New Var time record

[w_sohl]

Originally Posted by cardinalfan

An SEC ump once told me, "Make it prove to you it isn't a strike". I give that advice to all young guys.

That is interesting that you mention this. I was sitting thinking last night how other might think when behind the dish. My thought has always been that the pitch is a strike till it isn't. Just wondered what others thought.

[Huskerblue]

When you have pitchers throwing strikes, fielders making plays, and both teams hustling in and out between innings, 1 hour ball games are not hard to come by. Rarely do all of these things occur in a single ballgame, but every now and then they do, and that means you can throw back a few extra "sodas" after the game before the wife expects you home.

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by w_sohl

That is interesting that you mention this. I was sitting thinking last night how other might think when behind the dish. My thought has always been that the pitch is a strike till it isn't. Just wondered what others thought.

Borrowed from Casey Stengel describing the slider: "He throws that pitch that that looks like a strike 'til it isn't."

[Publius]

Let's assume:

The clock begins with "PLAY!"

A half-inning averages 5 batters.

A batter completes his at-bat in an average of 1 minute (3-pitch average takes 40 seconds, plus the new batter appears immediately in the box every time).

There is an average of exactly one minute between the last out of a half-inning and the first pitch of the next.

The home team wins every time.

Under these conditions, a game zips along--even with substitutions, stolen bases, pick-off attempts, walks, errors and conferences, a half-inning averages six minutes. A six-and-a-half inning game takes 78 minutes, or 1:18. Add just one minute per half-inning--seven minutes is still quick--and then throw on the bottom of the seventh, and you're up to 1:38.

It may be not uncommon for individual umpires who manage games properly and are routinely rewarded with games played by talented teams, but "average" for an area? I'm talking about the mean time for all games played in an entire season. Read again the conditions it takes to move a game that quickly. That's not average, and I don't care where you live.

[cardinalfan]

Originally Posted by w_sohl

That is interesting that you mention this. I was sitting thinking last night how other might think when behind the dish. My thought has always been that the pitch is a strike till it isn't. Just wondered what others thought.

I don't advocate calling a strike when it isn't one, but I like lots of strikes and ground balls!

[w_sohl]

Originally Posted by cardinalfan

I don't advocate calling a strike when it isn't one, but I like lots of strikes and ground balls!

Never said I called a strike when it wasn't, on purpose. May have by accident. But my thinking is that it needs to prove to me that it is a ball before I call it a ball, otherwise it's a strike.