Calling the strike- philosophy

piaa_ump, thanks for taking the time to respond to my question.   You've provided some great insight regarding the complexities of calling the strike zone.  I especially appreciate your "realistic" assessment (based on video review) that you have a tendency to call some areas of zone differently than others.  I gather the differences you reveled was not a conscious decision however a product of your positioning and line of sight.  I can wrap my head around that...good stuff.

Again, great post...very insightful. 

I SHOULD get you fired, I agree. But not quite how it works around here. So to answer your question, yes. As long as it's consistent.

If my pitcher gets the same 6" then my hitters simply have to adjust.

When I blow up is when that extra 6" shows up sporadically, and disappears just as quickly. That ruins the game.

This is where we will differ...as a trainer and evaluater, I'd rather see occasional mistakes that then go away.  Mistakes happen to all umpires.  Consistent strikes 6" off the plates is horrible umpiring, and harder to fix.

Guys:

First off, thanks to everyone who has weighed in on this string.  I’m getting a broader perspective on how others call and view umpire’s calling, balls and strikes.  That it bound to help me as an umpire, father of a player, coach and fan. 

I’m surprised at the number of posters who are confident that they can tell where a pitch is when they are not umpiring.  I started out talking about pitches that passed through the zone but ended up not looking like strikes.  When umpiring I’m working very hard to be in position and to call pitches.  Because I umpired prior to doing a lot of coaching I never thought as a coach I could judge balls and strikes from the dugout.  Even now, I’ll be at B or C and I can’t tell if a close pitch is a strike.  It seems to me that perhaps only the catcher has a good enough view to call pitches.  I really appreciate Jimmy’s suggestion that I be videoed calling balls and strikes.  If the camera angle is correct I believe I’d improve a lot. 

I also want to comment on umpiring here in AZ.  My son who is now in college was a two way player at the highest level of AZ HS baseball.  I usually set up right behind the backstop when he was throwing or hitting.  I didn’t always agree with the calls on every pitch but I didn’t say anything or think that my view was any better then the home plate umpire.  This spring I am working with a dozen different HS umpires.  I’ve been in business for 30+ years and I view umpires like the people that work with or for me in business.  Two characteristics I consider of great significance in my work life are caring and continually improving.  The vast majority of umpires I work with care about doing a good job.  Most seem to want to get better.  There may be a few that view working a game as a paycheck.  They want it over as quickly as possible with as little hassle from the coaches and parents as possible.  However, I admire those umpires that have been working for a long time and who are still busting to get in the best possible position to make every call.  Who attend clinics, watch video, talk to fellow umpires and evaluators.  Who listen to complaints with or without merit and maintain their control, guidance and good humor. 

Originally Posted by 3rdgenerationnation:

…I’m surprised at the number of posters who are confident that they can tell where a pitch is when they are not umpiring.  I started out talking about pitches that passed through the zone but ended up not looking like strikes.  When umpiring I’m working very hard to be in position and to call pitches.  Because I umpired prior to doing a lot of coaching I never thought as a coach I could judge balls and strikes from the dugout.  Even now, I’ll be at B or C and I can’t tell if a close pitch is a strike.  It seems to me that perhaps only the catcher has a good enough view to call pitches.  I really appreciate Jimmy’s suggestion that I be videoed calling balls and strikes.  If the camera angle is correct I believe I’d improve a lot. …

And that’s precisely why I don’t believe in charting pitches.

Don't worry too much about the exact angle for your video. The biggest thing you want out of it is checking your timing, height, slot position, are you keeping your head still, and make sure you have sound so you can tell when the ball hits the glove. By making sure all the pieces of the puzzle are correct, actually calling balls and strikes becomes much easier. 

Because I kept the book and showed up early to home games I was always able to find a spot almost if not exactly behind home plate. I did this because it gave me the most consistent angle of viewing players for the purpose of determining H/E.

I never commented about up and down, because I couldn't see that, but the foot outside was pretty easy to see.

My daughter pitched a complete game tonight winning 2-1 in a HS softball game. She had 9 K's and only one of those pitches were in the zone. Most were swing and misses, but only because strike one and two weren't. We're celebrating (because this was good for her) but still...

On a different note, I have never seen a game where one of the umpires posting here was HPU, as far as I know. I will say, I'd like to invite them all to AZ to become HS umpires in our area. I wish their approach and attitude was shared. Even if they ran a clinic out here to educate the guys we have, I'd donate to the cause.

Today the weather was horrible, 25 mph gusts and the temperature was barely above 75 when the last out was made. I'm just saying...

I completely understand your perspective, and if I was training I'd think just as you do. And beleive me, I don't want to face 6" off the plate, but at least we can adjust. It's  like golf to me, if you consistently slice, aim to the left and play the slice. But if you miss both ways, it's a lot harder to adjust to find the fairway.

The fluctuating zone showed up again last night. We got coffee canned for the first 5 1/2 innings, which I didn't love, but the guy was very consistent with it both ways, so we adjusted. No sweat and my mouth was shut the whole time.

Bottom of 6 he decides to open it up. Unbelievable.

I just don't get it. It's not the umpires fault we lost at all, not even close. But it's very frustrating for a kid to have one zone his first 3 at bats and a completely different zone his last. 

I really haven't added to this conversation. I agree consistency is paramount, but it has to be a good consistency. Yesterday I did a game and had three lefties so they tested my outside corner ability. The visitors used two pitchers, their starter was great up and down but he was consistently  on top of the line of the LH box or farther. The catcher was frustrated because I wouldn't call it and his pitcher couldn't bring it in. There is no way I can go that far off, there is six inches between the plate and box. That means 6 to 8 inches off and that is not hittable. I gauge the top at the bottom of the elbows, in most cases. Most batters' elbows in a natural stance give you the midpoint. 

Amen brother and I'm the father of two pitchers...

The reason he was frustrated is because they usually get that pitch.

Michael:

My experience is that coaches and fans can't see that pitch away so they want it called a strike when they observe the catcher receiving it in his frame.  To refer back to what I was saying above, there are pitches moving through and across the zone that are received well inside or outside the zone that are not seen or understood by coaches, hitters or fans as strikes. 

Last week I had a game behind the plate with a lefty going.  The kid seemed to have very good command.  He was straight as a string and just 4" to 6" off the plate away to right handed hitters.  His catcher set up away, he threw it away and it never entered the strike zone on the path right to the catcher's mitt.  Meanwhile the other team had a hard thrower going that his catcher could not handle.  He had a lot of arm side run and had hitters backing up on pitches moving across the inside corner of the plate.  His catcher was diving across the plate to receive pitches over the outer third and dropping pitches down in the zone.  The side with the lefty was not happy, but most of the comments were from fans who just can't see the plate.  I just tried to be in the best postion, use the best mechanics and concentrate on every pitch.  The lefty adjusted when he kept falling behind and moved the ball in enough that the opposing team started to swing and roll over some ground balls.