Good call, Pete. Even without a "home plate", you still have a strike zone to call. While the legal description is "17" . . . and the heighth is pretty much defined . . . different age groups and calibre of play needs to be taken into consideration. Even then . . . I think "strike" as often as possible. It's no fun watching tons of folks walking around the bases; if they know you're calling 'em wide . . . they'll go after 'em.
I believe it was Nestor Shylock, old-time umpire, who once told Casey Stengel (I'm probably all wet and have all the participants incorrect), "Hey, I call 'em from one dugout to the other". He didn't mention anything about black edges, 17" or any other reference.
Jerry
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