Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
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Re: Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
[ Author: Dusanh | Posted: Jun 9, 2003 4:27 PM
]
I think this is precisely why MLB doesn't keep official records for velocity. It makes you wonder if they know what the percentage error on those guns are. It'll be very funny if the error is more than plus/minus 1 km/h, and there they are keeping a ranking of the fastest pitches using km/h.
Re: Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: Jun 9, 2003 5:52 PM
| HT Fan
]
Judging by TV coverage, the speed guns at the various grounds seem to be in synch with each other (i.e., the pitchers get pretty much the same readings wherever they play), so if they are 1 km/h out (for example), then they are likely all 1 km/h out.
But Taninaka throwing 153km/h? Unlikely.
But Taninaka throwing 153km/h? Unlikely.
Re: Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
[ Author: Guest: shishimaru | Posted: Jun 10, 2003 10:27 PM
]
I was watching that game on TV, and the TV said the pitch was in the high 140s. So it might have been the TV's speed guns or the ones in Matsuyama.
Re: Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
[ Author: torakichi | Posted: Jun 11, 2003 9:22 AM
| HT Fan
]
Kubota's 156km/h (on the ground's speed gun) pitch was in the high 140s on TV? That's a big discrepancy. If it was, say, 148 and they called it 156 (or vice versa), that's just slack.
I mean, under those conditions, even former Hankyu/Orix/Hanshin pitcher and now KTV comments man Nobuyuki "Banana Ball" Hoshino could be considered quick.
I mean, under those conditions, even former Hankyu/Orix/Hanshin pitcher and now KTV comments man Nobuyuki "Banana Ball" Hoshino could be considered quick.
Re: Is it hotter in Matsuyama?
[ Author: Dusanh | Posted: Jun 12, 2003 1:52 AM
]
In the Jays/Cardinals game just the other day, Escobar threw a pitch that was 94 mph on TV and the broadcasters commented that the stadium gun clocked it at 97, that's a 150 km/h and 155 km/h difference.
So while 148/156 is a big discrepancy, it's definitely conceivable.
So while 148/156 is a big discrepancy, it's definitely conceivable.
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In a relief appearance earlier this season at Matsuyama's Bocchan Stadium, Kubota was clocked at 156km/h. Now, Kubota has a bit of zip to be sure, but isn't it more a case of a faulty (?) speed gun at Matsuyama than Kubota rivalling NPB's established heaters in his rookie year?
On the morning following that game at Matsuyama, SanSpo reported that, in addition to Kubota's 156km/h, Hanshin's journeyman reliever Shinji Taninaka was clocked at 153km/h, which to my mind was just plain wrong.
Sure enough, in SanSpo the following day, a small article said that Taninaka had cut out the previous day's article, and said he would keep it as a souvenir. Taninaka said something along the lines of, "It's the first and last time I'll ever be credited with 153km/h."
So, now when Kubota appears on the mound, the 10 (or so) fastest pitches in NPB history are shown on screen several times a game, but Matsuyama's seemingly didgy speed gun has sort of ruined it for me. Did he really throw that fast? For that matter, did Irabu really reach 158km/h against Kiyohara way back when?