What is it?
Major League Baseball hired QuesTec, a digital media firm based in Deer Park, N.Y., to install and implement an Umpire Information System.

	Where QuesTec resides
	The 10 major-league ballparks in which QuesTec, the umpire evaluation system, has been installed: Bank One Ballpark (Arizona) Fenway Park (Boston) Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay) Jacobs Field (Cleveland) Miller Park (Milwaukee) Edison Field (Anaheim) Network Associates Coliseum (Oakland) Minute Maid Park (Houston) Shea Stadium (Mets) Yankee Stadium (Yankees)

Why?
MLB wants to support its strike zone initiative, to help its umpires improve and to grade their performance.

How does it work?
QuesTec's proprietary measurement technology uses cameras mounted in the stands off the first and third base lines. The cameras follow the ball as it leaves the pitcher's hand until it crosses the plate. Multiple track points precisely locate the ball in space and time. This information measures the speed, placement, and curvature of the pitch along its entire path.

According to the New York Times, a computer technician sets the strike zone from a snapshot taken as the first pitch to a batter was on the way to the plate. That is used to measure whether the pitch was a strike or not.

After each game, the complete set of data is put on a CD-ROM to be given to the umpire at the end of the game to view. The umpire can view his calls next to QuesTec's and contrast where they differed.

What is the umpires' biggest complaint?
The strike zone is established by a computer operator, so they say it varies from park to park, from at-bat to at-bat with the same batter and sometimes even from pitch to pitch.

Are the umpires fighting the system?
Yes. The umpire's union has filed a grievance against major league teams contending the system is inaccurate and varies greatly depending on the person operating it. An arbitrator is to hear the grievance in early July.

How accurate is it?
The UIS is accurate to within 0.5 inch (one half inch), according to QuesTec.

How accurate does MLB want its umpires to be?
Umpires have been told that if at least 90 percent of their calls do not conform with QuesTec calls, they are guilty of below-standard umpiring.

Information from QuesTec's Web site is included in this report