You misunderstood what I wrote - I did not say that Montague was the only crew chief who worked the world series last year. I said that he was "only the crew chief in the world series"

I am sorry that Belhorn may have been called out on a pitch outside of the strike zone, but I have been following umpires, with particular emphasis on their strike zones, for over 15 years, and I think West does a solid job behind the plate. In addition, baseball has done a good job of assigning post season crews in recent years, making it based on merit, and West has gotten the LCS two consecutive years.

Whoops braindead moment there....maybe I should re-learn to read. :-/

Anyway, I still do not believe that Joe is a very good umpire. He is usually ranked at the bottom of player and caoch surveys, he seems to seek out arguments at times, and I just don't like the way he works a game. I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. I won't attack what you said or Joe himself- I just happen to have a different opinion from you.

Re: pitch at the letters???
 

I've made a concerted effort to bring up the top of my zone the past two seasons. The NCAA wants that pitch called, so I'm calling it in college AND high school games.

I have to agree and say that I think Joe West has an excellent zone. Back in the day, well before he got his job back, West was considered by many to be the best ball-strike umpire in the game. With that being said, cowboy Joe certainly won't back down or always attempt to diffuse a situation. In fact, he is one of the last true red asses left in the game, although he is more mild now. That's too bad. i think Gooch needs to get a job, so there can be a young red ***

A friend just gave me a four-and-a-half hour tape of MLBs. All the excerpts were from 2002. What the tape proves is that the umpires are human - and good!

Joe West has excellent timing and so misses very few pitches. The exceprts also prove he stays out of trouble on the bases, can calm players and managers down without ejection -- and ejects egregious offenders without pity.

One thing I learned from the tape: MLBs are not chary about using the FYC. Sometimes when we in the stands (or in front of the TV) think we saw an umpire blow a pitch, it is really an umpire sending a message.

In one game Barry Bonds complained vigorously about a third strike. Two innings later he arrived at the plate: 1, 2, 3 strikes and you're out. All the pitches "appeared" to be outside. He turned without a word and headed for the dugout. He was about half way there when the camera caught him in a huge smile. It was one of those rare moments when Barry wasn't a jerk.

Don't you just LOVE stories that have a happy ending?

You wanna know why I hate Joe West? Let me explain my stance, please. He called Mark Bellhorn out the other night on a pitch that was well below the knees. His strike zone is consistently inconsistent and he has a habit of finding an argument too often.[/QUOTE]
And you were able to gage that pitch from the TV or were you at the game? Were you sitting in your easy chair or were you standing in Joe's shoes?

By the way, do you wear a West Vest?

And you were able to gage that pitch from the TV or were you at the game? Were you sitting in your easy chair or were you standing in Joe's shoes?

By the way, do you wear a West Vest?

[/QUOTE]Ozzy: I do. I own one of the first 100 ever made, back when Douglas produced them and the patent was still pending. Two years ago I bought the new platinum WV, wore it once, and sold it for a $30 loss. Yuk!

BTW: I didn't know you were from Japan. When the gas was low on my Cavalier, a message popped up that said "Check gages." (big grin)

On a serious note: The depth of the catcher and the strength of his mitt hand are often causes for an umpire's strike call to look bad on a pitch at the knees. Many "misses low" come in the late innings, when the catchers are tired. The pitch hits the front of the plate at the hollow of the knee (it's a strike), but the catcher is deeper in his box than usual or he lacks sufficient energy to "frame" the pitch. When the batter reacts to where the ball was caught....

I [usually] don't call that strike a strike unless one team leads by a bunch or it's in the late innings and, like the catcher, I'm tired. (another grin)

A great point Carl
 

Ozzy: I do. I own one of the first 100 ever made, back when Douglas produced them and the patent was still pending. Two years ago I bought the new platinum WV, wore it once, and sold it for a $30 loss. Yuk!

BTW: I didn't know you were from Japan. When the gas was low on my Cavalier, a message popped up that said "Check gages." (big grin)

On a serious note: The depth of the catcher and the strength of his mitt hand are often causes for an umpire's strike call to look bad on a pitch at the knees. Many "misses low" come in the late innings, when the catchers are tired. The pitch hits the front of the plate at the hollow of the knee (it's a strike), but the catcher is deeper in his box than usual or he lacks sufficient energy to "frame" the pitch. When the batter reacts to where the ball was caught....

I [usually] don't call that strike a strike unless one team leads by a bunch or it's in the late innings and, like the catcher, I'm tired. (another grin) [/QUOTE]

I see this happen all the time and as Carl said, I usually will call it a ball, had two of them the other night and between innings the coach told me, "at least you're consistent blue".

MLB is the same way, often times the catcher is lazy or tired and he fails to do his job, and it will catch the umpire off guard. Many times it gets the strike call, but a complaint from the batter or coach etc.,

Thanks
David

Re: A great point Carl
 

I see this happen all the time and as Carl said, I usually will call it a ball, had two of them the other night and between innings the coach told me, "at least you're consistent blue".

MLB is the same way, often times the catcher is lazy or tired and he fails to do his job, and it will catch the umpire off guard. Many times it gets the strike call, but a complaint from the batter or coach etc.,

Thanks
David
[/QUOTE]

I had a catcher in a JUCO game Tuesday catch the curve balls palm-up on Tuesday and then lift his glove about 6 inches or so after catching the ball. Apparently this was enough to fool the pitcher and his coach because after a check swing call didn't go his way he came out to argue with my partner and (after a warning about leaving his position to argue balls and strikes) quickly got ejected.

After the ejection he accused me of not being consistent on that low pitch. Well, he didn't use those words -- he said (to my partner), "You're horrible. And he's horrible. You're BOTH horrible!" Obviously quite the phrase-maker.

Catcher told me he was glad the coach was gone. And he told me if he didn't lift his glove he would get his a$$ chewed in the dugout. To which I replied, "Well, as long as you know those aren't strikes."

--Rich

Favorite Umpire = Larry Young, he is from where I live.

bad Umpire = CB Buckner (hope I spelled it right) = all I can remember is watching him call balls 6 inches outside a strike while watching the cubs on TV. That's no joke either, the cubs have the southwest airlines planeview camera which shows the plate quite well. I can recall other missed calls to, on the bases too.

I won't say any umpire is the worst, because they all did something right obviously. So they are good, but Buckner is one of the weaker umpires in my opinion.

If you want to claim that C.B. Bucknor is the worst umpire in MLB, that's fine--although absurd. But, your comment was: bad umpire= C.B. Bucknor. If he's a bad umpire, what are you? The worst t-ball umpire ever? Just so you know, the Southwest Plane view camera doesn't come from a true angle and you also have no idea how good the worst professional umpire is compared to you

I'm not for or against C.B. Bucknor but I would bet money that the Southwest Airlines Plane view camera is an overhead camera that is directly over the plate. It would be easy to spot a ball that was six inches off the plate with that angle. Though I do think six inches is an pushing it. And hey, it might have been an FYC. You never know?

Sooo,
 

jont, you would attack me if I said Tim Timmons calls ankle high strikes all the time?

Just wondered.

I'm a math teacher, so I know there's a Geometry textbook out there that explains, due to the parallax effect, why an overhead camera, even perfectly overhead won't get the pitches over the plate right.