Strike Pitch - Do you still call it?

[Carl Childress]

Originally Posted by LakeErieUmp

I'd like to be a fly on the screen when the coach comes out to politely ask where that pitch was and you tell him "your batter hasn't earned the right to be a connoisseur"

I don't understand. If a coach wants to know where a pitch was - in relation to his batter - I would simply say: "Where was the pitch? In the strike zone."

No need to get clever, right?

In over 50 years, I don't recollect a coach ever asking me why a pitch was a strike. He might say: "Those low pitches aren't strikes!" Or: "C'mon, Carl: My batter couldn't hit those pitches with a 50-inch bat."

Offensive coaches ask only about a pitch they thought was a strike but I called a ball. "Where was that pitch [at]?" A well-trained catcher (training courtesy of me) motions "outside," even if he thought it was a stike and I missed it. There's always another pitch right around the corner.

On the other hand, a professional coach who questions the calls his pitcher is [not] getting understands at once when I tell him his catcher is costing the pitcher strikes.

That's a given, anywhere real baseball is played.

I guess it's a matter of style. I prefer telling the truth to coaches who are courteous enough to ask.

What's your position on that?