Home run - missed the plate!!

[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.