You Have to be Zoned In to Call Balls and Strikes

Editor’s note: Jay Creps has been umpiring youth, high school and men’s baseball games for almost 10 years. He is a graduate of Jim Evans’ Academy of Professional Umpiring, one of two schools in the nation that trains umpires to work in professional baseball.

After watching the baseball playoffs and listening to the never-ending flap about what is or isn’t a correct strike zone, Creps, a Valencia resident, decided an explanation was necessary.

We agree.

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Have you ever been watching a baseball game when the umpire called a strike that you didn’t think was a strike?

The pitch didn’t look too high or too low, but you were sure it didn’t cross the plate. The catcher held it very briefly before throwing it back to the pitcher, as the umpire yelled, “Strike!”

If you have, believe me, you’re not alone.

You wonder, what are these clowns in blue doing? Don’t they know the ball has to cross the plate to be called a strike? The umpire must have a date and wants to get this game over with early. Or maybe he’s as blind as a bat. Aren’t all umpires?

But wait a minute! The umpire has been calling that same pitch since the first inning. Has the strike zone changed? Does this guy know something you don’t? What is the strike zone anyway?

According to the rule book: “The strike zone is that space over any part of home plate between the batter’s armpits and the top of his knees when the batter assumes a natural batting stance.”

But is this really the strike zone that umpires use? We know the part about the armpits must be wrong. Any umpire that calls a pitch that high will not be umpiring very long. He might even get hung from the backstop between innings.

In fact, the top of most umpire’s strike zones is about a ball’s width above the belt line. The lower part of the strike zone is the same as the rule book calls a strike.

Most umpires will call the hollow of the knee or just below the kneecap a strike as the rule book states. In most cases, the catcher will show you if the pitch is high or low by the way he catches it. You’ll notice when most catchers get into their squat, their head is just above or at the batter’s waist. If he catches the pitch above his head, then it’s most likely too high. If he turns his mitt over with the palm facing up, the pitch is too low. Good catchers will never catch a pitch this way unless the ball is in the dirt.

So enough about high and low. Those pitches are easy to call from the stands, dugout, or even the snack bar. What really separates the good pitchers and catchers from the great ones is the way they work the inside and outside of the plate.

Everyone knows that home plate is 17 inches wide. Or is it?

According to the rule book: “Home plate shall be 17 inches wide across the edge that faces the pitcher.” That sounds OK, but what about that black border that wraps around the plate? It’s a half-inch wide on each side of the plate. That adds an inch to the part that faces the pitcher.

I’m sure you’ve heard someone yell at an umpire, “Come on blue, call the black.” I’ve heard it yelled at me a few times, that’s for sure.

The rule book also stipulates that any baseball used shall measure “not less than nine nor more than 9 1/4 inches in circumference.” When measured across, the ball is about 3 1/2 inches wide.

We’ve already decided that the rule book is wrong about high pitches. Now let’s assume the pitcher has pitched the ball between the batter’s waist and the hollow of his knee, but it’s inside and just nicks the black border that surrounds the plate.

If you add it all up, the 17-inch plate, the one-inch border and the 3 1/2-inch ball on both the inside and outside, the strike zone might be considered 25 inches.

So is a pitch that just barely nicks either corner a strike?

You bet they’re strikes! If you have a great pitcher who can hit his spots consistently, you might even give him another inch or two on the outside.

And if you have a great catcher who doesn’t jerk the ball inside, outside, up, or down, but just rolls his wrist in toward the center of the plate a little bit and holds it for just a split second before throwing it back to the pitcher, it’s a perfect strike.

Is the plate really 25 inches wide? Of course not. But a pitcher and catcher can make it seem that wide--or even wider.

So, the next time you’re watching a game and the batter takes what to everyone else looks like an outside pitch, but the umpire yells, “Strike three, you’re out!” maybe, just maybe, you’ll be thinking, “Good call, blue.”