Batty67 posted:Some general observations about HS umpiring (1) the SZ for "pretty" curveballs often expands as the game goes on, (2) low and away strikes seem to be the most difficult to call consistently, and (3) "situational" SZ's can still appear for teams with clearly struggling pitchers and teams with many kids who are obviously looking for the walk.
Good points here. RE #3 - I think it's been posted here before that a while back some PHD statistician types published a paper making a good case that pro umps' zones change depending on the count. IE, the zone widens at 3-0 and narrows at 0-2. RE #2 - anyone who has gotten behind the dish to call even a Little League game knows that the low outside corner is really very difficult to call accurately. And knowing that, as a HS baseball hitter's parent, I can live with it. But working in the slot, the inside part and top of the zone are much more easy to see, so when an ump is wide on the inside or sees strikes at the armpits he is going to hear chirping. Sorry, Blue! RE #1 - some umps are like some hitters, they'll give up on a curveball. But after seeing a few they pick it up better.