|
|
Post by sagebrush on Jun 5, 2018 14:33:37 GMT -8
First of all, it is 3 dimensional. Home plate is a 17 inch square. Halfway back, it bevels to a point. The angles of the bevel are the foul lines. Home plate is entirely in fair territory. (If the catcher picks up a tipped ball that hasn't hit anybody from on top of the plate, it is a fair ball.) The baseball is approximately 3 inches in diameter. Any part of the ball over any part of the plate is a strike. Therefore, the strike zone is about 23 inches wide. (The black is NOT part of the plate.)
So now the depth. The strike zone starts at the front of the plate and ends at the back of the plate. You get these little $hits that plant their back foot on the batter's box line and their front knee is maybe at the halfway point of the plate. Therefore, what looks a tad low when it crosses them was more than likely in the zone at the front of the plate. Works the opposite on high/low. Or, a breaking pitch that the catcher catches just a little outside probably caught part of the plate.
The height obviously varies from batter to batter.
So, you set up and get your frame. Then, everything goes to he!!. You have this orb coming at you anywhere from 80-95 mph from 56-58 feet away. The batter starts moving which you can't help but pick up out the corner of your eye. The catcher starts moving in front of you. All the while, you are focusing on the ball and your frame. You going to miss one or so? You bet your sweet a$$ you are. And you are right on top of it and focusing. Forget being up in the stands. You might see in/out or high/low depending on where you are, but you are not going to see it. You sure as he!! ain't going to see it from the dugout or the coach's box.
As for technology, any idea how many lasers, etc. it would take to effectively pick up this 17 inch square tube at the proper height as the zone relates to the batter.
Which gets me to my all time favorite. I am really tired of hearing this coach's voice from the back corner of the dugout. Even the stink eye isn't shutting him up. So, at the start of an inning I am standing right in front of him out on the field and holler "batter up, let's go." He asks me what I am doing. Told him I was going to call it from there as he could obviously see it better than I could from behind the plate. He gives me this half goofy, half pi$$ed off look, smartly not saying anything. I ask him, "Are we done?" He looks away and I walk back to the plate. Never heard a peep out of him the rest of the game.
All the players/coaches want from you is for you to establish your zone early and be consistent and not miss too many.
BTW, our friend from the SEC would not have been a varsity umpire in our association with that zone he had. He was freaking terrible.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 5, 2018 15:13:38 GMT -8
First of all, it is 3 dimensional. Home plate is a 17 inch square. Halfway back, it bevels to a point. The angles of the bevel are the foul lines. Home plate is entirely in fair territory. (If the catcher picks up a tipped ball that hasn't hit anybody from on top of the plate, it is a fair ball.) The baseball is approximately 3 inches in diameter. Any part of the ball over any part of the plate is a strike. Therefore, the strike zone is about 23 inches wide. (The black is NOT part of the plate.) So now the depth. The strike zone starts at the front of the plate and ends at the back of the plate. You get these little $hits that plant their back foot on the batter's box line and their front knee is maybe at the halfway point of the plate. Therefore, what looks a tad low when it crosses them was more than likely in the zone at the front of the plate. Works the opposite on high/low. Or, a breaking pitch that the catcher catches just a little outside probably caught part of the plate. The height obviously varies from batter to batter. So, you set up and get your frame. Then, everything goes to he!!. You have this orb coming at you anywhere from 80-95 mph from 56-58 feet away. The batter starts moving which you can't help but pick up out the corner of your eye. The catcher starts moving in front of you. All the while, you are focusing on the ball and your frame. You going to miss one or so? You bet your sweet a$$ you are. And you are right on top of it and focusing. Forget being up in the stands. You might see in/out or high/low depending on where you are, but you are not going to see it. You sure as he!! ain't going to see it from the dugout or the coach's box. As for technology, any idea how many lasers, etc. it would take to effectively pick up this 17 inch square tube at the proper height as the zone relates to the batter. Which gets me to my all time favorite. I am really tired of hearing this coach's voice from the back corner of the dugout. Even the stink eye isn't shutting him up. So, at the start of an inning I am standing right in front of him out on the field and holler "batter up, let's go." He asks me what I am doing. Told him I was going to call it from there as he could obviously see it better than I could from behind the plate. He gives me this half goofy, half pi$$ed off look, smartly not saying anything. I ask him, "Are we done?" He looks away and I walk back to the plate. Never heard a peep out of him the rest of the game. All the players/coaches want from you is for you to establish your zone early and be consistent and not miss too many. BTW, our friend from the SEC would not have been a varsity umpire in our association with that zone he had. He was freaking terrible. That's a great great post Sage and i don't care if you've never umpired a game in your life. In fact more props if you have not for the imagination. Don't trot out your creds here though. That will ruin it. If Elmore Leonard was an Ump is what that post is. As for Greg Street, he didn't seem to have a zone. He seemed random or drunk. Not sure if he was truly biased but since his calls were on the whole, unfavorable to the good guys it is easy to think that way. Maybe he just plain old sucked that day more than usual. As you say, it's not an easy job. |
|
|
|
Post by COBeav on Jun 5, 2018 15:20:56 GMT -8
Great write up Sage .... my only question is, has the strike zone stayed the same since you umped in the late 1930s?
|
|
|
|
Post by spudbeaver on Jun 5, 2018 15:24:04 GMT -8
First of all, it is 3 dimensional. Home plate is a 17 inch square. Halfway back, it bevels to a point. The angles of the bevel are the foul lines. Home plate is entirely in fair territory. (If the catcher picks up a tipped ball that hasn't hit anybody from on top of the plate, it is a fair ball.) The baseball is approximately 3 inches in diameter. Any part of the ball over any part of the plate is a strike. Therefore, the strike zone is about 23 inches wide. (The black is NOT part of the plate.) So now the depth. The strike zone starts at the front of the plate and ends at the back of the plate. You get these little $hits that plant their back foot on the batter's box line and their front knee is maybe at the halfway point of the plate. Therefore, what looks a tad low when it crosses them was more than likely in the zone at the front of the plate. Works the opposite on high/low. Or, a breaking pitch that the catcher catches just a little outside probably caught part of the plate. The height obviously varies from batter to batter. So, you set up and get your frame. Then, everything goes to he!!. You have this orb coming at you anywhere from 80-95 mph from 56-58 feet away. The batter starts moving which you can't help but pick up out the corner of your eye. The catcher starts moving in front of you. All the while, you are focusing on the ball and your frame. You going to miss one or so? You bet your sweet a$$ you are. And you are right on top of it and focusing. Forget being up in the stands. You might see in/out or high/low depending on where you are, but you are not going to see it. You sure as he!! ain't going to see it from the dugout or the coach's box. As for technology, any idea how many lasers, etc. it would take to effectively pick up this 17 inch square tube at the proper height as the zone relates to the batter. Which gets me to my all time favorite. I am really tired of hearing this coach's voice from the back corner of the dugout. Even the stink eye isn't shutting him up. So, at the start of an inning I am standing right in front of him out on the field and holler "batter up, let's go." He asks me what I am doing. Told him I was going to call it from there as he could obviously see it better than I could from behind the plate. He gives me this half goofy, half pi$$ed off look, smartly not saying anything. I ask him, "Are we done?" He looks away and I walk back to the plate. Never heard a peep out of him the rest of the game. All the players/coaches want from you is for you to establish your zone early and be consistent and not miss too many. BTW, our friend from the SEC would not have been a varsity umpire in our association with that zone he had. He was freaking terrible. With the advances in GPS technology I think it could be done with a unit implanted in the baseballs. I've often thought about that in football with all the goal line stands in football and what a mess it is to try to see where the football is. GPS line on the goal line, chip in each end of the ball. I'm pretty certain we'll see it in the not too distant future. |
|
|
|
Post by gnawitall on Jun 5, 2018 15:47:42 GMT -8
Like Topgolf.
|
|
|
|
Post by irimi on Jun 5, 2018 15:54:24 GMT -8
I hate that about football. I personally want to see a touchdown be defined as a player in possession with the ball in the end zone. None of this just reaching ball across the plane crap. Cheapens the game. But I have issues. I know. |
|
|
|
Post by kersting13 on Jun 5, 2018 21:13:04 GMT -8
I hate that about football. I personally want to see a touchdown be defined as a player in possession with the ball in the end zone. None of this just reaching ball across the plane crap. Cheapens the game. But I have issues. I know. My opinion on that. I'm cool with just breaking the plane, but I say, if a runner can run through the back of the end zone, they shouldn't have to try the XP. Just give 'em 7. SaveSave |
|
|
|
Post by Werebeaver on Jun 5, 2018 21:27:45 GMT -8
First of all, it is 3 dimensional. Home plate is a 17 inch square. Halfway back, it bevels to a point. The angles of the bevel are the foul lines. Home plate is entirely in fair territory. (If the catcher picks up a tipped ball that hasn't hit anybody from on top of the plate, it is a fair ball.) The baseball is approximately 3 inches in diameter. Any part of the ball over any part of the plate is a strike. Therefore, the strike zone is about 23 inches wide. (The black is NOT part of the plate.) So now the depth. The strike zone starts at the front of the plate and ends at the back of the plate. You get these little $hits that plant their back foot on the batter's box line and their front knee is maybe at the halfway point of the plate. Therefore, what looks a tad low when it crosses them was more than likely in the zone at the front of the plate. Works the opposite on high/low. Or, a breaking pitch that the catcher catches just a little outside probably caught part of the plate. The height obviously varies from batter to batter. So, you set up and get your frame. Then, everything goes to he!!. You have this orb coming at you anywhere from 80-95 mph from 56-58 feet away. The batter starts moving which you can't help but pick up out the corner of your eye. The catcher starts moving in front of you. All the while, you are focusing on the ball and your frame. You going to miss one or so? You bet your sweet a$$ you are. And you are right on top of it and focusing. Forget being up in the stands. You might see in/out or high/low depending on where you are, but you are not going to see it. You sure as he!! ain't going to see it from the dugout or the coach's box. As for technology, any idea how many lasers, etc. it would take to effectively pick up this 17 inch square tube at the proper height as the zone relates to the batter. Which gets me to my all time favorite. I am really tired of hearing this coach's voice from the back corner of the dugout. Even the stink eye isn't shutting him up. So, at the start of an inning I am standing right in front of him out on the field and holler "batter up, let's go." He asks me what I am doing. Told him I was going to call it from there as he could obviously see it better than I could from behind the plate. He gives me this half goofy, half pi$$ed off look, smartly not saying anything. I ask him, "Are we done?" He looks away and I walk back to the plate. Never heard a peep out of him the rest of the game. All the players/coaches want from you is for you to establish your zone early and be consistent and not miss too many. BTW, our friend from the SEC would not have been a varsity umpire in our association with that zone he had. He was freaking terrible.  |
|
|
|
Post by killerbeavs on Jun 6, 2018 4:39:36 GMT -8
With the advances in GPS technology I think it could be done with a unit implanted in the baseballs. I've often thought about that in football with all the goal line stands in football and what a mess it is to try to see where the football is. GPS line on the goal line, chip in each end of the ball. I'm pretty certain we'll see it in the not too distant future. With the advances in Computer Vision it can be done with a single camera. |
|
