Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty
Yesterday: a dozen or so close pitches, I said "Ball, low" once when a pitch grazed the corner. I said "No, ball" when a batter barely started his hands at a high one and I didn't want to even hear a request for an appeal (even though there was a U3 to call it). And I said "Ball, in" once when there might have been a question as to whether it was low or inside.
The catcher should be able to know the adjustment that has to be made if it's a question of whether it's missing the bottom or the edge of the zone. But I don't like to, nor I am not inclined to detail every close one.
Now there's an NCAA Pac 10 umpire who calls out location on every ball he calls. ... "Ball, in!" ... "Ball, up!" And he does it loudly, just like you would on a close and critical ball call. On one call in the first inning, he didn't even call "Ball," he said, "Bring it up!"
So, now that he's the center of attention, his misses are far more glaring.
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Exactly what are we accomplishing here.
Why not announce the batter by name, say "swing and a miss, strike two," "down the center of the zone for stike one,". ??
Sometimes I would get, "Hey blue, I need to know the location so I can tell my pitcher how to adjust." My answer was, "tell him to adjust the ball into the strike zone."
I would let my consistency dictate my strike zone and let the announcers, announce. Just my opinion.