Was it a strike?

[AtlUmpSteve]

Originally Posted by CLBuffalo

In fast pitch I'm watching for the ball to go over the back knee. I can't imagine a ball going under the front knee and then over the back knee. Are you saying that in fast pitch it only has to go over the front knee and not hit the plate for it to be a strike or that the umpire only has to see it go over the front knee?

Man, you need to see a good drop ball pitcher, or one with a low rise.

Any part of the ball touching any part of the strike zone at any part of the plate. A good drop can easily hit the front of the plate at the top of the knee then break down. A good low rise can be just below the zone at the front of the plate, and hit the level of the top of the knee by the back of the plate. Both are strikes that need to be called, without regard to either knee being in front, behind, or even with the plate.

[CLBuffalo]

Probably the best thing about this forum is if enough seasoned and expert people tell you that what you are doing is wrong, then it probably is wrong, no matter how long you have been doing it. I don't know where the idea that the pitch has to cross both knees came from but I've been calling that for 23 years and I now see that I am wrong. Why this has never been picked up before in the clinics I've attended or by other umpires I've worked with or in games where I've been evaluated and critiqued I don't know. The fun part now is going to be in retraining myself.

Thanks to all who kept calling this to my attention, even when I was adamant that I was right. Thank you also for not calling me or saying in the forum what you might have been thinking to yourselves about my attitude. I can be stubborn but eventually it does get through.

I hope the others who post here will listen intently to what is said and go through it thoroughly in their minds before being quick to say they are right and others are wrong. I will be doing this in the future.