Home run - missed the plate!!

[DG]

Geez Louise, will it never end?

[Larry1953]

Originally Posted by DG

Geez Louise, will it never end?

Maybe the late Lee Weyer could weigh in before it does. This is from his Wikipedia entry:

"Weyer was widely regarded as having one of the largest strike zones in baseball, which was partially attributed to his size at 6'6"[1]; when teaching umpiring, he stated, "Don't be afraid to call strikes. A big strike zone gets the hitters swinging, making for more outs and a quicker game." He often liked to dig trenches on either side of home plate to expose the black portions, which are often borderline pitches between balls and strikes.[3] He wore uniform number 23 when the NL adopted uniform numbers in the 1960s, and was the only umpire to wear a white chest protector,[3] which was prominent because Weyer almost always wore his blazer when calling balls and strikes, even on hot days.

[DG]

This post started with a Q about whether one would uphold an appeal because a batter who hit a home run touched only the black when crossing, into a debate about whether the black was part of the plate

Two entirely different subjects. For those that uphold this appeal, yee shall never call a borderline pitch a strike and be doomed to long games.

[Steven Tyler]

The same people point a strike with the same finger they pick boogers with on forums...........

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by Steven Tyler

The same people point a strike with the same finger they pick boogers with on forums...........

Finally a relevant reply!

[SanDiegoSteve]

How many non-umpires do you think know that the black edge around the plate isn't part of the plate? Very few is the answer. Every swinging Richard in the non-umpire world would see a runner touch the edge of the plate, irrespective of its color, and say, "that runner touched the plate." Real world application. Call it any differently and you are grabbing the dark brown end of the stick. The world to which Mike is referring does not exist at the level of ball most of us work, and does not include the fields on which many of us must umpire.

[yawetag]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

How many non-umpires do you think know that the black edge around the plate isn't part of the plate? Very few is the answer.

Last I checked, ignorance of the rules by the participants involved doesn't change the way we officiate a sport.

Using your logic, we should go ahead and consider the hands part of the bat.