Calling the Glove

by Steven Wilson
from rec.sport.officiating

The original posting:

This weekend was my first time behind the plate at a local tournament. I called what I thought was a good game. One of the coaches came up to me after the game and said I called the plate to tight. His pitcher was a control pitcher and I should have given him a inch or two off the plate. He said I made his pitcher upset and then he couldn't pitch anymore. I listened to him and went on my way. When I thought about it if his pitcher is a control pitcher why didn't he control it over the plate? Am I wrong about the Zone?

The first follow up:

I'm a pitcher's dad, so I can probably sympathize with the coach a bit. I wouldn't ask for "an inch or two off the plate", but I would argue for a true strike zone, where ANY part of the ball over ANY part of the plate should be called a strike. A "control" or finesse pitcher makes his living on the corners - if you take 'em away from him, it's going to be a short day for him, or a long day for you."

Steven Wilson's response:

Although I am involved in fastpitch softball rather than baseball, the principles are the same. I'm a pitcher and an umpire, and I suppose you might say, a pitcher's umpire. That is to say, I rarely have pitchers get mad at me; batters on the other hand, sometimes.

But if after your first game behind the plate you had nothing worse than one coach saying you called too tight, then you are to be congratulated! Screw up big time and you will hear it throughout the game!

My philosophy as an umpire is that where black and white turn to gray, the pitcher gets the benefit of the doubt on the edges and knees, while the batter gets the benefit of the doubt in the top of the zone.

However, that aphorism alone will not get you through a game successfully. Remember, with respect to in and out, all the coaches and fans can see is what the catcher does. You as a plate umpire need to recognize that and use that fact as one of the tools of the trade. Generally speaking, the frame of the catcher's body (i.e., knee to knee, extended up to about his face) represents what is perceived to be a good pitch; if a catcher receives the ball within that frame and you call a strike, from the coaches' and fans' point of view it looked like a good pitch, so you are unlikely to get much grief. On the other hand, if the catcher has to make a heroic stab at a ball and you call it a strike, then from the coaches and fans point of view it must have been a bad pitch and you are likely to get grief.

The coach in question referred to a "control pitcher." What that probably means is that the catcher sets up in a spot for the pitcher to hit; typically either the inside or outside corner of the plate. As an umpire, that really cuts down your work. You can get a feel for where the ball is supposed to go, and if the pitcher puts it there, then you should ring the strike. In my opinion the pitcher should get an extra inch or two, but ONLY ON THE CORNER WHERE THE CATCHER HAS SET UP!!

As an example, I work a lot of men's fastpitch, and in the leagues where I work most of the players have gotten to know me (all the more so because I play as well). They know the type of zone that I call, and they expect a good corner (read a fairly wide plate) whether they are batters or pitchers. (That is the consistency that players will always tell you they want). In a recent game the catcher had called for a low inside pitch; he had his whole body on the inside corner of the plate for a left handed batter. Well the pitcher misthrew and crossed up the catcher. He threw the ball on the extreme outside corner of the plate; however he caught the catcher by surprise and the catcher missed the ball, which went back to the backstop. Now that pitch was located in an area where I would absolutely call a strike had the catcher either set neutrally (i.e. with the center of his body on the center of the plate) or had he been setting up on the outside. However, since the catcher set up inside, the pitcher busted it outside, and the catcher was unable to hold onto the ball, there was no way on earth I was going to take the heat of calling that strike! And nobody expected me to, either. The pitcher and I laughed about it between innings.

On the other hand, given the same situation, (i.e. the catcher setting up on the inside corner) but now the pitcher nails his catcher with a pitch that is an inch or two inside the plate. Everyone sees that the catcher barely moves his glove and they fully expect the strike three call. There is no way on earth someone can detect that it was an inch or two inside. I ring the strike three; the batter sits down.

(And any batter that has been around for a while with me behind the plate knows much better than to draw a line in the dirt indicating where he thought the pitch crossed... But that's another story.)

There is an added bonus, at least when you are dealing with better players. The pitcher and/or catcher for a given team will often come to your defense. There have been many times when a batter has started to object and the pitcher has said "Don't get on his case. He's been giving me that pitch all night." Or the catcher will tell them "That's where he calls it; swing the bat."

I should point out that this theory can be taken to an illogical extreme. There are times when a control pitcher does not want to put the ball over the plate; he wants to throw a fish pitch for the batter to go after. In this situation the catcher will set up off the plate. Here, even if the pitcher nails him you should refrain from calling the strike. I have seen several occasions when my catcher set up way outside; I drilled his glove and the umpire called strike three on a pitch that was 6 inches outside! As an umpire I've made the mistake of doing the same thing... My center fielder (and to a lesser extent my shortstop) "calls" the plate like that. He sees where the catcher calls for the ball, and compares it with where I throw it. If I nail my catcher's glove, they want the strike called and will gripe if it's not. But when my catcher calls for that fish pitch, I drill him, it is accurately called a ball and they gripe, then I say something to them and tell them to pipe down.

Bottom line: your catcher is one of the tools you use as a plate umpire. You use him before the pitch to get an idea of where the ball is supposed to go. Then the pitch comes in, you see where it crosses the plate, and you make a judgment about it. As a rule, the judgment you make when the ball crosses the plate is the call you'll make. BUT!!! You track the ball all the way to the catcher's glove, and use his position as a double-check to make sure that 1) you don't make some crazy call and 2) you use him to aid in your decision making process on a call where it was truly close and it could go either way.

That is where a good catcher can make all the difference in the world. A good catcher knows how to truly frame a pitch. By that I mean, he catches the ball and he holds it RIGHT THERE for you to get a good look at -- he gives you that extra second to make the decision. If the catcher frames a close pitch like that, they will generally get the benefit of the doubt in my mind. A crap catcher "frames" every pitch by bringing it to waist high down the middle of the plate. That is the stupidest thing in the world to do. Everyone knows the pitch wasn't piped (if it had been it would have been out of the park half the time). This type of catcher is no help at all to either the pitcher or the umpire. If a catcher is doing this he will lose the benefit of the doubt in my mind. If they say "where was that blue?" while they hold the ball in perfect strike location. I tell them. If they object I say "If you didn't think it was (e.g.) outside, then why did you move it in?" Believe it or not I've actually had catchers say "Oh, you saw that."

So there's my view. I know it works for me, both as a player and as an umpire. I'll end with the aphorism I have given each umpire I've helped train in fastpitch:

"You know you've called a good game if the pitchers never get pissed at you, and the occasional batter glares at you."

----Steven.Wilson@Colorado.EDU

"A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong." Edgar Allen Poe

Editor's Comments

It is only when you work with quality pitchers and catchers that you realize how much that glove can mean to your umpiring. The last thing I notice as I set is the exact position of the catcher's glove in relation to the corners of the plate and the batter's knee. If that catcher is set up on the outside line, at the knee and the ball goes right into the mitt can I legitimately ball the pitch?

Too many amateur umpires give up on following the pitch long before it hits the glove. They frame their decision well before the pitch has even arrived at the plate. By watching the pitch all the way into the glove then making your call based upon the entire path of the ball you will refine your strike zone more than any other technique I have experienced. Slowing down you timing means delaying the point where you make a decision on the pitch, not simply delaying moment you say "strike" or "ball."

Don't call the glove, but don't ignore it either. It remains one of the most significant reference points the umpire can use in exercising judgment in the strike zone.