The commissioner’s office announces pitch counts, and pitch-count averages will not be used ”as measures of umpire performance”. The baseball’s reversal is in response to the grievance filed by the World Umpires Association, who believed the proposed criteria for evaluation was an attempt to get the umps to reduce the number of pitches in a game by inducing them to call strikes on pitches that weren’t strikes.

On July 18, 2001 — The commissioner’s office announces pitch counts, and pitch-count averages will not be used ”as measures of umpire performance”. The baseball’s reversal is in response to the grievance filed by the World Umpires Association, who believed the proposed criteria for evaluation was an attempt to get the umps to reduce the number of pitches in a game by inducing them to call strikes on pitches that weren’t strikes.

Sources:
National Pastime January 28

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