Any idea why they used old data when current data is available?
Not mentioned in the Times article, so I won't guess. Might be in the journal article, when it's published.
Incidentally,
- Ted Williams estimated that a big league umpire could judge a pitch within an inch, and he, at the plate, could judge within a half-inch ("Science of Hitting"). I don't remember Williams ever being called out on strikes. Indication of bias for Willaims and against Nats' pitchers...bad teams, bad pitchers (except for Pascual).
- When I played, I thought I knew the strike-zone exactly. did not stike out during my last three or four seasons. Then I umpired youth baseball for almost ten years, and it was beyond just "hard". I agree with PB69: 14% is great.