Gray Area Strikes

[kylejt]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

So if that outside pitch touched the outside of the edge of the plate it should be called a strike right?

Yup.

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

Plus you can even go almost another ball outside of that, the coaches and fans cant see inside and outside just up and down in the strike zone right?

Uh, no, that's not a strike. Plus, trying to get away with a bad call is no reason to do it. Do you fill you pockets at WalMart because no one can see you do it? Call a true strike zone, if you're good enough to do so.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Yeah!

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Yup.



Uh, no, that's not a strike. Plus, trying to get away with a bad call is no reason to do it. Do you fill you pockets at WalMart because no one can see you do it? Call a true strike zone, if you're good enough to do so.

please... at walmart..... most people will call a strike outside of the one that is right off the plate... if the catcher sticks it, and its right off the plate... Im giving it to him.

[UmpTTS43]

Originally Posted by kylejt

Call a true strike zone, if you're good enough to do so.

Sorry kylejt, didn't see the sarcasm there, just nonsence and arrogance. If you don't call the pitch that the catcher sticks and is a ball off of the plate, then you're going to have a whole lot of trouble. There are strikes and there are percieved strikes. If you don't call the percieved strikes, you will be writing ejection reports for most of the season, especially at the college level. The "true strike" is not even applicable in the pro game.

Let me ask you this. Do you call the low bender that crosses the front of the plate at the knees but hits the dirt a strike? How about the high bender that the catcher catches at his mask? The ball hit the zone at the back of the plate. And finally, my favorite, the lefty who throws that mean slider, hits the front corner and the catcher catches it a foot and a half outside. All are true strikes but all will have your lunch for such a calls. College coaches want strikes, consistency, strikes, game management and oh by the way, did I mention strikes. Let me say that in this case, strikes = any and all legitimate percieved strikes. The only real true strike zone is the one that I am calling that day.

Just like an OOO, an OOSZC causes more trouble than I care to deal with. To each his own, I guess.

[Publius]

A pitch is nothing until I call it something, and I'm not predisposed either way.

The 1" black isn't part of the plate, and gives the proper amount of leeway on close pitches in and out. If it hits the black--strike. If it doesn't--ball. Batters with a well-developed eye for the strike zone deserve to make a living, too. A pitch that "sticks" a catcher's mitt set up 2" off the black screams "ball" to me, and is usually met by the defensive bench with "Good spot to miss!" (unless it's a 3-2 count or there's two outs in a crucual situation, in which case they come to the top step and yell, "Dammit, we gotta have that pitch!")

Bottom of the front knee and the navel represent the "black" at the bottom and top of the zone, but style points count for something. A catcher who butchers a strike at the margins can cause me to call it a ball. That's a game-control device, which means something to me. The benches nearly always complain less when that's employed.

That's a general sense. A guy who throws strikes consistently probably gets a pitch or three that a guy who can't hit the ground when he trips on the curb doesn't get. I'm not suggesting my way is "right"; it's what works for me.