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Originally Posted by PeteBooth
Jon Bible gave excellent advice about the strike zone.
1. Every Pitch is a strike until proven otherwise
Pete Booth
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If that advice is excellent, here's some that's awesome:
No pitch is either a ball or a strike until after it reaches the catcher's mitt.
A bias or predisposition toward a certain outcome might lead to quicker games. It certainly leads to an improper zone if you want to advance in adult baseball (college-aged and older).
Bible's advice might be OK for established umpires, although I find that partners who follow it tend to have strike zones that are unfairly large. Beginners who follow that advice are practically guaranteed that result, and they make enough mistakes in that direction as it is.
I don't know who said it, but I think it's sometimes attributed to Doug Harvey:
"The batter's got a right to make a living, too."