[NU Sports] Girardi (fwd)

[Roy Lamberton]

I'm pretty good at up and down, it's the on and off the plate that gets me....

But at the upper levels of baseball, American Legion and MLB Minors, the
catchers come back to the dugout after the first inning and tell the players
where the strike zone is tonight. Sometimes, as the game wears on, the zone
changes in and out, but normally its relative to how well a pitcher has command
of the zone, and what the guys are swinging at.

Tom Glavin is notorious for getting a generous strike zone late in games. Trust
me, he earns them by getting guys to swing out there early.

Anyway, in the softball tournaments, where I'm right behind the plate, we talk
to the ump after each inning, and sometimes he or she asks us how he's doing.
We're always honest, but always add, "but its your game, so you're right..."

rsl 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
Computer Applications & Support Associates
and Publisher of Purple Reign, 
The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
(http://www.purplewildcats.com)
AIM Handle: CoachRoy74
======== Go Cats -  Beat 'em All ===========
"You have a Republic Madam --
     If you can keep it" - Benjamin Franklin
============================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com 
> [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Ben Adler
> Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 3:05 PM
> To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
> Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Girardi (fwd)
> 
> 
> Back when I was slaving away in the minors, I was talking 
> with a Pioneer League ump and a coach's wife at a bar one 
> night.  The topic of the strike zone came up -- most likely 
> the ump and I discussing how well I can tell balls and 
> strikes from the press box.  The ump put a piece of paper on 
> the floor to represent the plate, and had the coach's wife 
> stand off to one side.  He held the baseball several feet off 
> the ground and off the plate, and started moving it slowly 
> towards the "outside corner," asking the coach's wife to tell 
> him when she thought the ball was directly over the corner.  
> Then, when she said so, he dropped the ball.  It fell at 
> least half a foot off the plate.
>    
>   Which just goes to show...Only the ump has the proper angle 
> to judge what's a strike and what isn't.  Managers in the 
> dugout can see what's high or low, but not what's inside or 
> outside.  Fans sitting right behind home plate (and high 
> enough to actually see the pitch cross the plate) can see 
> what's inside or outside, but not high or low.
>    
>   Yelling self-righteously at umps over balls and strikes may 
> make fans, players and managers feel good -- and it's part of 
> the fan experience, so it's perfectly harmless -- but 
> baseball people know they almost always have a) no point, and 
> b) no accuracy.
>    
>   As for owners, well, they should conduct themselves with 
> class, and leave running the team to the GM and manager.  
> That's why they hire them.  An owner yelling at umps/refs 
> (Jeffrey Loria, Mark Cuban, etc) is an embarrassment.
>    
>   -- Ben
> 
> Mike Nolan <nolan at romaine.tssi.com> wrote:
>   > If anything, the strike zone gets either larger or 
> smaller depending on who's
> > pitcher is on the mound.
> 
> Ron Luciano's book tells a story about a rookie who takes a 
> pitch that's maybe a bit outside, but the ump calls strike 1.
> 
> The kid turns his head around and says, "That wasn't a strike".
> 
> The ump responds, "The next one is."
> 
> The kid struck out on 2 more REALLY OUTSIDE pitches.
> --
> Mike Nolan
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com 
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
> 
> 
>  		
> ---------------------------------
> How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger's low  
> PC-to-Phone call rates. 
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com 
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
>