World's Smallest Strike Zone

[howellhandmade]

This past weekend 10yo DD playing 12u ran into an umpire who would only call a strike if it was right down the middle. Luckily it was a rec league and the batters weren't super lethal, but all she had in her current bag of tricks was keep it low, crank in as much drop as possible and hope the fielders were up to it. Even if she had a curve (which she doesn't) it wouldn't have helped. She pitched the second of two games; the umpire (I am not making this up) told her team's pitcher in the first game to "slow it down and throw it down the middle." Which got him an earful from that pitcher's mom after the game.

DD kept a positive approach and pitched really well (the hard-won Ks and one inning with only two balls seemed like a moral victory), and the coaches seemed to know the ump and take a "what are you gonna do?" attitude, but it's the first time she's encountered that particular umpiring philosophy. Seems like the kind of thing that's likely to get somebody hurt.

 

[chinamigarden]

Like I tell the girls. We can't control the umps and we can't control the weather. Don't take too much time worrying about what you can't control, adapt and do your best with what ya got.

 

[EP Dad]

the umpire (I am not making this up) told her team's pitcher in the first game to "slow it down and throw it down the middle." Which got him an earful from that pitcher's mom after the game.

A question. Maybe I'm trying to understand the impossible to understand, but what possible rational does anyone involved in this sport have for doing this?

 

[SoCalASABlue]

I'm sorry to say this does not surprise me. DD has been pitching (and taking lessons) for more than 5 years...she's now 14...and I still get umpires (who I work with) who are surprised that she can hit her spots AND throw a change-up at 14...I've had these same umpires state in umpire meetings and annual training classes (all men by the way) that girls don't really learn how to pitch until high school.

 

[howellhandmade]

A question. Maybe I'm trying to understand the impossible to understand, but what possible rational does anyone involved in this sport have for doing this?

I guess he thought he was doing his job. The other pitcher's mom (according to her) told him that how he called the pitches was his business, how her daughter dealt with his calls was her daughter's business, don't EVER talk to her again.

The way it turned out was good for DD. She would rather pitch to a strike zone the size of a baguette than not pitch, and I'm proud to say that she didn't complain and treated it as a learning experience. She kept the ball down and got hit but didn't get shelled even though the other team was bigger and older and the coaches were happy with that. But if she'd had to eat line drives all game it would have been tough.

 

[joemcq51]

DD kept a positive approach and pitched really well (the hard-won Ks and one inning with only two balls seemed like a moral victory)

How many walks did she have? Not saying the umpire wasn't tight, but if there was an inning with only two balls, how hard were you trying to stretch the zone??? We have all had the umpires that want the ball right down the middle. Part of teaching our dd's how to be better pitchers involves learning where the umpire wants the ball and working the edges. For example if the umpire is not calling the outside part of the plate, you don't eliminate that pitch. You try and work ahead in counts and then go back to that corner. Perhaps the hitter will chase it. If your dd only had a couple balls called in an inning, I would say you let the umpire control your dd, and stopped working edges.

The good news is, it sounds like your dd has good control. Now use her control to expand umpires strike zones. Every umpire has a zone, its up to your dd to find out how far in/out or up/down, and put the ball there.

 

[Jojo]

My DD used to call that "Trying to throw a softball through a hole the size of a baseball."


One of my pitching parents complained about the same thing last week.

They were playing 12U rec and the umpire would only call down the middle. When my parent questioned him on this, his reply was, "If this was "A" ball, I would call the corners, but I won't call corners in Rec".

This made absolutely no sense to me.
All we could figure was he was setting it up for the batters to hit, not for the pitchers to pitch.

 

[Greenmonsters]

Think about it this way. There are three strike zones: 1) the rule book definition, 2) the umpire de jour's interpretation of the rule book zone, and 3) the batter's zone (i.e., pitches that the batter will swing at). While your umpire may have only CALLED strikes on pitches down the middle, at 10U or 12U my thought is that the batters' strike zone discipline is not that advanced. If the other teams hitters were taking until they got a called strike, pitching to the conventional strike zone or even an expanded strike zone likely would have had batter's swinging and chasing and been more productive than subsequently grooving every pitch. After all, a pitcher should never throw the ball over the plate unless they have to!

 

[EP Dad]

Think about it this way. There are three strike zones: 1) the rule book definition, 2) the umpire de jour's interpretation of the rule book zone, and 3) the batter's zone (i.e., pitches that the batter will swing at). While your umpire may have only CALLED strikes on pitches down the middle, at 10U or 12U my thought is that the batters' strike zone discipline is not that advanced. If the other teams hitters were taking until they got a called strike, pitching to the conventional strike zone or even an expanded strike zone likely would have had batter's swinging and chasing and been more productive than subsequently grooving every pitch. After all, a pitcher should never throw the ball over the plate unless they have to!

My experience has been just the opposite. I see more often than not at 12's that girls won't swing unless it's a perfect strike. If the ump is calling a small zone it becomes pretty difficult for the pitcher to defend themselves or compete.

 

[nanotech14]

Well,thats when the catcher and pitcher need to work together,pitcher throws a pitch right down the middle,lets say at about umpire's head height,and catcher ducks and forgets to catch the ball.