Time Between innings.

[concertman1971]

On 9/27/2023 at 8:28 AM, maven said:

Every borderline pitch should be a strike.

Call the buffer zone strikes ALLLLLLLL DAAAAAYYYYY

[SeeingEyeDog]

6 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

Call the buffer zone strikes ALLLLLLLL DAAAAAYYYYY

What's a...buffer zone, exactly?

~Dawg

[concertman1971]

3 hours ago, SeeingEyeDog said:

What's a...buffer zone, exactly?

~Dawg

Its the "gray" area on trackman where every pitch that is "apprx width of one ball" off the plate. So even if it touches the outer edge of the "buffer zone" it is a strike. 

Think of it like this, If a ball TOUCHES the edge of the zone, it is a strike. Now if a pitch TOUCHES the outer edge of that, it is also a strike. 

If the SEC and other conferences count that as a strike, then how wide should our "buffer zone" be in levels that are NOT the SEC?

[SeeingEyeDog]

2 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

Its the "gray" area on trackman where every pitch that is "apprx width of one ball" off the plate. So even if it touches the outer edge of the "buffer zone" it is a strike. 

Think of it like this, If a ball TOUCHES the edge of the zone, it is a strike. Now if a pitch TOUCHES the outer edge of that, it is also a strike. 

If the SEC and other conferences count that as a strike, then how wide should our "buffer zone" be in levels that are NOT the SEC?

Sorry...I forgot the sarcasm emoji on my question, brother...

~Dawg

[Tborze]

“Yea, a Buffer.  The family has a lot of Buffers.” 

[dumbdumb]

13 hours ago, concertman1971 said:

Its the "gray" area on trackman where every pitch that is "apprx width of one ball" off the plate. So even if it touches the outer edge of the "buffer zone" it is a strike. 

Think of it like this, If a ball TOUCHES the edge of the zone, it is a strike. Now if a pitch TOUCHES the outer edge of that, it is also a strike. 

If the SEC and other conferences count that as a strike, then how wide should our "buffer zone" be in levels that are NOT the SEC?

Since a baseball is roughly 3 inches in diameter/wide, and the batters box is 6 inches away from the plate,

a pitch that just nicks the 3 inch white line of batters box closest to the plate by .1  gazililiter, is a strike, but touching the batters box line any more than that .1 gazililiter is a ball,

or does it have to be just short of touching that white batters box line by .1 gazililiter, so the touching of the white line is basically the deciding factor of where the strike zone ends.

[834k3r]

Like @Richvee, I like to get my eyes at the top of the zone. I also line up on the "river" or "channel," in other words, I'm lined up inside of the plate. When I'm lined up like this, the top inside corner of the zone are the easiest strikes to call:  if it's coming straight at my face it's a strike.

[GiantEngineer]

59 minutes ago, 834k3r said:

Like @Richvee, I like to get my eyes at the top of the zone. I also line up on the "river" or "channel," in other words, I'm lined up inside of the plate. When I'm lined up like this, the top inside corner of the zone are the easiest strikes to call:  if it's coming straight at my face it's a strike.

Did you mean to reply in the other thread about the top of the strike zone?

[834k3r]

No, but the reply could be in either thread.

@concertman1971's post was essentially talking about pitches in the channel and I had just read the thread about the top of the zone, hence my wording.

[BigBlue4u]

On 9/21/2023 at 5:17 AM, noumpere said:

That and keeping batters in the box (or getting them back in when they're allowed to be out).  It's not just the time the batter is out of the box -- keeping the batter in early gets both teams in a rhythm and you get better pitching, hitting and defense.

POE for 2024:

Batter Repeatedly Stepping Out of the Batter’s Box (7-3-1)
The NFHS Rules Book is clear when the batter is allowed to step out of the batter’s box
and when they cannot. It is understandable and part of the game for the batter to step out
of the batter’s box to get the signal from the third base coach on how to approach the
next pitch because it is very situational. The batter needs to be encouraged to get back
in the batter’s box with a sense of expediency. However, repeatedly stepping out to alter
the rhythm of the pitcher or delay the game is not acceptable and the penalty needs to be applied by the umpire.

[The Man in Blue]

Can I disagree?  The batter should be keeping one foot in the box when getting his signs, not stepping out.  I don’t have my book handy at the moment, but I don’t think that is an allowable time.

Or maybe we give him a radio, too.

[Richvee]

On 10/2/2023 at 8:23 PM, The Man in Blue said:

Can I disagree?  The batter should be keeping one foot in the box when getting his signs, not stepping out.  I don’t have my book handy at the moment, but I don’t think that is an allowable time.

Or maybe we give him a radio, too.

One foot out/. Both feet out. I don’t pick that nit. Get your sign, get back in and we’re OK. 

[The Man in Blue]

1 hour ago, Richvee said:

One foot out/. Both feet out. I don’t pick that nit. Get your sign, get back in and we’re OK. 

 

As long as they are staying near the box and getting back in a timely manner, I don't either. 

However, I find it odd that NFHS would issue an interpretation/POE with wording in direct conflict with their written rule. 

What I am actually saying: However, I find it predictable and typical that NFHS would, once again, issue an interpretation/POE with wording in direct conflict with their written rule. 

[MadMax]

18 hours ago, The Man in Blue said:

However, I find it odd that NFHS would issue an interpretation/POE with wording in direct conflict with their written rule. 

But TMIB… <insert whine> the majority of our umpire ranks don’t enforce it correctly anywaayyaaayyyaaayyy… <\insert> 

[BigBlue4u]

On 10/8/2023 at 11:12 AM, Richvee said:

One foot out/. Both feet out. I don’t pick that nit. Get your sign, get back in and we’re OK. 

FYI: Here it is from the rule book:  7.3.1 ".. The batter must keep at least one foot in the batter's box throughout the time at bat."

[MadMax]

5 hours ago, BigBlue4u said:

7.3.1 ".. The batter must keep at least one foot in the batter's box throughout the time at bat."

But, but but but… what if young Timmy – sorry, olde NFHS nomenclature… B2 – is forced from the box by the pitch, whether that be a brushback pitch, or the F2 blocks and attempts to recover the ball in the dirt to make a play on R1? B2 leaves the box *gasp!* 😱 so as to not get hit by the ball or the F2… 

What then Fed?? Are we calling B2 Out for being out of the box, in violation of your sacramental rule? 

 

[beerguy55]

On 9/27/2023 at 9:28 AM, maven said:

Pitching is hard. Every borderline pitch should be a strike. If we call a ball a strike, coach tells his batter to swing; if we call a strike a ball, coach is after us, not F1.

Remembering a convo I had with an ump over 30 years ago while I was at the plate. 

"Strike"

"Really?"

"It caught the black"
"Black isn't part of the plate"

"It is at this level"

'nuff said.

I became, exponentially, a better hitter after that 10 second exchange.   And, conversely, I've seen pitchers go down the toilet when those corners aren't called.  

Call the corners - pitchers don't get frustrated, don't get tired.  Walks hurt the game on all levels.   And you can foster SH*#ty daddy coaches to "coach" his players to look for walks.  Don't reward stupidity.

They're hittable pitches...make the batters hit them.

[BigBlue4u]

On 10/10/2023 at 5:47 PM, MadMax said:

But, but but but… what if young Timmy – sorry, olde NFHS nomenclature… B2 – is forced from the box by the pitch, whether that be a brushback pitch, or the F2 blocks and attempts to recover the ball in the dirt to make a play on R1? B2 leaves the box *gasp!* 😱 so as to not get hit by the ball or the F2… 

What then Fed?? Are we calling B2 Out for being out of the box, in violation of your sacramental rule? 

MM...come on.  A little common sense.  If the pitch forces him out of the box, tough luck on the defense.  If you think for a moment, you will understand that the spirit and intent of the rule is to prevent batters from unnecessarily stepping out of the batter's box.  

[Jimurray]

59 minutes ago, BigBlue4u said:

MM...come on.  A little common sense.  If the pitch forces him out of the box, tough luck on the defense.  If you think for a moment, you will understand that the spirit and intent of the rule is to prevent batters from unnecessarily stepping out of the batter's box.  

As far as I know, all of the codes have the same exceptions even if the ump had no common sense. LL even adds 1 that the other three codes don't have. The batter is allowed to exit the box if he thought he just took ball 4 even though it's called a strike. 

Off topic you cited a FED rule with caseplay punctuation. Rules are 7-3-1, caseplays would be 7.3.1. Just good to know.

[MadMax]

19 hours ago, BigBlue4u said:

A little common sense.

I’m feigning pedantic. 

I’m simply illustrating that there are participants – coaches and umpires – who take the rules at their utmost literal word; similarly, there are participants who completely make s#!t up. 

The game operates between these two poles. 

[Richvee]

On 10/10/2023 at 3:21 PM, BigBlue4u said:

FYI: Here it is from the rule book:  7.3.1 ".. The batter must keep at least one foot in the batter's box throughout the time at bat."

Penalty- If the batter leaves the box, delays the game, and none of the exceptions apply…..

stepping out with one or two feet, getting a sign, and getting back in, isn’t delaying the game. 

[ErichKeane]

49 minutes ago, Richvee said:

Penalty- If the batter leaves the box, delays the game, and none of the exceptions apply…..

stepping out with one or two feet, getting a sign, and getting back in, isn’t delaying the game. 

VERY early in my umpiring career I had a team where the coach would read off a 6 digit number every few pitches for their 'signs' and the batter would take 20+ seconds to use their magic decoder belt-buckles on it.  As I was a newbie and much less ornery/confident than I am now, I went over to the coach and reminded him about the rule, and was told, "yeah, if you want that, you're going to have to call the strike, until then, I ain't changing anything!"

By the time I mentioned it, it was late in the game, and I wasn't confident enough with the exceptions rule enough to call it, but wish I did.  7-3-1 is now a rule I make sure I re-read pretty darn often, and make sure I know by heart, hopeful I will run into that coach again with the chance to start calling strikes.

Side note:

Same game is the reason I wear/keep a watch with a stopwatch for the 'no new inning' call.  I had been told in an umpire camp that we're not supposed to wear a watch, so I didn't. We come to the bottom of the 6th, and I turn to one of the fans and ask for the time, the person checks their phone and we've got a minute before 'no new inning', so I yell to play the 7th.  Same coach gets pretty grouchy again and complains the game should be over, and that his phone says its past time, etc (I learned during that 3-4 minute 'discussion' that ATT & Verizon are about 45 seconds different in time there!).  I say tough, we're playing anyway. (There WAS no home book, the benches were keeping their own books).  Coach won, but STILL complained as we were walking off the field, that we made his pitcher pitch another inning.

In retrospect, I wish my partner had laid down the law for me, but he was one of the 'go with the flow' types who didn't rock boats like that, so I was stuck with it 😕 It is one of the reasons I stick up for my young partners now, it was almost enough to scare me off umpiring at the time.

[JonnyCat]

3 hours ago, Richvee said:

Penalty- If the batter leaves the box, delays the game, and none of the exceptions apply…..

stepping out with one or two feet, getting a sign, and getting back in, isn’t delaying the game. 

Exactly! It's a pace of play issue. If the batter's not delaying the game, then no need to go there.

I've seen it too many times where an umpire misinterprets the spirit of the rule and calls a strike for stepping out, has a conversation with the batter, and then another one with the coach. How much F*#King time did that waste? Tell the kid to get back in the box if you need to.

It's just another tool in your tool box, use it when you need to. Which is almost never.

[Jimurray]

7 hours ago, JonnyCat said:

Tell the kid to get back in the box if you need to.

 

“Hey 10 stay close”. Little hand wave. 

[Jimurray]

9 hours ago, ErichKeane said:

VERY early in my umpiring career I had a team where the coach would read off a 6 digit number every few pitches for their 'signs' and the batter would take 20+ seconds to use their magic decoder belt-buckles on it.  As I was a newbie and much less ornery/confident than I am now, I went over to the coach and reminded him about the rule, and was told, "yeah, if you want that, you're going to have to call the strike, until then, I ain't changing anything!"

By the time I mentioned it, it was late in the game, and I wasn't confident enough with the exceptions rule enough to call it, but wish I did.  7-3-1 is now a rule I make sure I re-read pretty darn often, and make sure I know by heart, hopeful I will run into that coach again with the chance to start calling strikes.

Side note:

Same game is the reason I wear/keep a watch with a stopwatch for the 'no new inning' call.  I had been told in an umpire camp that we're not supposed to wear a watch, so I didn't. We come to the bottom of the 6th, and I turn to one of the fans and ask for the time, the person checks their phone and we've got a minute before 'no new inning', so I yell to play the 7th.  Same coach gets pretty grouchy again and complains the game should be over, and that his phone says its past time, etc (I learned during that 3-4 minute 'discussion' that ATT & Verizon are about 45 seconds different in time there!).  I say tough, we're playing anyway. (There WAS no home book, the benches were keeping their own books).  Coach won, but STILL complained as we were walking off the field, that we made his pitcher pitch another inning.

In retrospect, I wish my partner had laid down the law for me, but he was one of the 'go with the flow' types who didn't rock boats like that, so I was stuck with it 😕 It is one of the reasons I stick up for my young partners now, it was almost enough to scare me off umpiring at the time.

Watches were discouraged as looking unprofessional in the past. Stopwatches in a pocket were advised. These days many umps wear some tech on their wrist and it’s not discouraged. 
I had an Indy league game with a partner who always asked me how much time we had while rubbing up balls so I kept my watch on pregame. I forgot to take it off and it was noticed by the players and managers who asked my partner why I was wearing a watch. He told them I had a hot date after the game.