Gray Area Strikes

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

YMMV, but if I had ever called a strike at the top of the "new" zone at the varsity level, I would have been run out of town on a rail! I've never seen an umpire intentionally give a high strike in any of the games I worked.

So you never call a high strike or almost at the top of the zone...Dude your really missing alot of pitches...and who cares if the batters hit them out... its not our job to worry about where the batters hit them. We should call the zone.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

So you never call a high strike or almost at the top of the zone...Dude your really missing alot of pitches...and who cares if the batters hit them out... its not our job to worry about where the batters hit them. We should call the zone.

Sorry, I'm old school. I don't care about the hitters either. In fact, I don't like rats, period. Plus, as I said, you get your a$s handed to you here for calling them too high. "Get it down, Blue!" is a common phrase in the highly competitive atmosphere here. Nobody likes the high zone, nobody wants it called, from the commissioner's office on down. It's not how we roll. At least not through the 2005 season, which is the latest I can comment about. The old "belly button to the bottom of the knee with a wide corner" is still the preferred zone around these parts. Call high strikes and wind up scratched by the top schools.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Sorry, I'm old school. I don't care about the hitters either. In fact, I don't like rats, period. Plus, as I said, you get your a$s handed to you here for calling them too high. "Get it down, Blue!" is a common phrase in the highly competitive atmosphere here. Nobody likes the high zone, nobody wants it called, from the commissioner's office on down. It's not how we roll. At least not through the 2005 season, which is the latest I can comment about. The old "belly button to the bottom of the knee with a wide corner" is still the preferred zone around these parts. Call high strikes and wind up scratched by the top schools.

Perhaps it has changed in the past couple of years (I thought you had retired?).

I know it has changed here and at the NCAA level -- call more "high" strikes

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Perhaps it has changed in the past couple of years (I thought you had retired?).

I know it has changed here and at the NCAA level -- call more "high" strikes

I know that at the NCUS camp they talked to us about calling more high strikes. we had some Assigners from a few conferences, Pac-10, WCC, MWC, and a few back east and they all talked about calling higher strikes.

[MajorDave]

I am curious to see if they will cover or address the strike zone we call at the clinic. I might bring it up in one of the breakout sessions if not mentioned by any of the presenters.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

Perhaps it has changed in the past couple of years (I thought you had retired?).

Maybe it has. I am contemplating a comeback in 2010 on a part time basis if I land the job that I want after graduation in March of this year. Finally will have my bachelors degree (in a different major). I hope to be down to my goal weight by January of 2010. I am working out now, and eating very sensibly.

[btdt]

It appears that all but a few subscribe to the theory that too tight a zone is not as desirable as a zone that is a bit more liberal without going too far.

Too far also appears to depend on your geographical location and level of play.

Sounds resonable to me.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by SAump

I am stealing a strike. Always have, always will!

If R1 makes it to 2B or 3B, batter better be schwinging.
Batter better be working hard before I pick him up.
Hitchhiking hitters won't get a free ride from me.
I prefer to see B?R running to 1B and then pivot.

I can hear the music now, "Swiped Out!"
Everyone knows what happens if a run is close.
Balls or runs don't make up the missing pay from my hourly rate.

Come on, that is some of the biggest BS you've posted yet! If you are doing your job correctly, you should be watching the pitch and calling it for what it is! I've balled plenty of pitches in this situation and hear F2 complain to me about how his pitcher can't hit the mark under pressure!

And yes, I have heard that adage but from MLB umpires, not amateur umpires.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by SAump

Picture that pitch 2 balls on the inside or outside as a strike.
Its not as hard as trying to stray up or down in the zone.

Pause, Read and React.

It takes a lot of balls to post something like this!

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by SAump

Picture that pitch 2 balls on the inside or outside as a strike.
Its not as hard as trying to stray up or down in the zone.

Pause, Read and React.

I think after reading a lot of your post in the last few days.... I have no frickin idea what your are saying nor have i ever... most of the time you make no sense at all.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

I think after reading a lot of your post in the last few days.... I have no frickin idea what your are saying nor have i ever... most of the time you make no sense at all.

I agree.

Look, SAUmp -- I'm trying to help. Seriously. But, most of your posts are not understandable most of the time. (And, to be fair, neither is that previous sentence.) Maybe you're trying to be cute or humorous. It isn't working. If you have a question, post it in a straighforward manner (e.g., perhaps your latest could have been worded, "Do you expand your zone when a runner is stealing?").