Strike zone... It isn’t just the youth leagues!

[Westwind]

The perspective of an assistant coach at Illinois.

I always wanted to laugh, and laugh hard, when a certain tb pitchers dad would say things like “She, (his dd), will get that call in college.”

 

[Westwind]

 

[MikeP]

The perspective of an assistant coach at Illinois.

I always wanted to laugh, and laugh hard, when a certain tb pitchers dad would say things like “She, (his dd), will get that call in college.”

I was just thinking the other day while watching a college game that there were a lot of belt high, down the middle pitches called balls. I'm trying to get dd to quit swinging at stuff that's eyeball level, she drives me insane chasing those, if she makes it to college she is toast

 

[EdLovrich]

Excerpt from an email to Coach Trout:

Coach,

The pitch at the belt will no longer be called a strike when it is off the plate, Unfortunately this is a location you can't see from the dugout.

 

[radness]

Quite A Life Lesson as a catcher to have an umpire over my shoulder and know the times the umpire called the pitch completely opposite to what I saw.
Yet then to hear people so far away at different angles think they saw it better?!
* it truly is a life lesson that there will always be another perspective.

 

[BrianTx01]

I always thought it was supposed to be to the hollow beneath the knee cap. I think the big driver in the shrinking strike zone is MLB TV broadcasts that show the strike zone box to the belt. They also probably need to grow and shrink that box according to the batters height. They don't....which is why that box is not always accurate.

 

[BrianTx01]

Quite A Life Lesson as a catcher to have an umpire over my shoulder and know the times the umpire called the pitch completely opposite to what I saw.
Yet then to hear people so far away at different angles think they saw it better?!
* it truly is a life lesson that there will always be another perspective.

A lot of times coach will ask the blue and he will say high. It is pretty easy to see that from 15' away right behind the backstop. Their is no question that the top of the strike zone has shrunk in recent years. Perhaps that is needed in MLB where strikeouts are at an all time high. Not so much in 10Unand 12U softball. This isn't the case with all umpires and of course the famous saying "as long as he calls it both ways" applies... Lol. That way both pitchers can be equally as frustrated.

 

[uncdrew]

I film games for my DDs' teams and set up behind the plate. I have a really good view of the strikezone, and for the most part our umps get it right. And they call the high strike, even up to the letters. I'm pretty pleased with that. I certainly don't want a small strikezone for 11 year olds.

However, lately they've been giving about 2 ball widths outside as a strike. We've had some strike-outs looking on both sides (offense and defense) that were pretty far outside.

*shrug*

 

[bmakj]

DD had a K looking this past weekend, HC told her it was OK, he did not want her to ever swing at that pitch. ankle high, might have caught the corner (actually a nice pitch with two strikes, might get a lot of swings, just not really a strike). last game of the day, think blue wanted to go home.

 

[radness]

Going to post this again and again and again.
Because it is so critically technically important.
An important point made in a fun way~