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Maybe I'm missing something. If I DON'T call a pitch that is only six inches off the plate, I have one team yelling at me. If I call it, usually only the batter complains and half his team tells him it was "right there".
I try to limit the width of my zone to the plate plus the width of a ball on the outside and maybe an extra inch inside.
The funny thing about borderline pitches is that whatever line you use, if the pitcher throws to the "exact" same borderline spot 10 times, half should be balls and half strikes. That's where the judgment really comes in.
Think about it, if a pitch is 1 millimeter more inside or outside, can we really say we can discern that? As much as I try to stay consistent, I hope that when the borderline pitches come, I give just as many to each team, even if I'm not 100% accurate. I don't count or use make-up calls, I just hope my best judgemnt makes it work out.
I know when I have a good game, no one has to tell me, I can just see everything and I'm not distracted. When I don't have that kind of game, I usually know that too. Coaches and fans generally don't know if I had a good game or not. If there were calls that went against them they usually assume I screwed up. If they win, they usually assume I did a real good job.
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