[EdJW]

Irish, here's what I understand about the strike zone. Any part of the ball in the officially defined zone is a strike. So, an umpire is on reasonably solid ground calling a ball over the white (17") plus over the black border (1" on each side of the plate) plus the width of the ball (4" on both sides of the plate). This is a total of 27 inches. Why would you find it acceptable for an umpire to call strikes on pitches that are 1 to 2 widths of the ball outside this acceptable strike zone. Because that's what the first poster says he is calling.