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Originally posted by CecilOne
Mike, please lighten up. All I am saying is that the color doesn't matter. Whatever non-dirt material in a 5 sided slab you see is home plate. The width or angle or existence of the "black" doesn't matter, it's part of the plate. I quoted the dimensions to emphasize that the definition does not include color, beveling, etc.
I think what I said agrees with "The black part of the plate is considered part of the plate for all purposes whether calling the pitch or touching the plate by the runner or defender."
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No, I will not lighten up as this issue is a serious matter that makes the umpires who know how to call it look bad by those who don't due to lack of clinical diligence or opinion.
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As long as it meets the dimensions, it is all home plate. If it doesn't meet the dimensions, get it fixed/replaced or make a ground rule that it will serve as home plate for that game
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This is the part of you post that got me. It's quite obvious that most manufactured plates do not include the beveled parts of their product within the dimensions you cited, though there are some odd ones out there that do.
So, I'm sort of curious just how you get it fixed or replaced? And just what type of ground rule would you enforce? ASA umpires are specifically instructed to rule in a certain matter in this case which would preclude someone's idea of a special ground rule.
The inconsistency in production and installation is the exact reason why ASA approaches this with an interpretation as opposed to a rule which would have to be so vague it would be useless.