So an ump says to me

[coach james]

So we should mimic local high level pitchers and not the high level pitchers in the world.

Young players SHOUD mimic the best hitters/pitchers/catchers in the world in order to become the 1st Sally Smith rather than the next Chamberlain, Cat, or Bench......
Umpires should not be giving mechanical advise. At least not while on the clock

 

[djcarter1966]

Yeah the strike zone has to be consistent period. We had a JV game our pitcher is a TB pitcher and the other team had a girl just getting it over and walking a lot. After first two innings it was 8 or 9 to zero so the zone got really big....well since our pitcher has a shoebox zone the other team started teeing off, then they also put in a better pitcher after the 4th so instead of getting those extra runs in the 3rd and 4th we got nothing because our girls would not swing at pitches in the other batters box but the game was now just one or two runs....we managed to pull it out but we missed out on several runs because the umpire assumed the game was over and just wanted to get things moving along

 

[Ajaywill]

As a fellow member recently stated:

Players play
Coaches coach
Umpires umpire

Do your job. Let the others do theirs.

 

[BuckeyeGuy]

The zone IS what it IS.... That umpires integrity is in question imo.... We can't bend the rules to cater to whom ever is playing.
But congrats to your dd and her 7 k's.....

Not sure how you mean this. Our rec league instructs Blue that the strike zone is one ball-width outside the normal zone (to encourage batters to swing - I know, teaching bad habits, not my rule but we don't have many pitchers that can throw strikes). They also know to tighten it up a little if there's a pitcher like rylesdad DD throwing. It's what we've asked them to do.

 

[xygent1]

I don't mind a bigger strike zone for a rec league vs. A-level travel. But umpires have no business making side deals or special favors with the father of one particular pitcher, or having one zone for one team, and one for another.

your absolutely correct imo a ump has a job and he or she should do it to the best of their ability but in saying that I have seen strike zones shrink up to nothing but tube pitches and expand to include some ridiculous zones all due to umps taking things personal working in favor of our team and against our team which has always bothered me and I never say anything (cause it wont do any good) so depending on the integrity of the ump is always what matters. its just too bad there are some that have none.In those times its just roll with the punches and hope for the best

 

[Casey]

Hmmph.... I'm an umpire, and have been a coach, and I honestly cannot imagine the arrogance of an umpire who would do that. His job out there is not to 'test' a pitcher to make her 'better'. If it is, then it's his job to 'test' every athlete out there to make them 'better'. Did he talk to the other Coaches and inform them he would call a different zone? Did he test the better hitters by expanding the zone for them??!! And the weaker hitters, and so on??!! I'm sure he meant well, but this is not in an umpires' realm of interest. If there is a severe differentiation in skill levels of pitchers, call a consistent zone which you consider appropriate for the level, and let the kids play.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Hmmph.... I'm an umpire, and have been a coach, and I honestly cannot imagine the arrogance of an umpire who would do that. His job out there is not to 'test' a pitcher to make her 'better'. If it is, then it's his job to 'test' every athlete out there to make them 'better'. Did he talk to the other Coaches and inform them he would call a different zone? Did he test the better hitters by expanding the zone for them??!! And the weaker hitters, and so on??!! I'm sure he meant well, but this is not in an umpires' realm of interest. If there is a severe differentiation in skill levels of pitchers, call a consistent zone which you consider appropriate for the level, and let the kids play.

When the disparity is great, which level is appropriate? A rec pitcher struggling to throw to an A-level zone or an ace taking advantage of a rec zone? Someone's going to be unhappy regardless, but that's life. IMO, unless its discussed and agreed upon prior to a friendly or scrimmage, an umpire's job is not to handicap a game to make it more fair, .

 

[Casey]

When the disparity is great, which level is appropriate? A rec pitcher struggling to throw to an A-level zone or an ace taking advantage of a rec zone? Someone's going to be unhappy regardless, but that's life. IMO, unless its discussed and agreed upon prior to a friendly or scrimmage, an umpire's job is not to handicap a game to make it more fair, .

I agree. The level which is appropriate is the strike zone which is defined by the rule set which governs the contest.
If the rule set says " armpit to knee", and if an umpire calls that zone, no coach, parent or fan has any ground to stand on if they b$&@h.
The ONLY thing an umpire should refer to is the rule book. Applications of judgement should fall within the rule book. If the rule book doesn't cover it, then the umpire should apply judgement the best they can.

 

[marriard]

I don't like it when they always call the 3-0 strike or the 0-2 ball no matter where the pitch is.
I hate the shoebox/only meatball strike zone as well.
I hate the ones who hold a grudge.
I hate the ones that don't care.
I hate when I know the rule, but they don't (but then I probably learned what the proper rule is here thanks to Bretman, Comp or MTR)

That said I can forgive almost everything for those umpires who are out there doing the best job they can. I'll take the umpire who is trying but occasionally gets it wrong over the umpire who just doesn't care. There is a lot of tough calls out there, but if they hustle, make the best position they can based on their mechanics and the call doesn't go my way, so be it.

Last weekend we played 6 games - we had three great crews, one decent crew, one younger crew that is getting better every time I see them and one who crew who shouldn't be allowed to step on a field in any official capacity. That wasn't a bad weekend at all. Apart from the one crew, the other five crews probably made less mistakes than I did coaching first.

 

[obbay]

DD plays HS as well as Sr league (LL) and some of the umpires are the same. In our last game we had an ump that was only giving DD the middle of the plate, but giving the other pitcher (who is the no.2 varsity pitcher) a very wide zone. calling a strike 3 when the catcher had to extend her arm to catch the ball in the other batters box. DD threw a beautiful back-door curve that the umpire told the batter to "look out!", she jumped away as the ball curved over the plate and was called for a ball.

When a pitcher is being taught year round to avoid the middle of the plate and hit the corners- how does it "help" her by "tightening up" the zone?

One strike zone. Call 'em right or stay home! Don't do us any favors!