[greymule]

Obviously, at higher levels you have to set a zone, call the pitch, and let the chips fall where they may. Even so, I suspect that more than a little "adjustment" is done even at the MLB level. Does anyone really think the zone was the same for Ted Williams as it was for Marv Throneberry?

Generally, in youth ball I stretch the zone depending on what the batter does. If the kid doesn't budge for two pitches right down the middle and then stands like a statue for another a few inches outside, that's strike 3. His coaches will then lecture him about swinging. If he swings at the first 2 and then holds up for that outside pitch, it's a ball. No one has EVER complained.

Similarly, if he is crowding the plate and has to back away from a pitch a little inside, that's a ball. If he's away from the plate and the pitch is perfectly hittable, it's a strike.

Remember that a lot of kids take one strike, so a larger zone for strike 1 often gets them swinging.

You can raise the top of the zone for pitchers not throwing hard. Slower pitches at the shoulders are easy to hit.

This assumes that the pitchers are comparable. If they both are consistently throwing real strikes, then you can call a truer zone. If they're both wild, you can't. Not easy, though, when one is throwing strikes and the other isn't. In that case, at least the score usually becomes lopsided.

I think you quickly get a sense of what kind of zone you should be calling. Is this a "teach them to swing" game or a "teach them the zone" game?