I've heard some very good umpires in this area state that they PRIMARILY watch WHERE (and HOW) the catcher catches the ball in determining whether the pitch is a strike or not. They are less concerned about the exact dimensions of the strikezone and are more concerned with how the pitch appears.
Surprisingly, this actually works quite well. So often umpiring is not so much about being 100% accurate as it is about appearing to be 100% accurate.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
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