- Jun 8, 2016
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Throwing a pitch which the batter won’t swing at 97 out of 100 times is just dumb..
Just for perspective... have caught pitches that were well into the opposite batter's box that were called strikes by some umpires.
They can set up where they want (within the rules) and it shouldn’t bother you one bit. They just shouldn’t bitch about a strike not being called if the pitcher hits her spotTotally get that and agree. As a coach, it annoys me. As an umpire, it annoys me even more. It's more the guts some catchers have to set up WELL outside where they know a (reasonable) strike zone has a chance of being, call a pitch there, frame it for a solid 3 seconds, and then complain when they don't get the call. I had an 18U tournament last weekend where a girl did just that, and THEN looked back at me as if to say, "Are you serious? You're not calling that?" It took a lot not to say something smart, but I opted to just look at her, then back at the pitcher.
I get a lot of blues have very liberal interpretations of the strike zone - I'm one of them at times - I've been working to keep my zone more consistent regardless of the level I'm working with. I just wish catchers (and the coaches calling the pitches) would be a TINY bit more reasonable with their thoughts. Set up 2-3" off the outside? I'm cool with that. Set up on the next field? A road too far IMO.
Throwing a pitch which the batter won’t swing at 97 out of 100 times is just dumb..
Most players don’t only swing at strikes. Conversely most players will not swing at a pitch which never looks like it has a chance of being a strike. In MLB you will see a lot pitchers throw sliders which start over the plate and then end up a few balls (or more) off the plate (typically away) hoping for weak contact or a swing and miss. On the other hand somebody like Maddux, with his control, would sometimes start a pitch off the plate and have it paint the corner with the hope of getting a called third strike. Pitches don’t move as much in softball so adjust accordingly.Initially I thought Maddux was referring to a waste pitch as an intentionally thrown "ball" (two inches or two feet off the plate). It seems Bill agreed and said he didn't intentionally throw a "ball".
Now I am a little confused on what a "waste" pitch is in the context of what Maddux was talking about. Surely we aren't advocating that every ball is just a strike that missed?