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I'm surprised at the lack of real controversy on this thread
Most of us are in agreement, although anybody who says any two umpires have the same zone hasn't seen them work. Hell, I sometimes don't have the same zone night to night- even at the same level.
I have been working hard to get my zone consistent from game to game- with the caveat that it should be appropriate to the level of ball I'm working. It's complicated by the fact that I might work 13 yo BR- (they go from 60 to 90 foot bases here- way too big a jump in my opinion) and then go work AAA Legion the next night with 4 or 5 JUCO kids on the field.
The only way to train your eye to the strike zone, IMHO, is to strap it on and get behind the plate for live pitching. The limitation of camps that use pitching machines for cage work is that every pitch is virtually the same, and always a strike. Don't get me wrong- the cage work is valuable for mechanics, timing, stance, etc., but not for finding the pitch at the hollow of the knee of a 5'5" kid for a strike.
Strikes and outs!
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