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Hey guys thanks for the feedback. How many of you "expand the strike zone" and I'm not referring to obvious balls. I'm referring to pitches that you might normally call balls but look good enough to call strikes so you don't get in trouble. When:
1. A team is hopelessly behind and it would take divine intervention to come back and it's in the interest of all concerned to get this game over with.
2. You have a pitcher who has walked 5 guys in a row. The kids are coming up and not swinging the bats and now you want them to start hacking. I think we all agree when the batters are swing we have a better game. Do you sometimes call a strike to get them going?
If you do this how does this differ from say getting the catcher to move up so that the breaking ball at the knees doesn't hit the dirt because the catcher is too deep (And if you call that breaking ball in the dirt a strike even though replays show your correct your'e in for a long day) or you get the catcher to properly frame so that one can call that pitch on the black a strike?
If you do #1 and #2 are you not giving a team an unfair advantage?
I'm not trying to cause trouble but I think as an umpire you have to develope a philosophy that works for you in terms of game management. Are you a by the book guy? If you're a by the book guy do you call the balk when the pitcher takes the sign straddling the rubber? When a righty checks the runner and he moves his shoulder ever so slightly so that no advantage is gained do you balk him? When the manager says step off and the whole world knows the pitcher is stepping off so there is no advantage and he steps off with the wrong foot do you balk him? On the
double play on the throw to second and the fielder misses the base by a few inches do you call the runner safe?
The easiest thing is to be by the book guy. It's the ultimate security blanket.
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