Teaching the strike zone

[Tim C]

I am not sure you can teach an art.

Balls and strikes is a fine line between science and art and I lean towards art in the equation.

When Doug Harvey was asked: "What's your strike zone?"

His answer was: "If I like it, it is a strike!"

Some posters here take umbrage at that type answer.

In teaching a strike zone you can only give guidelines. We know there is a book strike zone -- some here will tell you that is what you call (even a curve ball that passes through the strike zone and bounces before a catcher can catch it) PERIOD!

Others know that a strike zone resembles an egg. There are holes in a zone that an experienced umpire working upper level baseball don't call.

We all know that umpires FAIL because of poor base work . . . we also know you make your name and career through your plate work.

Nick when I started umpiring if an umpire missed 10 pitches in a game he was considered REALLY good. Now if a miss ONE PITCH at a crucile time I am considered a Smitty!

Another good way to continue to learn the strike zone is to play a game we play in my area called "Up and Down". This is a game played with your base umpire(s). At then end of the game they tell you how many pitches they thought you called Strikes that appeared to be balls (UPS) and how many pitches you called balls that appear to them to be strikes (DOWNS). This system really works to make you think through what really hapopened during your game.

And as I always intone: Nothing does more for learning than to keep a journal of EVERY GAME you umpire and making a critical part of that journal a fair evaluation of your balls and strikes for a plate game of that day.