Neighborhood Play

[jicecone]

Originally Posted by rei

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.

More rubbish

So in other words, you will call it exactly like you think it should be unless you feel differently about how it should be. Good Luck Mr. Perfect, well maybe not always perfect or at least perfect when you think you should be perfect, I think.

Bottom line, if it works for you go with. The neighborhood play was accepted and expected in the leagues I worked.