Umpires: Call a STRIKE ZONE

I don't care where it is but at least make it somewhere near the defined size. It would be nice if you called a deep zone as well - the area over the plate as defined by the rules - not just the leading edge. But that said, I don't care if you don't give edges, or if you call what tends to be a higher or lower zone in the zone. Or if you only call inside or outside. I don't even care if you think the strike zone is completely off the plate.

Just give pitchers a reasonable zone and the good ones will find out where it is and they'll go ahead and work with it.

What you can absolutely not do is have a strike zone the size of a softball, at waist high in the middle of the plate. Pitchers practice REALLY hard to make sure they don't throw it there.

This last few weeks I have seen games ruined by this type of called zone. Our team has been on both sides of this mess and two weeks a go we watched an umpire team simply refuse to call strikes pretty much all day in one tournament. We watched one game with two pitchers with outstanding control get a combined total of 7 called strikes for a game.

In one game recently we had to bring in our best pitcher to finish a game by throwing ONLY down the middle because the other team just stopped swinging because as their coach said afterwards, he couldn't see the umpire making three strike calls on one batter so why not just come back by taking walks.

At which point as much as it sucks you just have to find out who is the better hitting and fielding team and if the game ends 10-9 so be it.

Trust me it is no fun either to sit there and watch girls who have great discipline at the plate called out watching numerous strike three's on balls that are basically down the line or slightly inside of the opposite batters box that the catcher is scooping out of the dirt while the teams battle to a 1-0 victory, you might think it's a great pitching duel but it's not.

I feel your pain. Yesterday, my dd in two different at bats had strikes called on her at her facemask. Both times she stepped out and starred at him. The first time, the dugout busted out in laughter. The second time it was apparent that my dd was hacked off. Umpires says, and I am not exaggerating, "we need to get this over so I can go have a beer." I will not type here what my dd said after her at bat. She is typically such a nice kid that it was totally out of character for her.

David Carter said:

At which point as much as it sucks you just have to find out who is the better hitting and fielding team and if the game ends 10-9 so be it.

Trust me it is no fun either to sit there and watch girls who have great discipline at the plate called out watching numerous strike three's on balls that are basically down the line or slightly inside of the opposite batters box that the catcher is scooping out of the dirt while the teams battle to a 1-0 victory, you might think it's a great pitching duel but it's not.

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Yep, the HUGE zone is no fun either.

I've umpired a lot - I know it isn't easy. I've rarely met one that was intentionally doing a bad job (but I have and that is another story) and they are their own team on the field. Some days that doesn't make it easier as a coach or player (or umpire for that matter)

I personally don't care that much what kind of a strike zone an umpire has - as long as it's consistent. Yeah, the pitcher will have to work harder and get more hits against her. If the zone is consistent then the same will happen to both pitchers.

If you get all bent out of shape by an umpires zone, the only thing that's going to happen is you will be bent out of shape. The umpire isn't going to change.

I'm a pitcher's dad and I approve this message.

Coach-n-Dad said:

If you get all bent out of shape by an umpires zone, the only thing that's going to happen is you will be bent out of shape.

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Correct, except that those around you might get bent out of shape, and suddenly your whole team is bent out of shape.

I guess it's easy to say because my daughter doesn't pitch, but I have never had a game ruined by an umpire's strike zone. Why complain if you have no plan to make it better?

If the zone is consistent both ways, not much you can do about it. If its not going both ways, I'll be the first to get my money's worth and be tossed. I understand and im considerate for a couple of "close ones", after 10 bad calls I draw a line and put on a show.

I witnessed a tournament this past weekend where two pretty good little 10U teams went at it for seven very entertaining innings. One team had a terrific pitcher who was clearly the class of the tournament. The other team was throwing a girl who was not as good and whose skills and velocity left her eminently hittable.

The very hittable girl was a lefty and had a nice little fade to her fastball (think screwball movement). She was getting 3 - 4" of movement and was accurate enough to start that pitch on the outside corner and have it move comfortably out of the zone. She could put it 6" off the corner with regularity. Here is where I found umpiring to be more about this game than the girls playing it. The plate ump was calling this pitch every time she threw it. It was basically unhittable for 10 year old girls with 29" or 30" bats. There was simply no way they could reach it that far off the plate. The umpire took the bat out of an entire team's hands because he was playing to what one team's pitcher did naturally.

The story ended OK for the game because the other team's fantastic pitcher tossed a 2-hit shutout and her team won 2-0. What bothered me, though, was that little pitcher had to stay in a game for seven innings in near 100-degree temps because her team could not pull away from the other team because that ump kept giving that little lefty pitches that were 6" or more off the corner. She struck out 12 hitters looking that I counted and in each case, there is no way I would have faulted any of those 12 girls (if I were their coach) for letting those pitches go, even with two strikes. They were balls and the hitters knew it, the coaches knew it, everybody in the stands knew it but the umpire injected himself into a game and greatly influenced the outcome of the tournament because the best pitcher could not come back for the final due to the heat. That, IMHO, is just as wrong as having a tiny strike zone.

Hmm I always thought if a zone didnt go both ways or a an ump would call a strike at all that I had pissed them off in a past life or game.......

Had umps all weekend all over the place. One guy has a stamp sized zone while another guy is calling strikes at her shoulders. One was so bad that he was calling balls that literally bounced off the plate a strike...he said it was a great drop ball???? All I want is a little consistency across the board. I realize a strike zone is subjective but there has to be a common basis to start with.