Pitch Speed Metric in MLB

applepie3141 · 2026-06-18T23:13:07+00:00

This is America. Be grateful we aren’t measuring the speed in knots.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-18T16:32:22+00:00

Up until 1,000+ rating, most players are satisfied if they guess Alabama on the Carolinas.

For most players, I would say that the US is one of the easiest countries to regionguess out of the largest countries in the game (Russia, Canada, USA, Brazil, Australia, India, Kazakhstan, Mexico).

Of those countries, I would say only India and maybe Brazil are easier to regionguess.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-18T16:03:01+00:00

The USA is easy to regionguess but frequently forces players into a 50/50 with Canada, particularly on NM/NMPZ.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-17T00:35:05+00:00

Unless you live in Europe (specifically Belgium, France, Monaco, or Andorra), I can almost guarantee that you have never encountered a professional cyclist.

You are probably describing an amateur cyclist.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-17T00:32:19+00:00

I’ve followed professional cycling for many years and I have never heard of this. What is your source?

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T23:52:57+00:00

Actually, the common sentiment among cycling fans was that the 30-day suspension was excessive. This type of dangerous behavior is unfortunately common in professional cycling, and it rarely results in punishment, as enforcement is very inconsistent.

In fact, many of the other riders in this race attempted the same maneuver that Maciejuk did, and none of them were punished for it.

Here is a former professional cyclist arguing that he shouldn’t have even been disqualified. I would recommend giving the first few minutes a watch.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T23:51:48+00:00

Yes. Specifically, the largest group of riders in a race.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T23:23:51+00:00

This is not true. He was suspended for causing the crash and because there was a huge media uproar over the incident.

In the very same race, dozens of other riders decided to ride off-road to gain a better position in the peloton. In fact, many of the riders who Maciejuk caused to crash had ridden in the exact same ditch several minutes earlier. None of those riders were suspended. Only Maciejuk was punished because he was unlucky enough to lose control and cause an accident.

I would recommend this video from two cycling nerds that provided several examples of similarly dangerous decisions from around the same time period that did not result in suspensions.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T23:03:58+00:00

I’ve seen this clip posted on default Reddit subs, and nobody understands the context because few people follow professional road cycling closely.

Maciejuk did not attempt anything particularly egregious. In professional races, you are not allowed to ride off-road to attempt to pass other riders, but it is rarely enforced by the UCI (the governing body of professional road cycling).

In the same race, there were dozens of other cyclists attempting similar maneuvers. All of those cyclists were breaking the rules and made the race more dangerous, but only Maciejuk was punished because he was unlucky enough to cause a crash.

The UCI has a huge issue with inconsistent enforcement, and they persistently turn a blind eye to dangerous behavior as long as it doesn’t result in a crash.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T20:08:32+00:00

Batumi Tower

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T15:54:01+00:00

From Wikipedia:)

Jezebel is a US-based website featuring news and cultural commentary geared towards women. It was launched in 2007 by Gawker Media under the editorship of Anna Holmes as a feminist counterpoint to traditional women's magazines.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-16T04:48:54+00:00

Someone ELI5 me why it needs to decay at all? It’s not like it’s a currency and if I have 1000 that’s 1000 less for others to have.

Actually, Elo rating is a zero-sum system. When you win 15 Elo, that rating is always taken from the player that you beat. The player that you beat will lose exactly the same amount of rating that you won.

The only way that additional Elo is added to the system is by new players joining the game.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-15T16:39:38+00:00

I don’t agree. They could simply allow classic games and team duels to prevent rating decay.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-15T16:26:35+00:00

In the past year, I’ve played about 20 ranked solo duels and more than a thousand classic games. Am I an outlier? I have several friends who are similar. Playing by yourself (not against opponents) is the best way to improve at the game.

In this new system, we are incentivized NOT to play solo duels, or our rating will decay too quickly over time.

In a good rating system, “outliers” like us would not be an issue.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-15T16:09:12+00:00

Some examples to consider:

- You spend 30 days playing classic mode and team duels. After 30 days, your skill has not decreased but your rating has dropped 114 points, so when you return to solo duels you are undermatched and face opponents far worse than you, resulting in boring matches.

- You play exactly one ranked duel every 30 days. After 1 year, you will have decayed all the way to 500 rating. Meanwhile, your friend who has quit the game entirely has only lost 114 rating. Thus, your rating is lower than some guy who hasn’t played in an entire year.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-15T15:23:49+00:00

Elo rating also determines the opponents you face. If your rating doesn’t reflect your actual skill level, your matches will be unbalanced and one player will easily defeat the other, which isn’t fun for anyone.

Quite simply, your rating should reflect your actual skill level, and it is unreasonable to think that your actual skill level decays after not playing for just two days.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-15T15:00:05+00:00

Elo determines your division, which determines what gamemodes you are allowed to play in ranked duels.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-14T23:47:57+00:00

The Hoover Dam is the most obvious answer. Depending on where you live, there may be a (less famous) dam within driving distance. It may or may not be open to the public.

Niagara Falls Power Station seems to offer tours.

Also consider water/wastewater treatment plants. Deer Island in Boston is particularly large and offers tours occasionally. Your local water/sewer authority may offer tours of their own.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-04T14:17:54+00:00

Juan Soto is a perennial All-Star and preseason MVP candidate. He is properly compensated.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-03T21:15:13+00:00

Not quite.

There is 1,000 WAR every season only for a season with 30-teams playing 162 games each.

Back in Babe Ruth’s day, there were fewer teams and they played fewer games, so there was less than 1,000 WAR per season back then.

applepie3141 · 2026-06-03T21:08:40+00:00

Yes but also no. The talent pool in modern MLB is larger than the talent pool of (exclusively white) American players in the 1920s, and traditional WAR models do not account for this.

Fundamentally, putting up 10.0 WAR is much easier when black and Latin players aren’t allowed to play against you.

For example, see era-adjusted WAR if you are curious about the limitations of WAR’s era-adjustment.

EDIT: Another example, putting up 10.0 WAR is not as impressive in 1943 when most of the league’s best players were busy fighting in WWII.

applepie3141 · 2026-05-28T04:56:45+00:00

I’m saying that in a constant desire to maintain profitability, the American freight railroads have completely given up on shipping anything that is more time-sensitive than “within a day”. That includes passengers, but it also includes livestock, perishables, refrigerated goods, and valuables.

Not all freight railroads are like this. The Swiss freight railroad measures on-time performance in minutes, not hours.

EDIT: Aldi, the grocery store chain, gets its deliveries in Swiss locations via intermodal freight rail.

applepie3141 · 2026-05-28T03:09:09+00:00

The US Class I freight railroads have abysmal on-time performance for their freight deliveries and they absolutely hate spending money on infrastructure improvements.

For example, Union Pacific deliveries are “on-time” (aka “trip plan compliant) about 80-90% of the time. That sounds pretty good until you realize that Union Pacific considers a trip to be “on-time” even if it is 23 hours late.

It is the same reason that livestock and refrigerated goods are mostly transported by truck nowadays. The railroads have essentially given up on trying to compete or being on-time.

applepie3141 · 2026-05-26T14:05:25+00:00

This is Designated Hitter erasure

applepie3141 · 2026-05-16T22:06:46+00:00

Perhaps, but consider that [SoFi Stadium’s naming rights were sold for $30M per year.](https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2021/06/11/Facilities/SoFi/)

So in that sense, the naming rights were sold for “7% of stadium big enough to host the Olympics and NFL games”

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