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Reply to "HS Umpiring"

Matt13 posted:
WashBarn posted:

We're seeing so many low and/or outside pitches off the plate this season it's crazy.  How should players prepare to hit balls at their knees 9 inches off the plate?  Understanding that with 2 strikes you need to be in big time protect mode -but  being down 0-2 on 2 badly called strikes is a tough place to be.  

To be honest, I'm not sure I generally put much stock in an assessment such as this.

I know there are horrible umpires. I also know that very few people can see the zone inside and outside with any measure of accuracy. I know I've been accused of ringing batters up on pitches "a foot off the plate" when I can tell you with 100% confidence that they were on the black, at worst.

Keep in mind that on a properly-lined field, 9" is 3" into the other box. Most fields I see at the HS level put the lines too close to the plate, which means we're looking at maybe 6" into the box. Please forgive my incredulity.

Matt13 - Can you give me a refresher on the "plate" dimensions anddescribe what the black portion is designed to do?  Also, when you talk about 6" off the plate, are we talking about the "white"?

Love nothing more than some kid toeing the line, leaning in and getting rung up on a low/inside strike.  Correction - do love it even more when they back out like they were about to get pegged while getting rung up.

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