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Originally posted by David B
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Originally posted by Carl Childress
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Originally posted by ozzy6900
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Originally posted by mattmets
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You wanna know why I hate Joe West? Let me explain my stance, please. He called Mark Bellhorn out the other night on a pitch that was well below the knees. His strike zone is consistently inconsistent and he has a habit of finding an argument too often.
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And you were able to gage that pitch from the TV or were you at the game? Were you sitting in your easy chair or were you standing in Joe's shoes?
By the way, do you wear a West Vest?
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Ozzy: I do. I own one of the first 100 ever made, back when Douglas produced them and the patent was still pending. Two years ago I bought the new platinum WV, wore it once, and sold it for a $30 loss. Yuk!
BTW: I didn't know you were from Japan. When the gas was low on my Cavalier, a message popped up that said "Check gages." (big grin)
On a serious note: The depth of the catcher and the strength of his mitt hand are often causes for an umpire's strike call to look bad on a pitch at the knees. Many "misses low" come in the late innings, when the catchers are tired. The pitch hits the front of the plate at the hollow of the knee (it's a strike), but the catcher is deeper in his box than usual or he lacks sufficient energy to "frame" the pitch. When the batter reacts to where the ball was caught....
I [usually] don't call that strike a strike unless one team leads by a bunch or it's in the late innings and, like the catcher, I'm tired. (another grin)
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I see this happen all the time and as Carl said, I usually will call it a ball, had two of them the other night and between innings the coach told me, "at least you're consistent blue".
MLB is the same way, often times the catcher is lazy or tired and he fails to do his job, and it will catch the umpire off guard. Many times it gets the strike call, but a complaint from the batter or coach etc.,
Thanks
David
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I had a catcher in a JUCO game Tuesday catch the curve balls palm-up on Tuesday and then lift his glove about 6 inches or so after catching the ball. Apparently this was enough to fool the pitcher and his coach because after a check swing call didn't go his way he came out to argue with my partner and (after a warning about leaving his position to argue balls and strikes) quickly got ejected.
After the ejection he accused me of not being consistent on that low pitch. Well, he didn't use those words -- he said (to my partner), "You're horrible. And he's horrible. You're BOTH horrible!" Obviously quite the phrase-maker.
Catcher told me he was glad the coach was gone. And he told me if he didn't lift his glove he would get his a$$ chewed in the dugout. To which I replied, "Well, as long as you know those aren't strikes."
--Rich