Strike Zone...
 

As a newbie in baseball (going into my 3rd year) I get told that my strike zone is too tight. I keep getting told that if the catcher doesn't have to turn his glove, as if to scoop it, it's a strike no matter how low it is or where it's at. However, if the catcher has to "scoop" to get the ball (as if it bounced) it's a ball.

I've asked multiple umpires in the past about this and the reason behind this is to "speed up the game." I know these are Soph/JV games, but c'mon. Is that really a fair strike zone, and how is that teaching the pitcher to throw strikes?

Use the bottom of the knees. Most decent catchers aren't going to turn their glove down unless it's very low. They want to make the low pitch look like a strike.
Plus if you go lower than the knees everyone can see it. Makes you look bad. If you want to expand, give more inside and outside.

It sounds like you're getting some well-intentioned advice that is just slightly off the mark. A strike no matter how low or where it's at? At the ankles? A foot off the outside corner?

Where the catcher sets up and how he receives the pitch will have the greatest impact on calling borderline pitches- those that are just barely skirting the edges of the strike zone. And those pitches are the ones that will usually cause the most controversy. Everybody can see when a ball is right down the middle. It is those pitches on the edge that will cause you problems.

Here's a link to an article that better explains the concept of "calling the glove". It is similar advice to what you've been given, but goes into a lot more detail and fleshes out the concept beyond "call it a strike no matter where it's at".

The Ten Unwritten Rules of Calling Balls and Strikes

Again, let me emphasis that these techniques are best applied to borderline pitches- the ones that we catch the most grief about. Before you fall back on these principles, you need to develop the basic skills of calling strikes. You first need a good concept of the strike zone, proper timing and consistency before the concept of "calling the glove" ever comes into play.

If "everyone" is telling you this, then your zone likely *is* too tight for the area /level you are working.

While the specific advice you have been given is certainly wrong if taken to an extreme, it can provide some good direction on how to get your zone to be more acceptable.

I've never seen those guidelines/unwritten rules before...they are interesting guidelines. Some of them are more advanced being that if you take them literally they'd likely get you in more trouble.

Calling the mitt on the high bender gets you in trouble if it clearly crosses the batter high. You can see that from the dugout.

If a catcher sets up his mitt in an area directly back of the zone and the pitcher sticks it with a 12-6, I'm getting a strike. Every time...............


Tim.

Ah, the dreaded and beloved.....
 

12-6 curveball. I had three or four pitchers I coached who could throw a true 12-6. They were so nasty. Opposing coaches and players hated them. Some umpires that worked my games would not call a strike when it came through the zone unless the batter swung, which they often did. But it really hacked me off when they didn't call it.

I vowed that if and when I saw a good 12-6 as an umpire I would call it and that I would also call the back door curve ball when it nibbled on the corner.

I have called them, I do call them and I do not tolerate whining and *****ing from coaches and players who fall victim to them. I love good pitching and I call the tough pitches without remorse.

The biggest complaint against umpires working last year's NCAA regionals, super regionals and CWS was that they needed to call more strikes.

I have heard that before and I believe in calling strikes, even on the tough borderline pitches and even when the catcher butchers a good pitch that gets through the zone.

Call it
 

You'll find good catcher's frame the pitch and poor catchers bring everything back to the plate. Don't call the pitch for one team because one team has a good pitch-catch combo and the other doesn't. It will make a difference if one team is feeling squeezed.

Focus, track and call the location of the ball prior to being caught. You give them what you got. If you "miss" a pitch and hear disapproval, you can't fix it. Don't register the harping from a team. Don't fret over the "fairness" issue. Know why they're doing it.

I don't know about that; I track the ball all the way into the mitt before making the judgment, and then I make the call.

Players and coaches tend to make more complaints about strikes umpires than they do balls umpires. That being said, if you are getting complaints about having a strikezone that is too tight, you probably have a strikezone that is far too tight. My assumption is that you are calling balls on pitches that clearly go over the white of the plate, and you're calling balls on pitches at the top of the batter's knees.

In my experience, I've found that the opposite is usually true.

Strikes umpires: hitters mutter and occasionally act churlish and sometimes coaches as well

Balls umpires: pitchers, catchers, infielders, center fielders, coaches, benchwarmers, fans, scorekeepers and of course umpiring partners all complain

Then why was Eric Gregg (God rest his soul) crucified for calling strikes?

And Randy Marsh just gets the comment, tight but consistent K zone.

No, they don't. Strikes umpires end up being irrelevant after a couple innings because the batters start swinging. Ball umpires are noticed the whole game as everyone watches borderline pitches.