Outside Corner

[VanStanza]

Originally Posted by canadaump6

How does working the slot affect the view one has of the outside corner? Because I work the slot and have been very happy with my outside corner; anything that touches it I call a strike, even if only a fraction of the ball nicks it. But today a partner of mine told me I call pitches that are a foot and a half off the outside corner of the plate. This is scary and frustrating to me because although I am a bit more generous on the outside part of the plate, it is never nearly that bad. My rule of thumb is that if I see dirt between the ball and the black of the plate, it's not a strike. Apparently I am seeing things because what looks like a good pitch is actually a foot and a half off the plate. How does working the slot change the perception of the outside pitch?

It is also worth noting the concept of the "dominant eye theory". Many people have a dominant eye. For umpires, the result is that a pitch that appears to be the same for both a RH batter and LH batter, may in fact, be not. For example, I have a dominant right eye. As a result, I have to be careful for LH batters, as, pitches that I believe to be on the corner, are in fact, off the plate.

You can test to see if you have a dominant eye. Find a fixed object on the wall that is 10-15 feet away from you (a light switch is good). Extend your arm and cover the switch with your thumb. Now, cover each eye, one at a time. If you have a dominant eye, the switch will appear to magically move a foot or two when an eye is covered up. The eye that is looking at the switch when it moves is your dominant eye.

As described above, if your right eye is the dominant one, be careful with LH batters, and vice versa.

To combat the dominant eye's misleading view of the outside corner, you must watch the pitch all the way to the mitt with both eyes. This may sound stupid, because all umpires think they do this, but seriously, many don't.

Good luck.