Luckily, the Red Sox
'Call The Count' experiment has gotten such bad reviews that it will end up (rightfully) in the dustbin of hardball history. Apparently, the NOG have been debating the idea of having the PA announcer blurt out the ball/strike call and the count after every delivery for some time now.
They implemented it yesterday at jetBlue Park. Said
John Lackey,
"That's a bad idea. Whoever did that hasn't been between the lines. For me it was not that big a deal because I'm not that worried about throwing strikes. But I could foresee a situation with someone who is just struggling throwing strikes, you're just pretty much beating the guy over the head with it. He realized it was a ball. He doesn't want to hear it again. That's a bad idea." However,
Dr. Charles Steinberg—gadfly of the NOG—thinks differently,
"It's based on a point of view that so much of baseball, especially in recent years, focuses on the count. Is it a 1-2 pitch? Is it a 3-2 pitch? And you want to achieve the balance of information, this time in an aural form that complements the visual form to which you're accustomed." The good doctor went on to describe it as,
"... a gentle zephyr that taps you on the shoulder and whispers to you versus an interrupted, unwelcomed vocal intrusion." Pardon us while we wretch. Good riddance,
'Call The Count'!
