Gray Area Strikes

[tip184]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

An adult league catcher argued with me while he was at bat about a 3-0 pitch that was in the "gray area" and I of course called it a strike. He started biatchin' about how it was a ball, and I told him "I'm not a ball umpire, I'm a strike umpire...nobody walks but the mailman, Hoss." He didn't like the next pitch I called either. Tough. I'd rather deal with that than to hear that my zone is the size of a shoebox and have my games last 4 hours. I usually averaged 1:25 to 1:45 in decently pitched games. Swingee the batee!



Easier for who, you, or the hundreds of people you're pissing off?

I never said I was a "ball" umpire. I said that ball umpires tend to take less heat over balls and strikes than "strikes" umpires do.

1:25 to 1:45 for how many innings? That seems really fast (7 innings normally takes 2 hours for me), but maybe these were some good adult leagues.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by tip184

1:25 to 1:45 for how many innings? That seems really fast (7 innings normally takes 2 hours for me), but maybe these were some good adult leagues.

Heh, heh............ maybe you need to call more strikes!

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by tip184

I never said I was a "ball" umpire. I said that ball umpires tend to take less heat over balls and strikes than "strikes" umpires do.

1:25 to 1:45 for how many innings? That seems really fast (7 innings normally takes 2 hours for me), but maybe these were some good adult leagues.

I'm sorry...I didn't mean to mislead you. I was combining an anecdote from an adult league game and giving you my HS varsity game average. Oh God, I can't get an adult game (they are 9 innings here) done in less than 2:15. And these ARE the good adult leagues, complete with former MLB players that live here. Most of the other adult leagues here, you're looking at 3 hours or more, no matter if you call every pitch a strike. Terrible ball in many NABA and MSBL leagues. There are a few elite ones though, and they were always a pleasure to work.

[RPatrino]

Well, the way I see it, if you don't call strikes, you deserve yourself. Nobody, and I mean nobody likes 4 hour games, with walk after walk. If thats your thing, good luck to you. I pity the players, your partners and the fans. I also suspect that you will not get much past the JV level.