Gray Area Strikes

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by tballump

Umpmazza

Could you make a picture with the batter and the official strike zone (shaded in blue) and put a O (a little bigger O than I just did to represent the baseball) and show a pitch just nicking the bottom, top and both sides of the strike zone as well as the corners so that the younger umpires can see that the "whole" ball does not have to pass through the zone. As long as "any" part of the ball passes through "any" part of the strike zone it is a strike by definition. Thanks.

This picture was for you and not intended for SAUmp to go on one of his ranting tangents:

[Tim C]

Bob:

Here in Oregon the two key members of our state training crew both work PAC-10 and WCC schedules.

They are told to call the "high" strike.

The "olden days" of calling anything a "ball" that is more than one ball above the belt are gone.

The two college evaluators I talk with have been told to be sure that all umpires call the "higher" strike zone as determined by the NCAA.

The "higher" strike is now defined as a pitch that is slightly below the lettering on the uniform top or basically at the bottom of the sternum.

Regards,