Pitching and Pitchers Discussion The Strike Zone?

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Someone once explained to me the strike zone as this... He said...

Imagine the worlds most fragile piece of glass... This piece of glass begins at the bottom of the letters of the batter and goes to the bottom of the knees... He said it also goes from black to black of the plate...

He said that if this extremely fragile piece of glass is touched by one thread of the ball, the glass will break. Not the whole ball, not half the ball, ANY PART of the ball touches the glass, the glass breaks.

He said if the glass breaks, this is a STRIKE.

My question... is this true? What is the strike zone...

It seems that some umpires want the whole ball to be on the plate, while others don't give anything above the belt... I hate to sit in my lawn chair groaning about balls and strikes when I am not entirely sure I know what the strike zone is...

Anybody?

 

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It is whatever the umpire wants it to be for each pitch, and there is nothing you can do about it........

 

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With the last few umps we had the strike zone is apparently from the bottom of the chin to mid shin and up to six inches off the plate. We had a ball land 3 inches inside the opposite batters box and the blue called a strike.

 

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The black Is Not a part of the strike zone......

 

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I like to think of the strike zone as a hexagonal post rising off the plate. It starts at the bottom of the batters knee cap and ends at about mid chest.

If the ball touches this volume of space at any point it is a strike. I think at times one has to remember that the ball can practically bounce to the catcher and still touch this zone of space.

Lets face it. No one really seems to be happy with the zone at times. I teach my DDs to hit the ball early in the count and do not let the pitcher or umpire dictate the game or what is a strike. Hit your pitch.

Do not let the umpires zone have anything to do with your players hitting zone. Hit and drive the ball that comes into your hitting zone. And make sure you have a big hitting zone.........I have watched many games where there was not one walk or strike out. The home plate umpire was there to watch the game as it should be. The problem arises when the pitcher stinks or the batters are constantly trying to milk the count and get a walk. Then we have a constant barrage of complaining about the umpire. You will get AT LEAST 1-2 good pitches to hit almost every time up. Hit the ball and foul off the close pitches. Be aggressive and you will have few problems.

None of my daughters pitch so I guess my attitude always lies with the concept that the batter controls their at bat. UNLESS they choose to give control to the pitcher or umpire. In that case, they get what the get and no complaining. You give control over to someone else then do not complain about what you get.

 

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I keep hearing about these umpires who won't call anything above the belt. I would love to meet this person. 95% of the umps I've seen call "strike" on anything shoulders or below...

 

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Had a guy this week that called strikes at the eyes and some just above the ankles. Did not always get the ones at the waist. He told me his strike zone was "consistent". He did not like that I told him it consistently ****ed.
He was calling pitches that were over his head. Then we had the guy who must have had a jumbo tron in his head. He made the calls on about a 4 second delay. The field ump was not happy about working with him and said he would not have stayed if he knew he were working with him. Tournaments are getting so big that I guess anyone with a license can get games no matter how bad they are.

 

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The strike zone is whatever that particular umpire feels is a strike. My sister was a pitcher and our coaches always told her it was her job as the pitcher to find his/her strike zone....without arguing or eye rolling. As a hitter, if you have an inconsistant umpire, it is your job to hit the hittable pitches and not leave it up to the umpire to ring you up.

And sorry Hilliarddad but the black is a part of the plate and is a strike, has been for the last 32 years that I know of. I always loved those coaches who said it wasn't...I would just set up outside/inside, paint the corner, and watch the coach freak out when the umpire called the strike.

 

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Then we had the guy who must have had a jumbo tron in his head. He made the calls on about a 4 second delay. The field ump was not happy about working with him and said he would not have stayed if he knew he were working with him. Tournaments are getting so big that I guess anyone with a license can get games no matter how bad they are.

I believe we may have had this guy in the Laser tournament last weekend. Makes for a lot of erase marks in the score book.

 

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The strike zone is whatever that particular umpire feels is a strike. My sister was a pitcher and our coaches always told her it was her job as the pitcher to find his/her strike zone....without arguing or eye rolling. As a hitter, if you have an inconsistant umpire, it is your job to hit the hittable pitches and not leave it up to the umpire to ring you up.

And sorry Hilliarddad but the black is a part of the plate and is a strike, has been for the last 32 years that I know of. I always loved those coaches who said it wasn't...I would just set up outside/inside, paint the corner, and watch the coach freak out when the umpire called the strike.

Well for 32 years you have been wrong. The plate measures 18.5" end to end inclusive of the black trim. Rule book states the plate measurement is to be 17" and if one measures the white, hmm it's 17" so black is not a part of the strike zone.....

 

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NSA states........

SECTION 51 STRIKE ZONE
The strike zone is that space over any part of home plate that is between the batter's armpit and the top of the batter's knees when the natural batting stance is assumed. Any part of the ball passing through this strike zone is considered a strike. The umpire is instructed to determine the batter's strike zone according to the batter's usual stance when swinging at a pitch.

I've never seen a strike zone this big, but I guess it's supposed to be.

 

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Yes, the proper measurement for home plate is 17 inches as stated in the rule book. But you are confusing the plate measurement with the strike zone, they are 2 different things. The black base under the white plate is a part of the plate and in turn, a part of the strike zone. Any coach who is not informing their players of such is doing them a great disservice, as it is a lesson they will most definately learn as they get older.

 

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Technically, the black part of the plate is not to be seen; the black part should be covered by dirt.

Len

 

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Klump are you saying a ball that just touches the black only is a strike? If you are, it is not in the official strike zone. Now, many a blue might call it, but they shouldn't be. Perfect depiction Lenski!

 

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I thought "The Strike Zone" was a song by Loverboy back in the 80's???

 

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Of course the black should be covered, but it rarely ever is. It isn't covered 99% of the time and is therefore considered part of the plate which is part of the strike zone.

We will have to agree to disagree on this one. The more coaches who tell their batters not to swing at pitches touching the black, the better my pitchers will do so it is a win-win for me.

 

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Had a guy this week that called strikes at the eyes and some just above the ankles. Did not always get the ones at the waist. He told me his strike zone was "consistent". He did not like that I told him it consistently ****ed.

:lmao:

 

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Nothing to agree to disagree, black is not a strike by the rule and should be called as such regardless.

 

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I thought "The Strike Zone" was a song by Loverboy back in the 80's???

Strike Zone is the grittiest song from Loverboy. It is one of the very few songs from Loverboy that is pallatable.

Len

 

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Strikezone is white of plate only, top of knees to armpits and i always thot the zone was when batter was at normal standing up position not when bent over in hitting position...?
I wish some blue would call the armpit strike more often.