Fan Mail: What’s up with the backpacks and MLB rule changes
May 24, 2019, 9:00 AM | Updated: 10:10 am
This week saw the Denver Broncos continue along with OTAs, Tim Connelly continuing along as president of basketball operations for the Denver Nuggets and Nikola Jokic continue to see his star status rise in the NBA.
Here is a sampling of what you, the 104.3 The Fan listener, had for us this week:
Writing to 104.3 The Fan via Facebook, Murray V. suggests a change to the MLB rule book, or at least an alteration in the procedure:
With the ball/strike issues in MLB, what if the umps could set their strike zones before the game? It would be less emotion, batters would know what balls/strikes are in-game and pitchers know what points they are trying to hit. Umps could set so they are calling tighter zones or looser zones, even setting zones per batter might be a possibility.
First off, thanks for writing in Murray. To be perfectly fair, the MLB rule book specifically addresses what should be considered the strike zone, reading:
The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.
Theoretically, the strike zones should be uniform and not change from umpire to umpire. In practice, umpires are human, and thus the strike zone is subject to human interpretation. Where does the top of the shoulders being? What’s midway point between there and the top of the pants? When is a batter in a position to address a pitched ball?
What does hollow of the kneecap even mean?
Even technology accounting for errors in human judgment, like ball tracking, are subject to humans interpreting its parameters.
It looks as if there’s no easy answer to regulating the strike zone or removing the human element of this part of the game, and there won’t be any time soon.
Following Champ Bailey’s election into the Broncos Ring of Fame — the first player to do so in the same year he goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame — we asked if he’s the greatest defender in Denver history.
Listen, Von is amazing, Meck was a Swiss Army knife (NT & LB?!?) and Atwater may have been the hardest hitting safety ever. But Champ literally took away half the field. Dude had a season where he only gave up four (FOUR!) catches the entire season. And had 10 INTs.
There’s not so much a question to answer here. But well said, @BrynCJack. Well said.
Responding to a 104.3 The Fan Twitter poll asking, “How do you view the Denver Broncos right now?” @dmcnamee13 asked:
Where is the “Who cares” option? It’s freaking May 23rd! They are the worst franchise in Denver right now. BORING!
First, thanks for the constructive criticism. We’re always looking to improve how we interact with our audience.
As to your question, however, who cares? Well, we had 1,246 respondents to this particular poll.
The Broncos may rank fourth among the four major professional sports franchises in Denver, yes. OTAs and offseason workouts are, indeed, early in the NFL calendar, yes. But these things do not make the club newsworthiness (as indicated by the poll numbers above).
After the NFL announced this week that Cleveland, Las Vegas and Kansas City will host future NFL Drafts — leaving Denver in the wind — Cecil Lammey said it’s likely because the event has grown so big that the Mile High City would struggle to handle it.
In response, @wheelssoaps68 asked:
Did you watch anything from Nashville? I live in LoDo, and it can be done easily.
Questions of feasibility aside, did Cecil watch the draft? No, technically. Because he was there. Among the 600,000 who attended the event.
“Stokley and Zach” co-hosts Brandon Stokley and Zach Bye debut their new video feature, “Elevator Pitch,” this week, and one viewer (@HaysTIM on Twitter) took exception not to the content but with something else …:
What’s up with the backpacks? Is this a thing? At least put it over only one shoulder. That’s what the cool kids do.
C’mon! Backpacks are totally a thing! It only takes a quick Google search to figure out they are among the hottest baggage accessories. Plus, more room to pack all the tools to drop knowledge on fools.
Tell us what YOUR favorite baggage accessory is. Comment at 104.3 The Fan using the hashtag #FanMail. Or direct message us. Or not. We see how it is.
