO at the time. If I had been given the chance to bet on which of the two would be an NBA player, I would have lost a lot of money. Lin was a good HS player but not an obvious future star in Division 1, much less the NBA.

[Mick]

[quote author=Mick link=topic=14908.msg160895#msg160895 date=1460769108]
[quote author=Publius link=topic=14908.msg160857#msg160857 date=1460743634]
In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Low APR U and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.
[/quote]

Agreed. My son played at Mountain View HS and was Lin's year so he played against, and as his team's best defensive player tried to guard, Lin a couple of times. My son's senior year he also played against Drew Gordon who I think was a SO at the time. If I had been given the chance to bet on which of the two would be an NBA player, I would have lost a lot of money. Lin was a good HS player but not an obvious future star in Division 1, much less the NBA.
[/quote]

I think part of the challenge for Lin was strength.  The Harvard coach said he was the weakest player on the team and could squat just 110 pounds when he arrived.  He had doubled it by the end of his soph year, though.

Incidentally, both of my boys played volleyball at Bellarmine, and Mountain View was their big rival.  Two of Mountain View's players (Brad Howard, brother of Stanford hitter Brittany Howard) and Devin Stearns joined my son on Princeton's team.  My younger son played on the same club team as Jake Steubner, now on Stanford's roster.

[Mick]

[quote author=Mick link=topic=14908.msg160895#msg160895 date=1460769108]
[quote author=Publius link=topic=14908.msg160857#msg160857 date=1460743634]
In retrospect, Trent Johnson's mishandling of Jeremy Lin's recruitment was his biggest mistake.  If we hadn't jerked him around, we could have had 4 players that ended up in the NBA on our team.

Well, wait a second.  Lin was nowhere near ready coming out of high school.  he applied to Stanford, Low APR U and UCLA, but they all wanted him to walk on.  He applied to all of the Ivies, but only Harvard and Brown would even guarantee him a spot on the team.  And his Harvard coach told the Paly coach that Lin was a "Division III player."  Kerry Keating, recently fired SCU coach was the UCLA assistant who offered Lin a walk on spot and said in retrospect that Lin would probably end up starting at UCLA.  As a Sophomore at Harvard, he didn't even start, when Stanford beat Harvard 111-56.  Lin was 0-6 from the field, had 5 personal fouls, no rebounds, no steals, no assists.  0-3 from 3 point range.

Lin worked his tail off, made second team all-Ivy his soph year, then continually improved through his senior year.  But he wasn't ready for Pac 12 ball as a high school senior.
[/quote]

Agreed. My son played at Mountain View HS and was Lin's year so he played against, and as his team's best defensive player tried to guard, Lin a couple of times. My son's senior year he also played against Drew Gordon who I think was a SO at the time. If I had been given the chance to bet on which of the two would be an NBA player, I would have lost a lot of money. Lin was a good HS player but not an obvious future star in Division 1, much less the NBA.
[/quote]

I think part of the challenge for Lin was strength.  The Harvard coach said he was the weakest player on the team and could squat just 110 pounds when he arrived.  He had doubled it by the end of his soph year, though.

Incidentally, both of my boys played volleyball at Bellarmine, and Mountain View was their big rival.  Two of Mountain View's players (Brad Howard, brother of Stanford hitter Brittany Howard) and Devin Stearns joined my son on Princeton's team.  My younger son played on the same club team as Jake Steubner, now on Stanford's roster.

[Bruce Wang]

Trent Johnson missed on Lin, but so did every other Pac-12 coach

This is what I heard. Stanford said there was a walk-on spot, but then there wasn't.  Then there was. And there wasn't again.  It seemed to them basically dependent on where he stood with recruitment with other schools. The family questioned the integrity of the coaching staff so opted for Harvard.  Basically what I heard was that if Stanford had just stuck to the walk-on offer and stayed consistent on that, he probably would have come across the street.

[Bruce Wang]

Trent Johnson missed on Lin, but so did every other Pac-12 coach

This is what I heard. Stanford said there was a walk-on spot, but then there wasn't.  Then there was. And there wasn't again.  It seemed to them basically dependent on where he stood with recruitment with other schools. The family questioned the integrity of the coaching staff so opted for Harvard.  Basically what I heard was that if Stanford had just stuck to the walk-on offer and stayed consistent on that, he probably would have come across the street.