I tell my kids not to play umpire. The strike zone for my kids with no strikes, is crotch to bottom of the letters. With one strike, it's knees to letters where they think the umpire might call a strike and they can drive. With 2 strikes against, any ball they think they can hit, hit; go with the location. A strike is what ever the umpire says it is; even if he is wrong, he is right.
In my playing years, seems like a hundred years ago, I was a catcher.
One thing I learned in rural New Hampshire, was to figure out what kind of an umpire I was working with. In my younger years, I had guys who wouldn't focus and would litterally play in the dirt and pour it down my shirt while the pitch was on the way. I could pull a pitch that went to the backstop back into the zone for a strike. Obviously, these umpires were in a very low level rec league. I think most of them were reformed prision escapees.
By the time I got to high school, I'd learned that umpires:
1.) Know what a strike is, don't insult them by pulling the gloce into the zone
2.) Can't see over the top of you're big fat head. Stay down until you have to throw somebody out. It's OK to reach up and catch a high pitch without obscuring his vision (top of zone).
3.) Don't like to get hit with balls; if the ball hits the umpire, you should take such an event as a great personal failure. It should be emotionally disquieting. Sure, some foul balls will hit him (and you) but if a pitched ball hits an umpire, you should have to go to confession.
4.) Most umpires know/see the strike zone as well as you do. Sure, you have a better look, but they have their twist on it. If you can't get the pitch breaking into the zone on the inside corner a strike, MOVE.
At the high school level, I rarely had an umpire who couldn't effectively call balls and strikes. Of course lots of parents would be getting PO'd on both sides, yet from my view, the umpire would be doing a pretty good job.
My son is a HS pitcher. Whenever I was PO'd with the umpire, I'd ask the senior catcher what was going on. EVERY SINGLE TIME, he'd say, "He's got the zone correct" or "He's giving 2" on the outside, so I moved out", or after a day where I was completely convinced son was getting squeezed, he said, "Eventually we got a few calls out there".
One thing I learned in rural New Hampshire, was to figure out what kind of an umpire I was working with. In my younger years, I had guys who wouldn't focus and would litterally play in the dirt and pour it down my shirt while the pitch was on the way. I could pull a pitch that went to the backstop back into the zone for a strike. Obviously, these umpires were in a very low level rec league. I think most of them were reformed prision escapees.
By the time I got to high school, I'd learned that umpires:
1.) Know what a strike is, don't insult them by pulling the gloce into the zone
2.) Can't see over the top of you're big fat head. Stay down until you have to throw somebody out. It's OK to reach up and catch a high pitch without obscuring his vision (top of zone).
3.) Don't like to get hit with balls; if the ball hits the umpire, you should take such an event as a great personal failure. It should be emotionally disquieting. Sure, some foul balls will hit him (and you) but if a pitched ball hits an umpire, you should have to go to confession.
4.) Most umpires know/see the strike zone as well as you do. Sure, you have a better look, but they have their twist on it. If you can't get the pitch breaking into the zone on the inside corner a strike, MOVE.
At the high school level, I rarely had an umpire who couldn't effectively call balls and strikes. Of course lots of parents would be getting PO'd on both sides, yet from my view, the umpire would be doing a pretty good job.
My son is a HS pitcher. Whenever I was PO'd with the umpire, I'd ask the senior catcher what was going on. EVERY SINGLE TIME, he'd say, "He's got the zone correct" or "He's giving 2" on the outside, so I moved out", or after a day where I was completely convinced son was getting squeezed, he said, "Eventually we got a few calls out there".
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Michael S. Taylor:
A pitch that bounces, by rule, can not be a strike.
/QUOTE]
A pitch that bounces, by rule, can not be a strike.
/QUOTE]
quote:Originally posted by drfanman:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by Michael S. Taylor:
A pitch that bounces, by rule, can not be a strike.
/QUOTE]
Where in OBR does it say that?
The NFHS rule book specifically states that the pitched ball must be in flight when it passes through the zone to be a called strike. To the best of my knowledge the OBR does not indicate "in flight".
From OBR Rule 2 Definitions:
A BALL is a pitch which does not enter the strike zone in flight and is not struck at by the batter.
Rule 2.00 (Ball) Comment: If the pitch touches the ground and bounces through the strike zone it
is a “ball.” If such a pitch touches the batter, he shall be awarded first base. If the batter swings at such a
pitch after two strikes, the ball cannot be caught, for the purposes of Rule 6.05 (c) and 6.09 (b). If the
batter hits such a pitch, the ensuing action shall be the same as if he hit the ball in flight.
A BALL is a pitch which does not enter the strike zone in flight and is not struck at by the batter.
Rule 2.00 (Ball) Comment: If the pitch touches the ground and bounces through the strike zone it
is a “ball.” If such a pitch touches the batter, he shall be awarded first base. If the batter swings at such a
pitch after two strikes, the ball cannot be caught, for the purposes of Rule 6.05 (c) and 6.09 (b). If the
batter hits such a pitch, the ensuing action shall be the same as if he hit the ball in flight.
quote:To the best of my knowledge the OBR does not indicate "in flight".
I guess my answer wasn't complete enough. I meant to say that "in flight" isn't indicated in the definition of a strike. It is in dicated in the definition of a ball; as pointed out by 3FG.