QuesTec

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QuesTec is a digital media company known mostly for its controversial Umpire Information System (UIS) which is used by Major League Baseball for the purpose of providing feedback and evaluation of big league umpires.

The QuesTec company [3], based out of Deer Park, New York, has been mostly involved in television replay and graphics throughout its history. In 2001, however, the company signed a 5-year contract with Major League Baseball to use its "pitch tracking" technology as a means to review the performance of home plate umpires during baseball games.

1 The system
2 Stadiums using QuesTec
3 References
4 External links

[edit] The system

The UIS system consists of 4 cameras placed at strategic locations around a ballpark that feed into a computer network and records the locations of pitches throughout the course of a game. Computer software then generates CDs that umpires and their higher-ups can review and learn from. These CDs include video of the pitches as well as graphic representations of their locations plus feedback on the umpires' accuracy.

Controversy over the Umpire Information System surfaced over the next several years as umpires and players alike voiced concern over the system's accuracy on one side, and the partial and potentially biased coverage of major league games on the other. In its early trial period, baseball analysts questioned whether QuesTec was producing the consistency in umpiring that was supposed to occur.^[1] A report by a QuesTec operator a year later suggested that the system still needed to be tweaked.^[2]

Initially, the company installed its cameras and computers in only 10 of the 30 stadiums around the league. Umpires filed a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to get rid of the technology; meanwhile a more hands-on approach was taken by former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling. Schilling used a bat to smash one of QuesTec's field cameras, an act that led to a fine for the now Boston pitcher.

As of 2005, the grievance was dropped by the World Umpires Association (WUA).

[edit] Stadiums using QuesTec

[edit] References

^ Nate Silver and Keith Woolner, "QuesTec Not Yet Showing Consistency from Umpires," ESPN.com (June 5, 2003) [1].
^ Jason Karegeannes, "Confessions of a Questec Operator: How the System Works, How It Can Be Improved," Baseball Prospectus (Aug. 10, 2004) [2].