Umpires: Call a STRIKE ZONE

[Greenmonsters]

I don't want to tell my 10U (or now 12U) team to NOT SWING. Because that is the best way to deal with it if you are out to win - only swing at mid-plate meatballs or just walk runs in all game long. And I don't want to ask my pitcher to throw fastballs down-the-middle. She doesn't want to make it easy on the batter to whack her to (or over) the fence because the umpire can't call a strike.

That isn't the game. That is just stupid.

I'll readily agree that sometimes what it takes to win in the short term is not in the best interest of winning in the long term. Its a matter of defining your objectives and acting/adjusting accordingly.

 

[Greenmonsters]

In DD's case on Saturday, the opposing coach was very game savvy and had her players move all the way up in the box so the could hit the screwball (low inside - the only corner given for a strike) into fair territory. Good adjutment on her part, so DD had to throw more change ups to keep the batters honest.

Its tough when the pitcher knows to throw screwball inside, drop curve outside to keep a batter of guard and one of your weapons is rendered impotent by the non-playing 3rd party.

Nice job - going to the change was definitely a good adustment. With that pitch in play and the batters up in the box, they also may have become more susceptible to her max speed pitch. You said that she knows how to throw an "inside curve" and an "outside screw", which I'll take to mean that she can throw a curve and a screw. Throwing the curve inside and the screw outside might also have been very effective (the curve in particular) and perhaps the umpire surprisingly more receptive. IMO, you begin limiting yourself if you start thinking a pitch should only be thrown in a certain location(s). There are those umpires that have a unique strike zone and its frustrating until you find it.

 

[EP Dad]

It sucks to be a pitcher in those type of games, but it's the same for the other team. Woe is me goes home and the team that deals with it best advances.

Actually, no.

Here's where it gets fun. Lets say you have what I call a "gullet ball" pitcher. Enough speed that the hitters on the other team have trouble catching up, but basically throws to one location. And lets say your opponent is the kind of pitcher that doesn't have a lot of speed but moves the ball around the zone, hits the corners, puts lots of spin on the ball.

Now let's say you have Mr. Postage Stamp as an umpire. Who gets screwed in that scenario?

 

[MsDinosaur]

Actually, no.

Here's where it gets fun. Lets say you have what I call a "gullet ball" pitcher. Enough speed that the hitters on the other team have trouble catching up, but basically throws to one location. And lets say your opponent is the kind of pitcher that doesn't have a lot of speed but moves the ball around the zone, hits the corners, puts lots of spin on the ball.

Now let's say you have Mr. Postage Stamp as an umpire. Who gets screwed in that scenario?

Ha, yep, or the game I still remember from 10U, where we had a very good little FB/change-up pitcher who could hit her spots versus a wild youngster who threw mostly balls with the occasional strike.

Our young batters wanted to hit, but were also nervous about being hit by the pitch and couldn't count on getting any hittable pitch in an at-bat, so a lot of them started swinging at anything close. Meanwhile, our pitcher was hitting her corners and not getting them. So yes, she had to throw meatballs which the other team was waiting for, knowing that she had the control to give them lovely pitches to hit. DD's team eventually won that game, but it turned into a nasty, dirty, acrimonious fight, with a grandfather who had been watching from behind the backstop thrown out and the UIC brought in. (I did hear that someone affiliated with a university had been watching and gave our pitcher his card because he had been impressed with the way she handled herself.)

When the pitch on the corner at the knees and the pitch over the batter's head were always both balls, it was actually a disadvantage to have a good pitcher. It should not have been that way IMO...

 

[EP Dad]

I wish more umpires understood the unintended consequences of their actions. I swear they shrink the zone cause they don't want to ring little Penolope up.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Actually, no.

Here's where it gets fun. Lets say you have what I call a "gullet ball" pitcher. Enough speed that the hitters on the other team have trouble catching up, but basically throws to one location. And lets say your opponent is the kind of pitcher that doesn't have a lot of speed but moves the ball around the zone, hits the corners, puts lots of spin on the ball.

Now let's say you have Mr. Postage Stamp as an umpire. Who gets screwed in that scenario?

IMO, the team with the control pitcher has less of an advantage than they should have, but it still will be the TEAM that deals with it best that prevails.

 

[Greenmonsters]

I wish more umpires understood the unintended consequences of their actions. I swear they shrink the zone cause they don't want to ring little Penolope up.

Nor her sister, Cantaloupe.

 

[EP Dad]

IMO, the team with the control pitcher has less of an advantage than they should have, but it still will be the TEAM that deals with it best that prevails.

Nope. The speedballer who throws to one spot has the advantage. A rather large one.

 

[SCDad]

The first key to winning a softball game is to quickly figure out the strike zone, and adjust as a player and/or have the coach adjust strategy for the particular zone.

Wasting time and energy complaining and trying to get the umpire to change HIS zone is just that, a waste. You lose and go home.

The ONLY good remark to an umpire is to remind him to call the same on both halves of the inning. And say something like "that was a strike in the top half, call it both ways,"

We all have been in games where the umpire is so bad (inconsistent), the game becomes unplayable. Older/experienced players, who are adept at figuring out how to adapt to different strike zone, will fall out laughing as a group.

Been to games where literally both benches are rolling in laughter, along with half the parents, and the umpire probably does not have a clue.

 

[marriard]

The first key to winning a softball game is to quickly figure out the strike zone, and adjust as a player and/or have the coach adjust strategy for the particular zone.

Wasting time and energy complaining and trying to get the umpire to change HIS zone is just that, a waste. You lose and go home.

The ONLY good remark to an umpire is to remind him to call the same on both halves of the inning. And say something like "that was a strike in the top half, call it both ways,"

We all have been in games where the umpire is so bad (inconsistent), the game becomes unplayable. Older/experienced players, who are adept at figuring out how to adapt to different strike zone, will fall out laughing as a group.

Been to games where literally both benches are rolling in laughter, along with half the parents, and the umpire probably does not have a clue.

Inconsistent is better than not having zone at all. If I have to chase a zone - while that is not ideal, at least we can try to work with that. We always are looking to find where the zone is and adjusting to how the game is being called.

If you NEVER raise your arm to make a called strike call then you shouldn't umpire. As simple as that. I can't 'find the umpires zone' if he doesn't have one.

Next time I get a "throw down the middle only at waist height or you have no chance of getting a strike" umpire I am going to take a tee out to the plate, put a ball at it and tell the umpire that I might as well just let them hit off a tee because that is what he is making my pitcher throw.

I'll get thrown out but at least I'll have earned it for once.