Strike zone

[buckweat]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I would be so shocked that I would be forced to quit umpiring forever! No, really!!

Frankly, I’ll be shocked if I even get a reply to such a silly argument, but if all of those things did come true, why would you even consider giving up such a noble endeavor? All it would mean is that you were mistaken about one small facet of umpiring, not that you were a dangerous idiot who was endangering anyone’s life. Its only a freakin’ game!

Originally Posted by LMan

I'm confident that Mr Wendelstedt will not sanction the 'practice' of calling breaking balls in the dirt strikes, and that refusal to do so is clear evidence of cowardice

I didn’t ask anything about it being an act of cowardice because I think that’s just flat silly. There’s a difference between cowardice and just going along with what you’ve been conditioned to do. The only cowardice would be to not change one’s way of doing something once they’ve been presented with overwhelming evidence that the way they were doing it was incorrect.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Buckwheat, get Alfalfa, Spanky and Darla to explain the use of "smilies," which indicate that we are either kidding, being sarcastic, or both.

[buckweat]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Buckwheat, get Alfalfa, Spanky and Darla to explain the use of "smilies," which indicate that we are either kidding, being sarcastic, or both.

Sorry, had you not added that last “smile”, I wouldn’t have mistaken what you were saying. No offense intended.

BTW, my use of “Buckwheat” doesn’t come from the Little Rascals. It comes from my love of those wonderful things you cook on a griddle in the morning, then cover with butter and hot maple syrup, with a few sausage links or slab of ham on the side, with a monster glass of ice cold milk to wash it down.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Why does everybody always want to make my fat a$$ hungry? Now I want breakfast!

[ncump7]

Last year, our assignor sent out a memo to all officials. Do not call the curve ball that hits the dirt a strike. I had previously tried to call the ball that passed through the zone and hit the dirt a strike. I was hearing a lot of crap about it, but just thought I was right and they were wrong. After the memo, I call them a ball and never hear a word. It works for me. I work strictly high school varsity games.

[WhatWuzThatBlue]

I waited a long time to enter this fray and I'm fairly sure that the hornet's nest I'm about to stir up is unappreciated.

Call what you see and get the damn call right!

Most of you know my experience and while pro school was very long ago, we were taught that the catcher matters little in the outcome of the call. If the ball passed through the zone and is uncaught, do you call it a strike? Do you allow a catcher to grab it in such a way that a ball outside the zone looks close enough to call it a strike?

Depending on the level of ball you work, you may be able to get away with 'finding' a strike. Watch enough Minor and Major League games and you'll see pitches that miss by a whisker and the umpire never blinks - Ball!

The definition of a strike is what? We are supposed to call the play per the rules and using our judgement. Nowehere in any respected umpire manual or rule book does it state that this is supposed to be easy. If you make the expected call because you don't want grief, shame on you. I've witnessed some incredible curve balls in my day. I don't tell the coach, "Get a better catcher and I can call some of those." We are supposed to reward good pitching, not penalize bad catching!

[buckweat]

Originally Posted by ncump7

Last year, our assignor sent out a memo to all officials. Do not call the curve ball that hits the dirt a strike. I had previously tried to call the ball that passed through the zone and hit the dirt a strike. I was hearing a lot of crap about it, but just thought I was right and they were wrong. After the memo, I call them a ball and never hear a word. It works for me. I work strictly high school varsity games.

In that case, its pretty cut and dried. If you want to work, you work the way the guy that gives you the work wants the work done. I have absolutely no problem with that! But that’s different than the ump just deciding he’s gonna do it on his own.

When that happens, everything’s on the “boss”. If someone doesn’t like it, they can certainly take it up with his boss.

Originally Posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

I waited a long time to enter this fray and I'm fairly sure that the hornet's nest I'm about to stir up is unappreciated.

Call what you see and get the damn call right!

Most of you know my experience and while pro school was very long ago, we were taught that the catcher matters little in the outcome of the call. If the ball passed through the zone and is uncaught, do you call it a strike? Do you allow a catcher to grab it in such a way that a ball outside the zone looks close enough to call it a strike?

Depending on the level of ball you work, you may be able to get away with 'finding' a strike. Watch enough Minor and Major League games and you'll see pitches that miss by a whisker and the umpire never blinks - Ball!

The definition of a strike is what? We are supposed to call the play per the rules and using our judgement. Nowehere in any respected umpire manual or rule book does it state that this is supposed to be easy. If you make the expected call because you don't want grief, shame on you. I've witnessed some incredible curve balls in my day. I don't tell the coach, "Get a better catcher and I can call some of those." We are supposed to reward good pitching, not penalize bad catching!

I’m not familiar with your experience, but I’m assuming that since you went to pro school “very long ago”, your experience and training far exceeds most of the posters on BB’s like this.

What you’re saying is exactly the way as a "layman" who understands how hard it is to call pitches, common sense tells me it should be.

Call what you see and get the damn call right, and We are supposed to reward good pitching, not penalize bad catching, just about say it all as far as I’m concerned.

[BigUmp56]

Originally Posted by WhatWuzThatBlue

I waited a long time to enter this fray and I'm fairly sure that the hornet's nest I'm about to stir up is unappreciated.

Call what you see and get the damn call right!

Most of you know my experience and while pro school was very long ago, we were taught that the catcher matters little in the outcome of the call. If the ball passed through the zone and is uncaught, do you call it a strike? Do you allow a catcher to grab it in such a way that a ball outside the zone looks close enough to call it a strike?

Depending on the level of ball you work, you may be able to get away with 'finding' a strike. Watch enough Minor and Major League games and you'll see pitches that miss by a whisker and the umpire never blinks - Ball!

The definition of a strike is what? We are supposed to call the play per the rules and using our judgement. Nowehere in any respected umpire manual or rule book does it state that this is supposed to be easy. If you make the expected call because you don't want grief, shame on you. I've witnessed some incredible curve balls in my day. I don't tell the coach, "Get a better catcher and I can call some of those." We are supposed to reward good pitching, not penalize bad catching!

Windy, Windy, Windy..............


It's been a while since the two of us have had a dispute over a touchy subject such as this. However, I have to tell you how dissapointed I am that you posted what you did. Are you actually saying that you'll call a pitch that's been gloved in the dirt a strike even if you felt it "passed" through the zone?

This idealogy flies in the face of every professional clinician's take that I've ever met. I usually see at least 20 games at the single A level each season alone, and I've never, not once seen this pitch called a strike. This doesn't count the 150 or more games below that level I either call or watch each season.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the message you're trying to impart. Please elaborate.



Tim.