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Bob, I don't want to come across as someone that is here to argue, I only want to completely understand an issue. Some times my methods are less than perfect.
My zone in and out is usually limited to inch or so of clearance from black. Does it change? Sure. Low level baseball, blowouts and JV games, I will give more. Low pitches I feel are too often called strikes. I try to make pitcher get the top of ball at the base of the knee. It helps me to watch ball into glove and see if catcher turns glove over or even drops the top part of his glove. This is assuming he is not throwing off-speed pitches. The top of the zone is determined by my eye level in the heel-to-toe stance I use. I was taught to place my head so that pitches in my chin area would be the upper part of the zone. It seems to work well. A problem I have, however, is when I use the GD stance determining the vertical part of the zone. I am working on it and hope to improve.
I want to apologize for my statements yesterday. I wasn't in the best of moods and said things I probably shouldn't have said. You guys can think whether you want of me, but your comments for the most part have been very helpful to me.
Tim, I only commented on my experience as a coach to try and qualify my position from a coaching standpoint. I did not intend to blow my own horn. I am very proud of my success as a coach as you are proud of the work that you do. I worked very hard at being a good coach and I try and bring that same dedication to my umpiring. Being good at something is a journey of ups and downs. But striving for perfection is an admirable quality. Some of you are already there, but some of us are still working at it.
Finally, my comments yesterday centered more on allowing more than 2 inches of clearance outside the black. I cannot see you guys with the quality of baseball that you do calling this a strike. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. But as some of you have pointed out, consistency is the key. That is the holy grail.
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