Will IP Camera Systems Change the Flow of Baseball?

We just finished watching the All-Star game which means we're halfway through the 2014 baseball season. So it remains to be seen what sort of impact the introduction of the expanded replay review will have on the pace of the typical baseball game. Commissioner Bud Selig, in announcing its approval at the January quarterly owners' meetings, had this to say.
 "This is really big. I'm proud of the changes we've made..... because they won't disturb the game as we know it.....Yes there will be some differences but because of our own technology, we've been able to do this."

IP Technology?
The technology to which he refers, brings up a question. Are they using IP camera systems? It sure would seem so, but since MLB is tightly closed mouth on exactly what technology they've employed, we can't say for sure. What we can say is that MLB put a lot of muscle and manpower into setting up the video camera systems in time for opening day.  Consider these numbers:

32,178 person hours and 682,788 person miles went into shipping and installing 42 tons of equipment at 30 ballparks, and running 172.14 miles of cable.  And don't forget that back in New York City at the operations center, 37 HD monitors had to be mounted.

The Rules and Regulations

Each manager is able to dispute  a call by requesting a video review. To do so, he must "verbally inform the umpire in a timely manner." Each manager starts a game with one allowed challenge. If it's upheld, he's allowed another. If it's overturned he gets no more. So will this further slow what's already a slow sport with interruptions and calls to "go to the videotape"?

The limit on the number of challenges is intended to keep with the rhythm of the game, but still there are a lot of instances in which a review can be requested. Approximately 90% of all plays will be subject to replay review including

• a home run
• ground-rule double
• boundary calls
• plays at first base
• force, tag, and trap plays

Tying It All Together with Technology

To insure impartiality, on-field officials do not review the video and make the call. That is carried out in the 900 square foot replay operations center in New York City on the top floor of a former Nabisco factory, now the fashionable Chelsea Market. Current MLB umpires rotate through duty there, reviewing video feeds.  In order to accommodate the innovation, two additional four-man umpire crews have been hired.
In the interest of uniformity, cameras have been mounted at the same twelve angles at each ballpark. So no matter which ball park the ops center umpires are viewing they are seeing the play from the same advantage.

Once the review has been completed, the on-field crew chief and at least one of his umpires is called to the

designated communications center where they use hard-wired headsets to hear whether the replay review umpires have upheld or overturned the disputed call. The crew chief then relays the news to the team managers.







The Bottom Line
Most team managers have shown a willingness to give it a try. According to the Associated Press, manager Bruce Bochy of the San Francisco Giants  says "It's about getting it right, and with our technology today we can do that in a way I don't think interrupts the flow of the game."

But getting back to our original question of Baseball as we know it, just as some NASCAR racing fans consider car crashes part of the viewing experience and hockey fans, the fight, are the impartial cameras denying baseball fans the sometime comic scenes of volatile manager's disputing umpire calls. For instance,

  Billy Martin and his dirt-kicking tirades

Or

 Baltimore Oriole's Earl Weaver's turned around baseball cap

No, it doesn't appear managers have mellowed any. They're still arguing ball/strike calls which are not subject to expanded replay review, and so far, more have been ejected along with players and coaches than this time last year. But in their favor, thanks to the impartiality of the video, roughly half the out/safe calls they challenged have been overturned.

One fact that's never challenged is the expertise Kintronics sales engineers bring to the table in helping customers choose  IP camera security systems that best fit their needs. If you are thinking about installing  IP cameras, video management software, or PA over IP, give us a call at 914-944-3425, or fill out an information request form.