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I've been asked, sportingly, to do this 3 times. Twice I said No, and told him just to tell his kids to swing the bat.
The other time, it was at the plate conference, and it was both coaches. The game was the final game before playoffs and the same night as some sort of Senior Night at the high school, so most of the players were "Varsity for a day" types. Seeding for both teams was set already, and this game was essentially playing out the string. Both teams planned on putting in a new pitcher each inning, one who had never pitched.
I told them I was not going to get ridiculous, but that I was going to explore the edges of the zone and take "extra consideration" to the fact that the ball was arcing (like you might in a 10U softball game, for example, where the arc makes the 3rd dimension of the strike zone a living breathing thing).
Didn't call anything horribly bad a strike, but if it was hittable, it was a strike. No complaints either way.
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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson
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