Stike zone

[Guest KFF]

When a batter enter the box, does the umpire look at the height of the hitter to adjust strike zone per each hitter? If the batter "ducks the pitch" or bends at the knees to get smaller as the pitch is coming in and has no intention of swinging the bat since the bat doesn't leave the shoulder, even if the batter steps forward, is the strike zone where he enters the box? Also, if you want to question this during the at bat, do you just ask the umpire for a minute of his time during the at bat and explain what I am seeing? Questioning a strike zone is something I never do and tell the kids to adjust to the ump's zone as the game goes on hitting wise. But pitching wise it is harder to do that as the batter changes as the pitch is coming in and it doesn't happen with every hitter, just the lower part of the lineup.

[noumpere]

17 minutes ago, Guest KFF said:

When a batter enter the box, does the umpire look at the height of the hitter to adjust strike zone per each hitter? If the batter "ducks the pitch" or bends at the knees to get smaller as the pitch is coming in and has no intention of swinging the bat since the bat doesn't leave the shoulder, even if the batter steps forward, is the strike zone where he enters the box? Also, if you want to question this during the at bat, do you just ask the umpire for a minute of his time during the at bat and explain what I am seeing? Questioning a strike zone is something I never do and tell the kids to adjust to the ump's zone as the game goes on hitting wise. But pitching wise it is harder to do that as the batter changes as the pitch is coming in and it doesn't happen with every hitter, just the lower part of the lineup.

It varies by batter; here's the OBR description (others are similar, and all have the "prepared to swing" type language)

 

The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of
which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders
and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the
hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from
the batter’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.
(For diagram of STRIKE ZONE see Appendix 5.)

 

Ducking after that is not supposed to have an effect on the zone. Depending on the experience f the umpire, it might.  HEck, sometimes the zone might get bigger.

[beerguy55]

37 minutes ago, Guest KFF said:

Also, if you want to question this during the at bat, do you just ask the umpire for a minute of his time during the at bat and explain what I am seeing? Questioning a strike zone is something I never do and tell the kids to adjust to the ump's zone as the game goes on hitting wise. But pitching wise it is harder to do that as the batter changes as the pitch is coming in and it doesn't happen with every hitter, just the lower part of the lineup

If it's a situation where, for example, a pitch near the top of the strike zone is called a ball, and you think it was called a ball because the batter ducked to shrink his zone, you MIGHT get away with requesting time and politely asking the umpire if the batter is allowed to duck to change his strike zone.  If the ump says something along a yes or the strike zone can change during a pitch, then you may have a case for a protest or teachable moment.  If he says "no, it was a ball even if he didn't duck" then the conversation ends there, but perhaps you've planted a seed for him to keep that in check on future pitches.

It's not arguing balls and strikes per se, it's clarifying a rule, but not all umps may see that perspective.

It's going to be a very inexperienced ump who lets a batter do this.  In my experience, more seasoned umps go the opposite way...if they see a batter trying to manipulate the strike zone the pitch is going to be a strike if it's anywhere (within reason).

[Phu Bai]

Where's Eddie Gaedel when you need him??

[yawetag]

3 hours ago, beerguy55 said:

If the ump says something along a yes or the strike zone can change during a pitch, then you may have a case for a protest or teachable moment.

Good luck on the protest.

[KenBAZ]

Guest,

You now know how the height of the strike zone is to be judged. I'd recommend you stick with your policy of not disagreeing with the umpires' zone and having your kids adjust to what is being called. The reality is that your team is likely to be much more successful with the umpire and overall then they would be if you are asking questions about the umpires' judgement.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[noumpere]

The typo ("stike") in the header reminds me the joke in which the punchline is "Aargh!  The word is 'Celebrate!' "

[beerguy55]

3 hours ago, KenBAZ said:

The reality is that your team is likely to be much more successful with the umpire and overall then they would be if you are asking questions about the umpires' judgement.

The rub is, sometimes you don't know if you're asking about judgment or rules...until you ask.

 

 

[KenBAZ]

The rub is, sometimes you don't know if you're asking about judgment or rules...until you ask.
 
 

Most good umpires will clean that up pretty quickly. "In my judgement...So by rule..."

Any way the coach frames this it seems like arguing balls and strikes. The coach is basically saying, I don't know if you are ignorant of the rules or just bad at your job. Not likely to be well received.

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[Lou B]

Of course, the strike zone does not vary from batter to batter if you are playing in the Atlantic League where the computer is calling strikes!

[The Man in Blue]

20 minutes ago, Lou B said:

Of course, the strike zone does not vary from batter to batter if you are playing in the Atlantic League where the computer is calling strikes!

Beat me to it ..

 

WWTMC?  What would TrackMan call?

[Aging_Arbiter]

On ‎8‎/‎8‎/‎2019 at 9:56 AM, Guest KFF said:

If the batter "ducks the pitch" or bends at the knees to get smaller as the pitch is coming in and has no intention of swinging the bat since the bat doesn't leave the shoulder, even if the batter steps forward, is the strike zone where he enters the box?

Judged from his/her normal stance.  If they duck, the zone doesn't "change"......but they took away my reference points, so the zone may get a little bigger.

[UmpTime]

Ducking or bending as the pitch is in flight should not change your zone based on the players natural stance. 

That being said, there is a 12u team in my area that I have called games for numerous times.  They have a very small player who hits leadoff for them.  When he comes up to bat he squats down very low and leans over to make a vertical strike zone about 4" tall. Even though he starts out with this as his "normal" stance, I do not use that as my reference for the top and bottom of the zone.   Once he gets 2 strikes, he will stand up into a "normal" stance.

The picture below is not him, but gives you an idea of the stance.