Quote:
Originally posted by C rabby
many of those pitches were close to, but not on the corner.
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One thing I see with younger umpires is that they don't really have a good idea of where the corner is. SInce they are looking at the plate at an angle, a pitch that is over the plate looks on the ocrner; a pitch that is on the corner looks outside.
A couple of ways to deal with this:
(a) get in your stance and have someone toss a ball near the corner. You call it; then your partner tells you where it "really" was.
(b) when you brush the plate, put you shoe just off the side of the plate. Call a strike if the ball is over your shoe.
(c) watch the batter take a practice swing. Note where the end of the bat appears to be. Call a strike if the ball passes within that zone. (Since the batter usually takes the practice swing as if the ball were over the heart of the plate, and will (or should) lean to get an outside pitch, he'll be able to hit the pitch that was at the end of the bat during the practice swing.)