borderline pitches

[Dakota]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

.... The mindset of "I'm going to give the pitcher's this" or "I'm going to give the batters that" or even "which way should I lean when in doubt" leads to bad umpiring.

Speaking for myself, it does lead to an inconsistent zone. I know using a term like "my strike zone" can get people (especially coaches) agitated, but in reality, I need to home in on "my zone" to be consistent.

As I mentioned above, sometimes with low-level pitching, I have to expand the zone just to survive the game, but I don't kid myself. My "adjusted" zone is not nearly as consistent as "my zone".