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10 replies

The Strike Zone

fillsfanfillsfan1,000+ posts
Son was playing in Kissimmee, FLA this week. Nice tournament with some good teams.

Their final game was a 2-1 loss in a game that was completed in an hour and a half. The reason for this IMO was the umpires strike zone. His zone was expanded to at least 8-12" wide of the plate. I can see a ball width or so but a foot??

For those who remember, it was similar to the 1997 World Series with Eric Gregg's phantom strike zone. It is like an umpire is totally ignoring the rules of the game and implementing his rules.

How can an umpire totally ignore the plate and make his own strike zone? He did call it both ways so I'm not saying he was unfair towards son's team. Although if a player complained too loudly the zone was very low also.

I know batters should adjust and all that but my point is how is this allowed. Isn't the plate there for a reason?

One last thing. This not sour grapes since by losing I saved about $400.00 in changed flights and hotel room and I was ready to get home.
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Rob KremerRob Kremer1,000+ posts
Strike zone discussions always create some interesting friction around here. I think the umps on this board are generally not representative of the ranks of umps in the country, at least as far as I've seen.

The guys who post here, who I have come to appreciate a great deal for their knowledge and information, seem to be very serious about attempting to call a legitimate strike zone, and that while an umpire's view and perception is imperfect and the shape of the batter varies, within these parameters, the strike zone is what the strike zone is.

After watching youth baseball for a dozen years, I just wish this attitude was more prevalent. Just yesterday I overheard an umpire, pre game, in a discussion through the backstop with his son (who was hired by the tournament to help out- chase down foul balls, that kind of thing.)

His son asked "what kind of a zone will you call today?" Umpire kind of shrugged, and said: "Depends on how the game is going."
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
The guys who post here, who I have come to appreciate a great deal for their knowledge and information, seem to be very serious about attempting to call a legitimate strike zone, and that while an umpire's view and perception is imperfect and the shape of the batter varies, within these parameters, the strike zone is what the strike zone is.

I agree Rob!

Look, as we all know, there are good and bad in any endeavor out there. Some guys think people go to the games to watch them umpire. Joe Brinkman who is now retired was like this. There was always a controversy surrounding him. The VERY BEST umpires are invisible. That's what it takes to be a good one.

I believe our members here have a humble attitude about things and thus, do not let their ego's determine how they perform on the field.
BS Brian Shanberg100+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by fillsfan:
... His zone was expanded to at least 8-12" wide of the plate. I can see a ball width or so but a foot??



This type strike zone hurts the really disciplined hitters. The ones that never swing at balls or bad pitches. At the youth level, I hate seeing a kid getting a called strike for an out on a pitch that was a foot wide of the plate. From a learning perspective, it confuses and discourages the player, who felt he did everything in his power to read the pitch properly.

If the rules are going to be changed to speed up the game in a tournament, the meeting at the plate before each game needs to clearly cover how the umps are going to change the rules.
Rob KremerRob Kremer1,000+ posts
quote:
This type strike zone hurts the really disciplined hitters. The ones that never swing at balls or bad pitches.

Couldn't agree more. My son is that kind of hitter. In 300+ HS plate appearances over three years he had a little over 75 BB's against 17 K's. Of those K's, I think 12 or 13 were called third strikes, and of those, at least half were of the "25-inch wide plate" variety.
TRhitTRhit10,000+ posts
What really hurts the kids is that we, as coaches, spend the time to teach the players the strike zone, patience and discipline and in game an umpire with "his" strike zone ruins it all.

We even had one game, and this is HS travel ball ( jrs and srs) where we were up by an ample amount and the umpire was calling our players out on pitches at least 6 inches off the plate and then told the kid as he struck out that the pitch would have been a ball if we were not leading by so much.


And people wonder why I don't get along with umpires !!!!
F fsmjunior100+ posts
The HS Summer league here in Central FL has the most ridiculous strike zones ever. Just as mentioned in the Kissimmee example. Friends we play see from other schools while competing always kid around that in the summer the strike zone is Nose to Toes & includes the width of the entire opposite batters box. If I were a pitcher I wouldn't throw a pitch anywhere near the plate.

Does this really help pitchers learn to hit their spots? NO

Does this really help hiiters work on their game and learn plate disciplin? NO

IMHO it turns into a complete waste of time!

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