Quote:
Originally posted by edhern
An interesting discussion took place at the Southern Umpire's Clinic. It was attended by Steve Rippley, Gerry Davis, Ed Hichox, and Paul Nauert (three were involved in Wendelstat's school). They claim the current zone was not low. A strike was called at the proper level when the batter is "prepared to swing at a pitched ball" which they considered after he strided, which is 4-6 inches lower that his starting batting stance (which turned out to be about belt level when it was demonstrated). Under the new way the zone will be called, it will be now pitches under the front elbow when the batter is striding.
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I was always taught that the top of the zone is assessed with the batter in his stance and prepared to swing at a pitched ball. The mid-point between the top of the shoulders and the belt turns out to be at about the bottom of the sternum bone, which you should be able to find easily with your finger unless you're built like me. If you find that point, and then bend over into a normal batting stance, it brings the top of the zone in at about a whole ball (maybe two) above the belt, which is what I have always called.
The problem, as I understand it, is that many MLB umpires have called a zone where the ball never rises above the belt, and in some cases not even above mid thigh. That's fine by me if those umpires calling the top that low also give the pitcher some on the outside to compensate. I can accept that and most MLB batters can still hit those pitches.
Your point that the top is called in the swinging stance and not the standing stance is valid, however. Three balls above the belt
in the swinging stance is NOT the mid-point between the shoulders and the belt. If that is what the MLB umpires are being coached to call, that is NOT a "rule book zone". My take is let's wait until the FOX replays of actual games with
their Questec machine accurate to 2 inches and SEE what they are calling, rather than speculating about it.
I think for me to call what Alderson wants at the level I call (ave. equiv. Minor A-AA), the pitchers are going to get LESS air to work with around the plate, not MORE. That's because his requirement to call a "rule book zone" isn't going to affect my upper limit as much as it is going to bring in my outside edge by up to 2 balls! The pitchers aren't going to enjoy that at all! That will produce MORE hits, higher scoring and longer games! That is Alderson's real objective, I'd say. We haven't been asked to go there, yet, but if the new MLB zone lasts the season I'm sure we WILL be.
Cheers,