Do you guys tend to be more leniant towards the beginning of the season and get stricter towards the end or the other way around? Are you even leniant at all?
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Jimmy,
I guess that really depends on what you call lenient and to what you are speaking of....
Balls and strikes?....behavior?.....balks?....out/safes?...regular season game?? or scrimmage?
For me, I call one game, one way, all the time. Not because I am any better than anyone else, but only because that is the only way I can provide a consistent approach to the game. If I pick and choose how to call a game, my game skills would suffer......and if my games is off then you as a player would suffer and I cant have that.....
However since I am assuming we are talking HS varsity level here, I am not lenient in regards to the playing rules or behavior....
Certainly in scrimages some leniency in regards to some playing rules can be allowed.....and if an umpire has not seen pitches since last season, you can expect some zone variance until that umpire has sharpend up his zone.....
Hope this helps......best of luck this season....
I guess that really depends on what you call lenient and to what you are speaking of....
Balls and strikes?....behavior?.....balks?....out/safes?...regular season game?? or scrimmage?
For me, I call one game, one way, all the time. Not because I am any better than anyone else, but only because that is the only way I can provide a consistent approach to the game. If I pick and choose how to call a game, my game skills would suffer......and if my games is off then you as a player would suffer and I cant have that.....
However since I am assuming we are talking HS varsity level here, I am not lenient in regards to the playing rules or behavior....
Certainly in scrimages some leniency in regards to some playing rules can be allowed.....and if an umpire has not seen pitches since last season, you can expect some zone variance until that umpire has sharpend up his zone.....
Hope this helps......best of luck this season....
piaa_ump
If you see that a pitcher has really good control and he has a crisp fastball will you call a pitch off the plate or will you expect him to throw right where the glove is? If a guy comes up to the plate and you know he can hit, will you call outside pitches because you know he should be hitting them?
If you see that a pitcher has really good control and he has a crisp fastball will you call a pitch off the plate or will you expect him to throw right where the glove is? If a guy comes up to the plate and you know he can hit, will you call outside pitches because you know he should be hitting them?
quote:Originally posted by jimmyk:
piaa_ump
If you see that a pitcher has really good control and he has a crisp fastball will you call a pitch off the plate or will you expect him to throw right where the glove is? If a guy comes up to the plate and you know he can hit, will you call outside pitches because you know he should be hitting them?
I can't answer for piaa_ump, but for me I just call the strike zone. If the pitcher is throwing strikes then I will be calling strikes, regardless of how early in the season it is. Now if the pitcher is near the plate (throwing borderline pitches) and the catcher is mis-handling them, then the catcher will be giving strikes away, so in a sense I dis-reward the catcher if he doesn't properly handle close pitches, but that has little to do with the pitchers, it just comes down to the fact that as I watch the pitch in to the catcher's mitt, if he is not doing a good job then it makes it very difficult for me to see exactly where the pitch crossed the plate and I am unable to call it a strike.
I can't think of a single time where I've altered my zone for a hitter based on his hitting ability.
I guess one thing that I should mention is that a good pitcher (one with great control) will start a game throwing his outside fastball for a strike and through the first couple of innings he will continue to throw it farther and farther outside until the umpire starts calling it a ball. Basically, he is finding out exactly where the limits of the strike zone are. If he's good he will move about 1/4 of a ball's diameter farther out with each successive pitch so that the change is very subtle. This process will make it easy for the umpire to "tell" him where the edge of the zone is and it will usually result in a slightly larger strike zone than the one that would be called if the pitcher was totally erratic.
I hope this helps you.
Jimmy,
For me, I do not let the quality or reputation of the batter or pitcher change the way I umpire.....If its a ball its a ball if its a strike its a strike...again that comes from me knowing that I need to remain consistent to provide a good product across 7 innings.....
Making a good player hold to a different standard that an average player wouldn't be fair to the player or the game.....
But let me break it into 2 areas for discussion...
Hitters - Like I said, Im locked in to my zone...same zone all day for everybody....thats why I cant alter my zone for good/bad hitters....
Pitchers- Pitchers with control find the outer edges of my zone really quick...coupled with a smart catcher they get outs....good Higher level Pitchers know that getting batters to swing at pitches that look like strikes is the object....and the best way for them to know that is to have a solid zone where they know a ball is called every time..
Now will you run into that? I know it happens, some umpires will....
And to me thats an umpire who is injecting himself into the game and in a way trying to determine an outcome and I do not agree with that......
Hope this helps.....
For me, I do not let the quality or reputation of the batter or pitcher change the way I umpire.....If its a ball its a ball if its a strike its a strike...again that comes from me knowing that I need to remain consistent to provide a good product across 7 innings.....
Making a good player hold to a different standard that an average player wouldn't be fair to the player or the game.....
But let me break it into 2 areas for discussion...
Hitters - Like I said, Im locked in to my zone...same zone all day for everybody....thats why I cant alter my zone for good/bad hitters....
Pitchers- Pitchers with control find the outer edges of my zone really quick...coupled with a smart catcher they get outs....good Higher level Pitchers know that getting batters to swing at pitches that look like strikes is the object....and the best way for them to know that is to have a solid zone where they know a ball is called every time..
Now will you run into that? I know it happens, some umpires will....
And to me thats an umpire who is injecting himself into the game and in a way trying to determine an outcome and I do not agree with that......
Hope this helps.....