strike zone wcws
 

They just showed from behind the plate the strike 3 call on the 2nd gator player. That is what I call real generous and that is with the angle favoring the pitcher. And no it did not nick the front corner.

You call em like that against men, and you will have to tone someone down.

Seriously,


Get a resume like Sally Walker and then start talking to me. You are picking on one pitch? Really. You have never missed a pitch @ 68 mph by 1 - 2 inches? I really need to come to one of your clinics so I can make my game perfect like yours. Then maybe I can get some 18 Under ball games here

I first had the privilege of working behind the plate when Miss Lawrie was pitching when she was 15. (White Rock Renegades v. Vancouver Ford, whose pitcher was Whitney Baker of UCLA, Field 8, Marymoor Park, and my partner was the late Jack Reynolds.) I was fortunate enough to work probably 2-3 dozen, yes dozen, of her games. (We have the White Rock Renegades, Delta Heat, Fraser Valley Fusion, Victoria Devils and other top programs from BC at many of our weekend tournaments, and we have tournaments every weekend. They also come down here for "friendlies," 2-3 games on a Saturday or Sunday against 1-2 teams...so we see them quite often and have for several years.)

I can goshdarnguarantee you that pitch is a strike.

Please be aware that at best you are getting a two dimensional look on TV. That look is decent depending on your TV. Also know that your look is coming from left center field and from a fairly high angle.

I got ronalds back on this one
 

she's called quite a few strikes that the WA catcher had to pull back. What does that say about the SZ? Plus her head height "appear" low. And that is taking into account both the CF view and the behind the plate replays shown. She does appear to be either generous or missing low. Call 'em as you see 'em. ;)

Obviously she is a friend of yours so you are sticking up for her. Sorry, but she has been horribly inconsistent the entire WCWS. Especially the outside corner. Not saying I'm any better, but she needs to get more consistent!

To be fair and balanced
 

she apparently is in the ICA Umpires HOF, so Illinois coaches like her.

Coaches in this series, maybe not so much.

Umpire draws ire of both coaches - ColumbiaTribune.com

The one play that stands out in my mind where she screwed up the most is where she was trucked by the GA catcher. Her mechanics were awful on that one, she looked up for the ball rather than checking the catcher. The result was she prevented the catcher from making a play and almost injured herself and the catcher. Surprisingly, the announcers didn't have a whiff of criticism for her on that one after making umpire criticism their focus before the play.

Tonight, the strikes on the catcher pulling pitches.....most of us would be hammered for that at any level above 10U.

Well this Gator fan is relieved to hear that it was the Plate Umpires fault...:confused:

Till now, I just thought that Washington outplayed Florida and Larwie dominated...

Phew...

Now about that third inning..........:o

it was from behind the catcher.

she changed her strike zone. she knew she was way outside. so there.
:D
They should put Hadley back there. He calls the in and out much better. :D:);)

she missed more than one pitch.

players had no clue what her strike zone was.

First time I ever did 18u gold was after doing a men's FP tournament in which the reigning Men's A team played. Another pitcher a couple years later pitched for the Mexican National team and I did one of his games in a tourney at that time. Called pitches 2 inches or less in or out a ball all day and not a complaint from any team nor catchers indicating with shaking of head or mumbling about strike zone. I generally do not do that with women: they expect that to be called a strike. Not the men though. That is my experience.

In the game, the men were leaping and one of the guys threw at 80mph. When I did the gold, I was like this is slow, slow. Others were like this is fast. Nah, slow motion and you can see real well after seeing men throw.

Plus she blew that easy safe call at 2nd base.

it was from behind the catcher.

she changed her strike zone. she knew she was way outside. so there.
:D
They should put Hadley back there. He calls the in and out much better. :D:);)

What the players had no idea about was what was in their hands. Swing the bat and you do not need to worry about the SZ. How many times does a team strike out looking before they swing at the close pitches?

Close ain't in the batter's box.

Let's see, you've done men's FP, called a game where noone complained, and have a different zone according to gender. Now I see why you would feel qualified to criticize a fellow official's game. Next time you get a TV game, please post the time, date, and network so we can take a look at yours.

Sally's doing the finals? Congrats to her. I live in the Congo now and oddly enough the series isn't being televised here but she and I were rookies together a few years back in Champaign (not going to say how many):D She always had great mechanics that showed how much she worked at it.

I havent got to watch the game yet, but I will.

I think softball has to do more to learn how to work TV games. If a ball looked way outside to everyone - then it was way outside. The public is not sitting there saying "wow that angle is off". They are saying "Whats wrong with these umpires?". So even if it was a bad angle, it doesnt matter. "History" records it as a bad call.

Angles CAN properly show a pitch - they put a dang yellow box up in MLB. So if NCAA and ESPN need to work on a camera angle, ESPN sure knows how to do that. Otherwise, what was seen is what it was. Period. And our credibility is hurt a little by that angle (if its a bad angle) OR it was simply a bad call and she missed it.

The umpires view is not expressed to the public at large. Ronald is just expressing what everyone else thinks about that pitch as well. So NCAA umpire staff need to take the post season games, and look very closely at them.. There is much to be improved IMO. This has been a very rough post season from an Umpiring point of view.

When you guys see a good backdoor curve and call it a ball, you'll know you missed the pitch. Everyone in the park will tell ya.

I agree with Sally, bkbjones, and others here - those were strikes through and through.

huh?
 

Since when do we as umpires listen to what everyone at the park says? If that's the case, the next time a fly ball is over foul territory when the ball is touched but not caught by the defender who is in fair territory then its a fair ball. At least that's what the majority at the park will be screaming!

Or the next time they yell the hands are part of the bat.

There's a lot they yell about that they are wrong about. We shouldn't base on judgements on what they yell about it.

I didn't know you could see that game from all the way in Georgia. ;) Oh, that happens to others, too. :)


Didn't anyone tell you to call "foul player" instead of "foul ball"? :confused: ;) :rolleyes:


BTW, be sure you call it foul before checking for a catch. :rolleyes: :(

IMHO, Sally has had a rough tournament. I believe she would say so herself.

I think that whole crew has had a rough tournament.. it happens.

Not the best showing though for a high profile event.

IMO, if it were the Baseball World Series and these things were going on, all hell would break lose.

You missed my point. :(

Tonight's Umpire
 

just rang a FLA batter up looking, the catcher "stuck" the pitch.

WA catcher just tried to "pull" one back, BALL.

He looks like he's 6-foot plus so he can see better over the top even though he is working the slot. His head height is better. So he has better view/command of the SZ.

Last night was more guess work and bad guess work at that, especially low corners. The catcher told you they were BALLS that were being called strikes--camera angle is a smokescreen. She should have been told to simply "stick" the strikes. If you pull it back-it's a BALL. All day. That's umpiring 101. And Catching 101 for that matter.

On the baseball board during last year's Series all hell did break loose.

All I will say is some people on this thread have more in common with baseball umpires than they think. ;)

Big league game behind the plate tonight though - very nicely done. I guess the camera angles were very good tonight. :cool: :D

ROTFLMFAOASASP!!!:cool:

Translation, please and thanks.

As far as the comment about not listening to what people are yelling. If you think about it the strike zone in softball and baseball for that matter has been defined over the years by people yelling. If it was'nt then why is it so much smaller than the rule book says. Mainly talking about the high pitch. We strive for quiet and if people are always yelling about our strike zone we change it.

If your strike zone is screwed up, you will know about it and you need to work to fix it. I agree with you.

Forget about the umpires...

:eek:The Gators played those two games like a bunch of Little Leaguers. (no offense to LL).
:eek:

In baseball, absolutely and is proven daily in the MLB where no umpire has the cojones to call a pitch even near the "letters" a strike.

In softball, strike are called a little higher than baseball, but without a doubt, the strike zone is wider. And it is not unheard off them getting wider with more noise.

ROTFLMFAOASASP!!!

OK, back at you brother. I think I follow all the way up to the ASASP part.

Here you state the long-term evolution of the "incredible shrinking BB SZ" vs. the "ever expanding SB SZ" and it is based on umpires following the path of least resistance.

To me, it makes umpires more like weather vanes (if they respond to the pull and tug) but I get the psychology and the politics behind it. I'm not sure where you disagree with my critique of the two umpires. I'm describing in the short-term (game by game) what you seemingly just described here long term.

Maybe once upon a time but lately, the MLB strikezone has expanded higher. The belt line is no longer the top of the strikezone for most.

In college softball the entire ball must be below the top boundary of the strike zone (the bottom of the batter's sternum) for the pitch to be a strike. You can download the NCAA rulebook from here: NCAA Softball Rules. Page 160 has the strike zone diagram. So "letter high" pitches should not usually be called strikes in college ball.

I disagree. Softball umpires have been instructed over the years to bring it down, pick it up and spread it out. I don't give a damn what the teams or fans think. I will not disagree that some umpires will react to a catcher framing the ball especially after a few demonstrative pulls making the umpire look bad. By the time the catcher moves that glove, the umpire should already have a call in mind. Some will call a ball as a F.Y.C., but I don't buy into that as that is just one more pitch the umpire needs to be there. Doesn't mean the umpire shouldn't have a discussion with the catcher and maybe the coach between innings.

We agree more than disagree
 

The WA catcher was framing/sticking more than pulling pitches yesterday. The other night the ump should have told her early something along the lines of "that might be a strike if you don't yank it in like that".

My wife, who has no idea if the ball is filled with feathers or inflated, even asked the question "How can that be a strike if the catcher didn't think so?"

now what the heck does the ASASP part mean. :confused:

At least she wasnt asking "How can it be a ball if the catcher thought it was a strike? :cool:

She does know the....
 

philosophy of "it's OK to strike a ball, but NEVER ball a strike" and "call strikes you get home faster". I hear one of those whenever I arrive home later than expected....:) I haven't been able to get her to understand the game is not played with a clock.

Thats because you are working the wrong game.