Strike Zone - How to call

[Steve M]

I had a game a few years ago where the pitcher was throwing an almost unhittable strike and she was not anywhere near overpowering these hitters. RHP throwing a curve that would see about 1/3 of the ball catch the front ouside corner (RHB) and break hard outside. My observer told me that I was going to get some low marks on the strike zone, until he finally moved behind me and saw about what I saw. The batters never did move up in the box and this pitcher probably had 13+ KO's.

A day later, the same teams played and the same pitchers threw. This time, the curve was not working as well AND the hitters moved up. The pitcher who won a day before got 8-runned.

Argodad said he's always looking for Strike1. Me, I don't care about the count, I want a strike. Call the borderline pitches strikes - I find that far more survivable than calling borderline pitches balls.

I've found that the higher the level of play, the more exact or precise you must be in your judgement. So, a borderline pitch in HS ball is not anywhere near being a borderline pitch in men's majors.

One of our board posters works the pro game. There, they want the entire ball in the strike zone - or so I'm told by some of those who regularly work those games. Different levels of the game have different expectations of the officials who work the games.