Any Pitch Height and Illegal

[fitzpats]

Ok. This could be a possibly stupid question, but tonight made me think about it. I am new NSA umpire, and had both teams complaining that my floor was too low. Of course, all pitchers here are trying to lower the floor for some odd reason. Any way, I've been determining pitch height based on if the top cleared the floor or if the bottom cleared the ceiling. Anything in between means the ball is still in the pitch arc as far as I'm concerned. Am I wrong in this train of thought? Thanks for your thoughts and guidance on this.

 

[ureout]

Ok. This could be a possibly stupid question, but tonight made me think about it. I am new NSA umpire, and had both teams complaining that my floor was too low. Of course, all pitchers here are trying to lower the floor for some odd reason. Any way, I've been determining pitch height based on if the top cleared the floor or if the bottom cleared the ceiling. Anything in between means the ball is still in the pitch arc as far as I'm concerned. Am I wrong in this train of thought? Thanks for your thoughts and guidance on this.

you are over thinking it....your strike zone will change a bit from day to day....the most important thing is to establish your strike zone and then stick with it for the WHOLE game.....the pitchers and batters will adjust to whatever you are calling....btw...batters are always gonna b - - ch

 

[BigSam]

btw...EVERYONE are always gonna b - - ch

There, fixed that for you.

 

[EdFred]

You're about 6' tall. If the ball is above eye level it's high enough, if it's not, well, it's not. You know as well as I do that the 6-10 is really more like 5'6" (even lower with the guy in Muskegon) to 11' because it's pretty much impossible to get it exactly 6->10. Just be consistent.

 

[EdFred]

There, fixed that for you.

I only ***** when I throw the exact same arc on two straight pitches and one of them is OK and one is illegal. (easier to see that from the pitching plate since I have the backstop as a frame of reference) Though I usually just ***** inside my own head because I don't need the strike zone getting any smaller.

 

[LIKEUCM]

Good pitchers will work you on the high and low end end of your zones to see what you are calling. Once you establish the correct zone, stick it and be consistent. Calling he same pitch illegal on one pitch and legal three pitches later drives pitchers and batters crazy, and it should! be sure you are set before the pitch is released to make sure you are not moving during the flight of the ball on the pitch. This will ensure you have a stable point of reference. Thanks for be a new umpire! Good luck as you learn and grow on the field.

 

[Joe R]

Good pitchers will work you on the high and low end end of your zones to see what you are calling. Once you establish the correct zone, stick it and be consistent. Calling he same pitch illegal on one pitch and legal three pitches later drives pitchers and batters crazy, and it should! be sure you are set before the pitch is released to make sure you are not moving during the flight of the ball on the pitch. This will ensure you have a stable point of reference. Thanks for be a new umpire! Good luck as you learn and grow on the field.

I am new to umpiring behind the plate too. The low pitch makes sense. How do you establish the high pitch call or what tip to be consistent

 

[RNRPLZ]

If you are a former player helps. We have an excellent UCI that brings measured sticks and such to show us the exact height. Then go do a few senior national tournaments and you have to mindset on the 12 foot pitch. Being a contractor for 40 years I feel I am fairly accurate with height judgement. Now think about that word “judgement”. My own peers locally I’ve noticed we all have our own strike zones. But as Ed Fred stated could not be more true...STAY CONSISTENT! Your pitchers will appreciate it more. I will not say it will eliminate back talk. But that’s the nature of sports. If you have fences in outfield, find out or go early and measure them. Average sizes are 4 to 5 foot sections. If they are 3-four foot sections meaning the total is 12 foot....if you see a few pitches and they are staying under the total height by a couple of feet ....it’s a site zone. I personally try to give the full ten foot arch. By my judgement.

 

[Joe R]

If you are a former player helps. We have an excellent UCI that brings measured sticks and such to show us the exact height. Then go do a few senior national tournaments and you have to mindset on the 12 foot pitch. Being a contractor for 40 years I feel I am fairly accurate with height judgement. Now think about that word “judgement”. My own peers locally I’ve noticed we all have our own strike zones. But as Ed Fred stated could not be more true...STAY CONSISTENT! Your pitchers will appreciate it more. I will not say it will eliminate back talk. But that’s the nature of sports. If you have fences in outfield, find out or go early and measure them. Average sizes are 4 to 5 foot sections. If they are 3-four foot sections meaning the total is 12 foot....if you see a few pitches and they are staying under the total height by a couple of feet ....it’s a site zone. I personally try to give the full ten foot arch. By my judgement.

 

[Joe R]

i am still a player but thanks for the tips

 

[Country469]

you find a point of reference behind each pitcher that is roughly 4' higher than the pitchers head for a 10' ceiling give or take a few inches either way (if its close or borderline, strike!), Above that reference point is above the ceiling.

 

[Hiltz]

Just mirroring what everybody else is saying because it's so important; consistency is more important than accuracy.

We play 6'-12' arc and we have a local ump who's more 5'6" to 10', another guy will allow 13'. But they ALWAYS call their strikes the same, and the same for both teams, so bitching is kept to a minimum.

 

[Iceman6409]

Some of us where I am use our cap brim as our height indicator. We adjust it to whatever level we pick for the high pitch and stand still. If the ball disappears above the brim then we call it illegal. It's not science but it does work

 

[EAJuggalo]

I am new to umpiring behind the plate too. The low pitch makes sense. How do you establish the high pitch call or what tip to be consistent

Depends on what the limit is. USSSA, GSL or Sanctioned USA with the 10' ceiling, if I have to move my head to follow the flight of the ball it's too high. Local leagues with a 12' ceiling I'm just guessing.

 

[NCASAUmp]

The 10' ceiling has always been an easy one to call. I'm 6' tall. If it's more than 4' above my head, "illegal!"

But wow, this thread is over 3 years old.

 

[Joe R]

Some of us where I am use our cap brim as our height indicator. We adjust it to whatever level we pick for the high pitch and stand still. If the ball disappears above the brim then we call it illegal. It's not science but it does work

I like this tip!!!!!

 

[vanmol]

Some of us where I am use our cap brim as our height indicator. We adjust it to whatever level we pick for the high pitch and stand still. If the ball disappears above the brim then we call it illegal. It's not science but it does work

Iceman---I am new to the profession and I am using the same method. I firmly believe it is accurate and keeps me consistent with very few complaints.

 

[Iceman6409]

For me it is super helpful when I have super bright sun directly in my eyes, which is a lot of the fields I umpire on. It allows me to do my best NOT to look into the sun, since it should be above the brim. Once that ball is out of sight then it is illegal in my mind. Different people use different methods. I know some umpires that will fixate on something they see and that is their line. For the low end of the arc I use the pitchers height. Generally speaking most pitchers are somewhere around 6' tall. Some taller and some shorter. I am 5'11" myself. If I feel the pitcher is somewhere around my height, give or take a few inches, then I use the top of his head as my low end of the arc. If I see daylight between the top of his head and the pitched ball then we got a good pitch on the low end,

Now I know some of you will say what if the pitcher is like 5'5" or shorter. Personally I don't care. We are talking about a few inches at most. Not enough of an argument to be made. Plus I never tell the players what my marks are anyways. I had one game this year both teams were getting on my about arc height in a 6-12 league. Geezer league too. One of them said to me "just tell us if the pitch was illegal I would have called it". Nothing more than that. He feels by saying that I am not trying to justify what my lines are which leaves no room for argument.

Plus one of my favorite lines is all players are umpires.....until they actually have to be one.

I feel the arc is not the biggest complaint on pitches. It is where the ball crosses the plate according to the batters strike zone. That is the most important part of the pitch. Establish that strike zone and do it well. Whatever you do be consistent about it. Players will ***** wayyyyyy more about that then the arc. That pitch above the plate is your most called item in every game. Establish a good strike/ball zone and your games will get a lot better. Pitching arc is important but not as important as the strike zone.

 

[ImminentDanger]

Being a pitcher, this subject affects me...

Umpire is BLUE ................................. - 50ft - .................................................Pitcher is Green

Pitch arc rises for 60% (30ft) of the travel & falls for 40% (20ft) of the travel

How high (in ft) does BLUE have to look (at a far distance - at 300ft fence) to equate to the 10ft height of the ball 20ft from home plate???

...

 

[billvp]

Being a pitcher, this subject affects me...

Umpire is BLUE ................................. - 50ft - .................................................Pitcher is Green

Pitch arc rises for 60% (30ft) of the travel & falls for 40% (20ft) of the travel

How high (in ft) does BLUE have to look (at a far distance - at 300ft fence) to equate to the 10ft height of the ball 20ft from home plate???

...

If the ump's eyes are at 5.5', then he's looking 4.5' high 20' out ... since he's looking at a constant angle, then if he was basing it on something 300ft out, there'd have to be something 73' high at the fence line

the relation of the two sides stays the same for a given angle

(10 - 5.5) / 20 = (73 - 5.5) / 300

 

[RNRPLZ]

you are over thinking it....your strike zone will change a bit from day to day....the most important thing is to establish your strike zone and then stick with it for the WHOLE game.....the pitchers and batters will adjust to whatever you are calling....btw...batters are always gonna b - - ch

that’s for sure! No matter what. They will complain so just be consistent.

 

[WiLD53]

the fields i umpire on are designed for water to drain... that means the rubber is about 8" higher than the plate... so where should you measure 6' from? the rubber? the plate? or halfway to the plate? as you can see, your answer will affect your calls... if you call it based on being over the batters head, you've given the pitcher a 5'4" pitch... if you call it from the rubber you've just made him throw a 6'8" pitch in relation to the batter...

this is also the source of some complaints since the dugouts are at the pitchers level so if you call it based on the hitter's location, the dugout will think it's flat... i assume this is similar on most fields... personally, i try to call it based on the ball being 6' high from my location at the plate with the batter... in terms of the spirit of the rule, i think that fits best and is easiest to be consistent with... needless to say, the same holds true for the ceiling... 10-12' from where i'm standing

unfortunately, we also have one field that has about a 4" dropoff behind the plate which complicates things a little since i'm standing lower than the batter...

 

[kvander]

the fields i umpire on are designed for water to drain... that means the rubber is about 8" higher than the plate... so where should you measure 6' from? the rubber? the plate? or halfway to the plate?

Measure it from the ground

 

[Joker]

dip**** who thinks he can throw a "slider" thinks he can tell 8" difference in pitch height. ****ing moron

 

[Country469]

I wish I took a bunch of LSD in the 70s too

 

[hitless45]

WOW

 

[WiLD53]

Measure it from the ground

that wasn't a question... it was a point... which spot on the ground do you measure it from? i use the location of the batter... what point on ground do you use? or are your fields all flat?

 

[Joker]

you're an idiot

 

[EAJuggalo]

that wasn't a question... it was a point... which spot on the ground do you measure it from? i use the location of the batter... what point on ground do you use? or are your fields all flat?

Whatever spot the ball is over at the time.

 

[watsonrg]

Guys. It's a JUDGMENT CALL. Use your judgment and be consistent. It's what you're paid to do.

I can't believe there is this much discussion on a topic like this. With charts, no less.