Unwritten rules of balls and strikes

[basejester]

Discuss.

http://www.umpire.org/writers/porter.html

 

[Cav]

1.  False;

2.  True;

3.  Maybe;

4.  Maybe;

5.  Maybe;

6.  True;

7.  Yeah, right;

8.  After 25 years, I'm still looking for my first nine-pitch half-inning; 

9.  True; and,

10. Maybe.

 

You wanted more discussion than that?  Each element could be its own post. 

[VAUmp]

Cant access the page

[maineump]

The guy who wrote this must only do D1+ levels. Much of what he writes really applies to a really good catcher, who is up under the hitter and it sticking pitches for you - and the pitcher is hitting spots.

Got to agree with Cav for HS and below.

He forgot to add - the catcher needs to catch the ball 'thumb down' and have his elbow below the height of the glove ~ these are some others I have heard

[maven]

More useful for someone trying to teach a catcher than for someone trying to teach an umpire.

[ricka56]

I agree with @‌maineump. I don't think this is for the youth/recreation forum. Sometimes young/less skilled F2s make strikes look like balls. Removing F2's butchery as a factor may increase the KZ resistance, but I can handle that. 

[basejester]

High school?

 

[ElkOil]

His piece should be re-titled to "How to be a catcher who is more interested in pleasing the umpire who wrote this piece than he is in playing baseball and how to call balls and strikes as an umpire who only sees his job as having to cue off the catcher and isn't able to see the ball properly without the crutch of the catcher's actions."  Or something like that.

[HuskerUmp22]

I agree with some of what he said, but overall he is making things much harder than they need to be. 

How can you be thinking about all these rules and call a good game? Come on. 

The most helpful and simple advice I was given was to slow down my timing and to track the ball from the pitcher's hand to the glove.

[woodiemiller]

This article is a joke. Maybe ok for newbies, but a strike is a strike. Does the batter not swing at a pitch because he knows the catcher is going to drop it? No. That only hurts you (the umpire) to call less strikes. According to the article then, a "backdoor" pitch should be a "ball" because its breaking "around" the outside corner of the strike zone.

[Richvee]

The one that gets me is #7. Really? He's not ringing up a guy who's crowding the plate and jack knives out of the way of a beautiful fastball on the inside corner? Or that lovely big breaking ball that that has the right hand batter bailing as the ball breaks across the inside corner? Those are probably my favorite punch outs. 

[webspinnre]

While yes, what a catcher does certainly affects what we see, I'm not calling strikes to reward the catcher. If the catcher sets up a couple of inches off the plate (say on a 1-2 count) and the pitcher hits the glove, I'm not calling a strike for hitting the glove. The pitch is outside.

[Majordave]

I cannot help but think this article was written solely to spark controversy and discussion. It cannot be considered a serious piece for training anyone other than to start a conversation. 

[Umpire in Chief]

I think this boils down to pitcher presentation. Depending on who you ask between 75- 95% of getting the call for a catcher is presentation. 

A really good catcher can make the not so good pitches look good and bad catchers will butcher good looking pitches.

1. True
2. False
3. False
4. False
5. True at levels where they are expected to catch the ball.
6. True
7. False - But if the batter acts like it's a strike it's a strike.
8. False - If you call the glove on a 12-6 curve you'll be getting some ridiculously high pitches.
9. Meh... I'm trying to get strikes as often as possible regardless of the count. I'm not opening it up on 3-0, but if the batter is taking all the way anything close is a strike.
10. False - If he jerks it ball otherwise unless the catcher makes it look really bad and it crossed the zone get the strike.

[RichMSN]

Catcher presentation was a lot more important to me 15-20 years ago.

These days (I only work up through NCAA D3 level), I never throw away a strike.  Not saying that a good catcher might not make those borderline pitches look better -- but I'm not penalizing bad catching if I can help it.

[Majordave]

@RichMSN. Couldn't be said any better Rich. 

I get EVERY strike I can. At whatever level. Sometimes borderline pitches become strikes because of the catcher and sometimes they become strikes because of my general philosophy that ALL pitches start out as strikes until I DECIDE that they are not. 

[maven]

I get EVERY strike I can. At whatever level. Sometimes borderline pitches become strikes because of the catcher and sometimes they become strikes because of my general philosophy that ALL pitches start out as strikes until I DECIDE that they are not. 

​And then some. In a bad game I've been known to "miss one" and call a slightly bad pitch strike 1 (nothing too outrageous — go ahead, call me a cheater, make my day, punk).

The pitcher gets a little more confidence and starts throwing better. The batter gets a little less, and starts swinging more.

Win/win/win.

[RingEmUp]

I was recently told to call the glove on those curves.  I have done that my last couple of games and though it felt weird there was very little chirping about it.

[lawump]

The article linked to in the OP is old.  I believe it was written before Ques-Tec (now Strike Zone Evaluation) had impacted the way the game is umpired.  With that said, there are still some good points made in the article that can be used in games played by shaving-aged players (at least games where Strike Zone Evaluation is not being used). 

For instance, in my experience reading the catcher's glove (up or down) for determining ball or strike on low pitches is a good tool.  I also find that NCAA, Legion and HS coaches do not complain when I "ball" a pitch that is dropped by F2.  In fact, they sometimes moan when occasionally I do, in fact, call "strike" after an F2 drop.  Sometimes I even respond to a complaining coach when I call a "strike" when F2 drops the pitch by saying, "I know, but that was right down the middle.  I had to call it (a strike)." 

As for calling curves, if one calls "strikes" on curves that land in the dirt (on the theory that they went "through the zone") one will be ejecting, at a minimum, the head coach...at least in the geographical areas for which I umpire (South Carolina for high school, southeast for college).  Even in MLB, if strike zone evaluation says that a curveball "clipped the strike zone" (thus, should be a "strike") but the pitch lands in the dirt...if the umpire calls that pitch a "ball," the post-game computer evaluation will be changed to reflect the "ball" call to be a "correct" call.  In other words, they manually override the computer when it says a curve ball that lands in the dirt is a "strike".  No one (not players, not managers, not coaches (not even pitching coaches)) want that pitch called a "strike".

However, I've never heard about the "armpit" or "elbow" rules. 

[StrikeToWin]

I will say that if I have a catcher set up outside and he reaches back over to catch a pitch that is on the inside corner,  I'm probably going to ball it at most ages and levels that I umpire.  Same with a catcher that sets up way inside and has to reach out for a pitch on the outside corner.  Never hear a peep when I do that.

[Mudder]

I will say that if I have a catcher set up outside and he reaches back over to catch a pitch that is on the inside corner,  I'm probably going to ball it at most ages and levels that I umpire.  Same with a catcher that sets up way inside and has to reach out for a pitch on the outside corner.  Never hear a peep when I do that.

So a pitch you would normally call a strike, you wouldn't just because of where the catcher sets up?​ 

I know we're told time and again "this is the way they call it at the higher levels so you better learn this if you want to move up", but I just don't understand this, the pitcher throws a strike, why not call it a strike, you're penalizing him cause he didn't throw it where he was supposed, but its still a strike!