Home Plate

[teebob21]

Originally Posted by chapmaja

One more reason to consider the black part of the plate. Game play. If we consider the black part of the plate we force teams to either strike out (watching the ball cross the black of the plate), or preferably put the ball in play.

I know a substantial number of umpires and not one has even said "I prefer calling balls and strikes to seeing hits".

If we slightly widen the strike zone we force the ball to be put in play or at least the batters to swing.

I hope I'm not taking the thread TOO offtopic by chiming in, but here's my approach: If the physical plate has a black part visible, it's part of the plate and I'm calling it.

The NCAA and ASA book define the plate as 17 inches across, but I have yet to take a tape measure out on the field. Neither book is clear to me whether or not that includes the bevel. I also have never measured a base to see if they are regulation 15 inches, but I have certainly witnessed some variation in the size and shape of bases. My logic is that for a given field, if "the whole base" (sides and all) is safe territory for the runners, then "the whole plate" is the strike zone for the pitcher.

Extending that idea, that's why I basically call the entire "river" + plate width for my zone for anything below varsity HS and college play. I'm only expanding my zone 2 inches off the plate for club ball and JV, which when you add the 4 inch diameter of the ball, fills the entire river. Early in the game, it's easy to find "the window" and settle in for the rest of the game: if any part of the pitch is over the chalk, it's a ball. (This is where I get philosophical with fellow umpires, since telling a coach where I define the zone in my mind would maybe be protestable for not following the letter of the book rule.)

I disagree with a bunch of the advice on this page, but the top-down view of the zone is a good visual for what I am talking about: The Strike Zone

(I don't work SP, so the physics of a ball hitting the black part and being a strike don't apply to my games. I have played SP, though, and damn it's frustrating batting and getting strikes called on balls that don't successfully make it all the way past the plate! Stupid matball, grumble, grumble...)