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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson |
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Tom |
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball. |
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Strike zone
Irish, here's what I understand about the strike zone. Any part of the ball in the officially defined zone is a strike. So, an umpire is on reasonably solid ground calling a ball over the white (17") plus over the black border (1" on each side of the plate) plus the width of the ball (4" on both sides of the plate). This is a total of 27 inches. Why would you find it acceptable for an umpire to call strikes on pitches that are 1 to 2 widths of the ball outside this acceptable strike zone. Because that's what the first poster says he is calling.
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This is understood in the softball world, even by the better coaches. Unfortunately, there are no other physical attributes on a batter that can be used to adjust the strike zone to hitable pitches, so it is handled through instruction and interpretation. Umpires are instructed to bring it down a little, up a little, and to allow the same "square area" for the pitcher, out a little. An inside or outside pitch, even a ball's width, is much more hitable just above the knees and below the armpits than an inside pitch across the plate at the armpits/knees. The adjustment gives the batter more hitable pitches while maintaining the same "square area" for the pitcher to hit for a strike. This is not a secret. This instruction and interpretation is given and referred to openly as demonstrated in this thread.
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball. |
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Actually, the inside line of each batter's box is supposed to be 6" from the plate (white), and the lines are supposed to be 2" wide. A universally acceptable strike zone in the highest levels of softball (NCAA Div I, Women's Major, 18U Gold, Men's Masters, all of which I have called) is for the ball to called a strike up to and including the width of the batter's box inside line. If the ball extends past the line inside the box, that is a ball.
That makes the strike zone 8" beyond the white on each side, or 33" wide. Actually, only one ball on each side what Eddie stated.
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Steve ASA/ISF/NCAA/NFHS/PGF |
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I never knew that was an official teaching before, in spite of having heard it, knowing it was acceptable and partly using it. I have always preferred visualizing the strike zone as pear-shaped, full height but wider in the lower part and not quite as wide at the absolute bottom.
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But, yes, it is constant. (Maybe we should change it to the ratio of a pear's perimeter to its diameter!) (BTW, I am a math teacher) |
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Here is my opinion; what I try to call; and what I teach. (Does anyone follow it? I don't know, but at least I have given them ammunition to think about their own strike zone.) I like a horizontal oval shape, generally from below the breast line to above the knees. Maybe an inch inside (plus 4" ball width = 5" strike zone expansion inside); generally 2" - 3" outside (6" - 7" expansion outside). As AtlUmpSteve noted, I will go those full limits and probably more outside for 18U or college ball. Still I do not like to go that far inside. You start calling strikes on pitches that far inside and you are teaching the pitcher to throw there. Maybe at the highest level those girls can turn on the far inside pitch, but I think that it is dangerous for H.S. and below. The reason for the oval shape is to take away the high inside/high outside, and the low inside/low outside pitches. As Irish noted above, those are not hittable pitches. That is my opinion, do with it as you wish. WMB |
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Yeah, I know that's in umpire manuals, just not in rules or clinics.
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I also take away the high inside and high outside pitches for the same reasons. Because I take away ALL low pitches (I am very serious about TOP of the knee), I will leave the corners at the top of the knee. Those are "pitcher's pitches", and if they hit those spots consistently, we will have a great game.
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Steve ASA/ISF/NCAA/NFHS/PGF |
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The bat issue in softball is as much about liability, insurance and litigation as it is about competition, inflated egos and softball. |
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Unless, of course, you lived in Indiana in the late 1800's.
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Tom |
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