Neighborhood Play

Originally Posted by LMan

this discussion appears to be veering away from the 'call the game they expect' by Mr Porter (IIRC, my memory may be hazy) article we are familiar with. Would that be the case?

Would you call a breaking ball in the dirt (with dust cloud) a strike, if you thought it crossed the batter's front knee?

Would you call a strike if F2 set up his mitt 2 balls (or pick your personal limit) outside and F1 nailed it with a fastball?

Just asking...I'm mildly surprised at who's arguing which POV here.

Good point!

Just want to check. Are you one of those guys that won't call a curve ball caught at the belt? What about the fastball at the letters. BOTH are for sure strikes that few call, even though NCAA and NFHS wants these to be called strikes.

I call the high strike. It is hittable, and hittable for POWER! The low crap is bad for quick games. The angle the ball comes off the bat means a lot of hooks and spins, which means bad fielding.

So, shall we just call the WHOLE strike zone? LOL Nobody is going to do that, except in Little League.

In my mind, a bit of play in the strike zone is very different than phantom plays. There is no way for the offense to play against phantom plays, and these phantom plays are always "given" when the defense seems to have enough time to do them right.

With strike zone difference, it is a matter of the offense being able to work with/against it. A pitch 3" outside is VERY hittable for power. The low crap in the dirt is virtually un-hittable unless the batter gets VERY lucky.

So, while I will require a catcher to present a good looking strike to get a call, I will not give the phantom tag and neighborhood play. I think they are bad for learning baseball.