Pitching and Pitchers Discussion strike zone

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If the ASA strike zone is defined as armpits to the top of the knees with any part of the ball why are so many umps calling a low zone. I noticed it last summer and again at a recent showcase. It seems the umps are calling the zone from just above the waist to the lower part of the calf. :-XI know that once its established the players need to adjust but what is the justification for calling the rules as they see fit. And no my daughter doesnt pitch and she wasnt playing that day so this isnt sour grapes about not getting a call.

 

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In a nutshell, I can only imagine how hard it is to make a call leaning over a moving catcher and being able to judge exactly how low a pitch is. As a coach standing at 3rd, that call is always the one that I wince at. I feel I have the advantage of the side angle to see the heighth of a pitch as do most parents in the stands. You just have to give the Ump a break and try to understand what he's dealing with. HE also has a much better view of what is inside or outside, but myself and all the fans in the world see it differently. I just can't imagine a single umpire going to the park with the thought in his head that he's going to intentially make calls outside of the rules.

 

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Yes there is a strike zone that has been established by a sanctioning body and outlined in a rule book, but that is where the comparisons end.

Every person, player, coach, umpire, grandparent, etc., may perceive the strike zone differently. ?You are asking a person to to watch a ball cross a 17 inch wide plate, while it is passing a batter, and asking this umpire to record whether the ball passed through a particular piece of this zone. ?We all know that the hand is quicker than the eye, and a pitched ball is traveling at a pretty comparable speed, so sometimes a little guess work is being done.

I have umpired for many years, and the low pitch is the hardest pitch to see and call. ?As an umpire you are in a terrible position to see this pitch. ?Your best location would be to the side of the batter, which is usually where the coach or fans are sitting. ?Hence the reason most complaints about pitch location/called strikes, are on "Low" pitches. ?What most umpires with experience will do, is try to be consistant. ?If they call the first one at the shins, then thats where it will be the rest of the game, get use to it and be ready to swing.

 

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We train our hitters and pitchers to learn the strike zone the umpire is calling and adjust. Our pitcher in the first inning will test how low and high the strike zone will be and pitches accordingly. As long as they call it the same, as a coach I have no problem. It's the same for both teams. Along with what has been said, I have umpired softball and baseball. Softball , because of balls moving up and down is tougher. Try calling a strike on a good drop ball pitcher,. Let alone a rise ball. Even the catcher has a tough time, and they know what is coming. ?

 

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Shayne now you see why we teach how to hit a pitch 5 inches in, out, above and below the offical strike zone. That is why we use the Shutt Shorty tee as it is only adjustable up to 15 inches. The average height of the lower portion of the knee or what they term the hallow of the knee is about 18 to 19 inches and yes it could be more or less. This is why we teach that in our opinion, it is the hitters job to call balls and strikes and the only thing we want the umpire to do is call safe or out. The hitter must what they can hit and when in the count they must pull the trigger.

We encourage all of our hitters to talk to the catcher after every inning as she knows what the umpire is calling at that particular moment and with some umpires it changes as the pitcher demonstrates their ability to spot her pitches.

This is also why we teach our hitters to move in the box as the pitcher starts up with her arm with their back foot. Crystl has demonstrated this at the highest levels of the games and against the best pitchers in the World of softball.

You the hitter MUST make the adjustment!

You saw films of pitches that were 8 to 10 inches off the plate being called strikes at the highest level in softball...the Gold Medal games...and you saw Stacy frame it! And she got a strike called!

Hope it helps.

Howard

 

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It has always been that way. It is very rare that you will see an ump call a strike at the armpits. And if he did he wouldn't hear the end of it from the oposing coaches and parents.

 

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There are (2) strike zones, the umpire's and the rule book's.

 

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It seems the umps are calling the zone from just above the waist to the lower part of the calf.

That's even tighter than the NCAA strike zone! I'm quite a bit more liberal in my calling of the strike zone. But that is not "my" interpretation of the zone. Rather, I believe that it is more inline with what is taught at clinics and offered in various umpire manuals.

For instance, the NCAA instructs their umpires to call the pitch such that the top of the ball must be on or below the top line of the zone (the batter's sternum in NCAA). At the lower end, the top of the ball must be on or above the line at the top of the batter's knees. Inside and outside, either side of the ball must be on or within the vertical lines formed by the edges of the plate.

That might sound kind of hard to visualize. There is a great illustration of this on page 156 of the on-line NCAA manual. (I tried to copy and paste it here, but it wouldn't let me.) You can check it out at this link: http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2008/2008_softball_rules.pdf ?The picture probably tells the story better than I can describe it in words.

ASA offers similar instruction in their umpire manual and clinics. This comes straight from the ASA umpire manual: "In calling balls and strikes, it is generally accepted to bring the pitch down or up into the strike zone, and widen it out, making sure to give a good corner." Basically, ASA instructs its umpires to call the zone about the same as the NCAA does (with the exception that the top of the zone is at the armpits, not the sternum).

This is the zone I call at higher levels, with competent pitchers that can move the ball and hit their spots. It provides a good balance for both offense and defense, rewarding the pitchers that can place the ball, but not forcing the hitters to go after what are essentially unhittable pitches. I get very, very few complaints about my strike zone.

For younger age groups or recreational ball, where the pitchers are less-skilled, I tend to give every inch of the strike zone with any portion of the ball nicking any portion of the zone being a strike.

 

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Fair enough Bretman. Thats what I was looking for. A well thought out explanation, thank you.
Any other umps want to weigh in on this one.

 

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The strike zone is best observed from the third base coaches box. Just ask him/her!

 

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didn't OFC scientists determine that the strike zone was best seen from the POV of a parent sitting BEHIND the ump on a coleman fold-out and a disgusted look on their face?
in second place, came the bucket-sitting dad in the opposing (or losing) team's digout....

find out the results here....

www.yeah-right.net/OFC_Scientist.html

 

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Didn't the OFC scientists also determine that it was a pretty poor scorekeeper that could not win, Statman??

 

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Calling a good zone requires many things from the umpire:

- Mechanics. Setting up properly to get an unobstructed view of the plate, remaining still as the pitch comes in, using the correct visual tracking techniques to follow a fast-moving object.

- Timing. Wait until the ball has hit the mitt, then take a second or two to mentally process it before making a call. When an umpire "rushes" his timing, making the call simultaneous with the ball hitting the mitt, the mental process is such that he is making his judgment before the ball even crosses the strike zone.

- Training. Know what is expected by by the sanctioning body you're calling games for. Their interpretations and training may differ slightly from a straight black-and-white reading of the rule book definition.

- Experience. Seeing a lot of pitches in game situations to until you are comfortable applying your mechanics, timing and training.

- Knowledge. Know the skill level and expectations of the coaches and players for the game you are working. You need to be flexible enough to make some adjustments and call a zone that is appropriate for the level you are working. A zone appropriate for a 10U recreational game will not be appropriate at the college level, and vise versa.

Frankly, I'm always puzzled when an umpire calls a zone that is grossly different from what the rule book describes or what is expected for a given level, such as a "waist to shins" strike zone, or balls that are well off the outside corner. You can usually conclude that the umpire might be lacking in any of the above critical areas.

 

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Oh yeah...one more....

OFC scientists have also concluded that that there is a "chain link magnification" effect, whereby the viewers vision is amplified by the uncanny effect of watching the pitch through a chain link fence!

 

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That is why I look larger (fatter) on the field than than off the field. I just want everyone to realize that.

 

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[quote author=chicoflip link=1200600464/0#0 date=1200600464]It seems the umps are calling the zone from just above the waist to the lower part of the calf.

That's even tighter than the NCAA strike zone! I'm quite a bit more liberal in my calling of the strike zone. But that is not "my" interpretation of the zone. Rather, I believe that it is more inline with what is taught at clinics and offered in various umpire manuals.

For instance, the NCAA instructs their umpires to call the pitch such that the top of the ball must be on or below the top line of the zone (the batter's sternum in NCAA). At the lower end, the top of the ball must be on or above the line at the top of the batter's knees. Inside and outside, either side of the ball must be on or within the vertical lines formed by the edges of the plate.

That might sound kind of hard to visualize. There is a great illustration of this on page 156 of the on-line NCAA manual. (I tried to copy and paste it here, but it wouldn't let me.) You can check it out at this link: http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2008/2008_softball_rules.pdf The picture probably tells the story better than I can describe it in words.

ASA offers similar instruction in their umpire manual and clinics. This comes straight from the ASA umpire manual: "In calling balls and strikes, it is generally accepted to bring the pitch down or up into the strike zone, and widen it out, making sure to give a good corner." Basically, ASA instructs its umpires to call the zone about the same as the NCAA does (with the exception that the top of the zone is at the armpits, not the sternum).

This is the zone I call at higher levels, with competent pitchers that can move the ball and hit their spots. It provides a good balance for both offense and defense, rewarding the pitchers that can place the ball, but not forcing the hitters to go after what are essentially unhittable pitches. I get very, very few complaints about my strike zone.

For younger age groups or recreational ball, where the pitchers are less-skilled, I tend to give every inch of the strike zone with any portion of the ball nicking any portion of the zone being a strike.[/quote] Here you go:

 

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A picture is worth a thousand words.... ?

Thanks, Bear. For some reason everytime I tried to copy and paste that picture it would capture the photo, but not the dashed lines and balls illustrating the zone, so I'm not sure what my problem was.

The ASA zone would get called the same, only the top line would be just a couple inches higher, at the armpit instead of the sternum. I think that this zone provides the best balance for the offesnse and defense, rewarding a pitcher who can hit her spots and nick the zone, while still giving the offense a reasonable shot at seeing some hittable pitches.

That's the zone I try to call in most of my games and it seems to be well-received by the coaches and players.

 

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ALP (A-nother L-ame P-oster?)

those conclusions have yet to be determined, but the next time I'm in the lab, I'll check on it

 

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A picture is worth a thousand words....

Thanks, Bear. For some reason everytime I tried to copy and paste that picture it would capture the photo, but not the dashed lines and balls illustrating the zone, so I'm not sure what my problem was.
....

Did it to me a couple of times until I changed to the "snapshot tool".

 

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Thanks guys. The picture shows what I would normally expect the zone to look like. If most of the umps called it that way I would be tickled pink.