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Further more, you are going off the subject trying to defend yourself. We are talking about changing the zone during the friggen game! Of course the strike zone is different from NCAA to JV to LL but you never, ever change your zone knowingly during a game! You might as just well say, "okay, you guys suck so they win". And one more thing, it is quite obvious that you may be in my association and if you are, please identify yourself at our first meeting of the new season. This way I can make sure that Arnie or Tony never assign us together! I'm done with this! |
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What Dave Hensley said in the post above mine. Don't tell anyone, but I may have even called someone out in a 30-0 youth game at first base on a really close play where the BR may not have actually been out. Guess what? Life goes on and most teams up 30-0 understand and to heck with those that don't. Oh, I can hear the violins playing. Wahhhh wahhhh wahhh. |
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Ozzy, IMO you are missing the point on this one. The first question? Why are we there in the first place? Answer: To make certain that one team does not gain an UNFAIR advantage not intended by the rules over another. When the score is rediculous, how does changing the zone give one team an unfair advantage over another. Most kids in a blow-out game have already batted a "zillion" times. When I played and we were getting blown out I wanted no part of the game. It was time to go back to practice and get ready for the next game. No-one, The coaches, parents etc. want to be there when the score is lopsided, especially on those cold days. Also, nothing good comes out of it. As I stated in my original response, IMO the onus should be on the coaches to stop the game (absent any kind of mercy rule). IMO, we are not "cheating" when we change the zone because the score is out of hand. Also, the game is for the participants not US so if our CLIENTS want us to change the zone and get the game over with, then we abide. They are the ones "paying the freight" Also, we are talking about a BLOWOUT game not a game in which one team is up by say 7-8 runs in the early innings where the other team has a chance to come-back. By Blow-out we are talking about a team who is winning by some 15 runs and if they kept playing hard could easily be up by 30 or more. Pete Booth |
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In your own words, "As I stated in my original response, IMO the onus should be on the coaches to stop the game (absent any kind of mercy rule)." Let the coaches deal with it! So in my words, anyone and I mean ANYONE that does this is horse$hit! Finis |
Ozzy, they do it all the time in spring training games in MLB. They call runners out when they are 2 steps past the base, they expand the strike zone, the don't call balks, etc. They try to speed the games up, especially in the Cactus League, where it's hotter than blazes all the time, and the games are lopsided.
The players and coaches all understand this, and they appreciate the service. These games are scheduled for 9 innings, and there is no mercy rule available. They can't just agree to stop the game, they have to play it out. The only ones who can mercifully speed them up is the umpires. |
How come you keep saying you are 'done with this' yet you keep responding with the same argument?
You are of course entitled to your POV but shouting it over and over doesn't change anything on either side. Your overbearing legalism on this rather small area of game management is puzzling to me, to say the least. I work with umpires who feel as you do, but they don't threaten excommunication because of it. :rolleyes: Sure, there are some risks inherent in the strategy. There's risk in every game-management decision we make. That's for each umpire to assess and act accordingly, which is why 'not everyone can umpire.' :D |
I've been asked, sportingly, to do this 3 times. Twice I said No, and told him just to tell his kids to swing the bat.
The other time, it was at the plate conference, and it was both coaches. The game was the final game before playoffs and the same night as some sort of Senior Night at the high school, so most of the players were "Varsity for a day" types. Seeding for both teams was set already, and this game was essentially playing out the string. Both teams planned on putting in a new pitcher each inning, one who had never pitched. I told them I was not going to get ridiculous, but that I was going to explore the edges of the zone and take "extra consideration" to the fact that the ball was arcing (like you might in a 10U softball game, for example, where the arc makes the 3rd dimension of the strike zone a living breathing thing). Didn't call anything horribly bad a strike, but if it was hittable, it was a strike. No complaints either way. |
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I open the zone up for both teams, so I don't understand how this is cheating. And yes, I sometimes change the zone during the game, I would bet that most good amature umpires do. And believe me, if I had the power to say "You guys suck and they win," and end a lopsided game I would do so in a heartbeat! I'll bet the participants wouldn't be all that upset either! You're getting pretty worked up over a game management style that you don't agree with... keep calm, the sun will still rise tomorrow! Sheesh!:rolleyes: |
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Not for cheaters. The sky is always grey for cheaters. |
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Some bad ones do. Good ones don't. |
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