Hey Umpires????? Where's the zone!

[Battle]

Spoken by a true expert that has no idea what he is talking about.
Come out from under the tent and observe whats going on in the world of college fastpitch.
The zone is almost non existent for pitchers these days. Walkfest or a football score, take your pick.

Yep...that's it...Ump gets up in the morning and says to himself, "You know, I think I'm going out to the game today and completely eliminate the zone and squeeze the pitcher because..well..I just don't like her and the game is getting way too exciting."
What a moronic statement.

[AlwaysImprove]

Nope. Umpires did not like arguing with coaches about whether a player avoided a HBP or not. So they suggested a rule change, that you no longer have to make an attempt to avoid. Now balls rolling on the ground at 1 mph bump into the batters foot, and they go to first base.

This happened the same time as women were padding up and crowding the frick out of the plate.

As a result of those two things, now you have a strike zone that is way off the outside of the plate. The game plays completely sideways.

Some blues have not figured it out and call the outside like it is supposed to be called. When that happens, the pitcher has no where to work. Just serve it up.

[CheckWriter]

Since it was youngest DD's senior year I made quite a few transcontinental trips to watch her play and the pre-game bat check was very consistent.

I agree that, for the most part, the K zone is as small as I have seen it in the what, 17 years DDs have been involved in this undertaking. However, there are still umps, had one this last weekend, that calls an outside corner that reminds me of what Cat Osterman used to get.

Also agree about the Barry Bonds wannabes that armor up and stand on the plate. Have now seen it twice that a batter was hit, the batter was NOT awarded the base and a ball was called. I think it is a good thing that there are supposed to be some limits on abusing the HBP. Would love to see that called on Florida players. My understanding is that, if the ball is (here is my least favorite broadcast term) in "the river", then it is the batter's fault if they have their elbows there. Not many umps (that I have seen) call it that way. Have definitely seen some batters awarded 1st base where I thought a strike should have been called. Will be interesting to see how it evolves.

[Atindell]

I love how these discussions get hijacked and distorted.

I have talked to at least one parent of a former SEC pitcher who will tell you there is a distinct difference in a strike zone at the WCWS and a typical season game. Yes for ratings they want offense. I have talked to College Coaches about it. It's the same reason ESPN is inflating pitch speeds for TV.

Problem is they already gave enough of an advantage to the hitter when they moved the pitcher back 43 feet. Then add to that the very good hitting coaches getting involved in the fastpitch game and the fact that bats are getting hotter again. It is a recipe for disaster.

If you think bats aren't better then tell me why you see the same 3 in the hands of select players now and why the top colleges pretty much use those same 3. We shouldn't have to armour up our players with chest protectors and face masks to pitch.

I'm not whining (you will disagree again i'm sure). I am specifically asking to call the strike zone as it is written. Under the armpits over the knee the width of the plate. That is any part of the ball, not all the ball.

Nobody calls the top of the zone anymore. It's under the elbows most of the time. Someone said earlier that they rarely call inside and I agree with that and not sure why since that is where the umpire slot is and easiest to see. I do see the low and away occasionally, but not consistently. Mostly I see umpires squeezing it vertically and less horizontally.

OH..... and while I'm at it. Call the illegal pitches too. See so many and yes all of them don't give an advantage, but damn how hard is it to follow the rules. Must keep at least one foot on the ground at all times..... Is it that hard?

[GRANADAFAN01]

I know you all are mostly talking about college softball, and I do agree that there is almost no strike zone anymore. But then, we go to our kids 14U games and the strike zone is the whole left side batter's box (assuming the batter is a righty) to about 3/4 of the way to the right edge of the plate. So, everything from extremely outside to almost inside is called and only from a little above the knees to the fists. The high-inside pitch is never called & forget about the fact there is an inside corner or that the strike zone goes all the way to the armpits. This forces our batters to hug the plate in order to be able to reach that outside pitch that consistently gets called a strike. Unfortunately, it also means more HBP. My problem is that if the umpires are going to widen the strike zone to outside the area of the batter's box, we have to teach our girls to crowd the plate in order to reach that pitch, so that has to lead to some bad habits when they get older and play in the NCAA, correct? Too bad, that although there is clear verbiage regarding the strike zone, it all comes down the the JUDGEMENT CALL. With that in mind, I guess no one is ever going to be happy. i always tell my girls, the strike zone isn't the area over the plate between your armpits & your knees, it's exactly where the umpire is calling strikes, so recognize that and become a pitcher/batter and stop being the umpire. Because, really, no matter which side you agree with here, someone is going to be angry that he isn't getting the calls he likes - either on offense or defense. In an ideal world, the strike zone stays exactly how it is & the umpires start calling exactly how it is meant to be called.... Good luck with that

[UmpSteve]

I'm not whining (you will disagree again i'm sure). I am specifically asking to call the strike zone as it is written. Under the armpits over the knee the width of the plate. That is any part of the ball, not all the ball.

Nobody calls the top of the zone anymore. It's under the elbows most of the time. Someone said earlier that they rarely call inside and I agree with that and not sure why since that is where the umpire slot is and easiest to see. I do see the low and away occasionally, but not consistently. Mostly I see umpires squeezing it vertically and less horizontally.

I wrote a long and comprehensive post on UCS about what people blame on umpires' strike zones that are exactly what "THEY" (meaning the NCAA) actually WANT it called that way. I didn't save it, and someone deleted the entire thread,

Short version; what you state is NOT the rule.book NCAA strike zone,

1) No river, no black. Some part of the ball must actually cross the white. Yes, we see the inside very clearly; what you think is a strike simply isn't according to what "THEY" want. Yes, it always has been; I/we wish it still was. It isn't now; and with TV and webcasting, we will be removed from conference staff (effectively fired) if we call the river.

2) Under the armpits over the knee; nope. Put your index finger at the V at the bottom of your cage, the sternum. On me, at 5'8", that's 6" above my navel. "The area above home plate between the bottom of the sternum and the top of the knees when she assumes her natural batting stance. When the top of the ball is on or withinthe horizontal plane .... NOTE: Home plate is the white rubber plate and does not include a black border."

Translation to plain english; the ENTIRE BALL must be below the spot 6" above the navel, and she DOES get credit for bending over if she hits that way. No armpits, no letters, not across the bosom; the top of the ball must not be even fractionally above the bottom of the sternum. The knees?? No, some part of the ball must at least touch the TOP of the knee at the plate.

3) The strike zone must be judged at home plate, no matter where the batter stands. When batters move up (most do) or stay in the back of the box (some do), umpires have to project their sternum and their top of the knees to the plate. Drop balls become a challenge and appear to be inconsistent when it is done correctly.

Where is the zone?? Exactly as tight and tiny as the NCAA rule book defines it; and demands, through the conference coordinators that hire us that umpires enforce it.