[Mick]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=17004.msg195093#msg195093 date=1498502209]
Do they call them this far off the plate in Little League?

https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/878731203016372225

OF, believe it or not, a few umpires would call that pitch a strike in Little League. The point is to get the kids, especially those who are new to the game, to not try to walk every time they come to the plate and to swing the bat at balls they can reach. So, if a batter is crowding the plate and, in the estimation of the ump, could reach that pitch, it might be called a strike. But in my experience in District 63--southern Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in California--*most* umps would call that a ball, but they also might call out to the pitcher "an inch or two outside" to let the pitcher know that it was close to a (Little League) strike.

There are also issues with the vertical pitch zone in Little League. It's supposed to extend up to the batter's armpits, assuming that the batter is in a normal batting stance. So for batters who crouch more than what is typical, the official strike zone might extend up to the batter's eyes. But most Little League umps won't try to interpolate and will call strikes up to around the batter's chin.

The best Little League umps are consistent with whatever strike zone they implement, but, like Mick and others have mentioned, you don't always get the best umps in Little League (or the CWS). At 10U Little League is supposed to be developmental, so, like I've said, you don't want a walk-fest and you want batters to swing at balls with which they could make contact.
[/quote]

Agreed, and perhaps just a little tiny shout-out to the coaches who teach solid pitching mechanics to their little leaguers at the cost of rearing back and heaving it like a brain-dead hurler, so they can actually throw strikes, and the umpires who reward the accuracy of those pitchers.

[Mick]

[quote author=OutsiderFan link=topic=17004.msg195093#msg195093 date=1498502209]
Do they call them this far off the plate in Little League?

https://twitter.com/cjzero/status/878731203016372225

OF, believe it or not, a few umpires would call that pitch a strike in Little League. The point is to get the kids, especially those who are new to the game, to not try to walk every time they come to the plate and to swing the bat at balls they can reach. So, if a batter is crowding the plate and, in the estimation of the ump, could reach that pitch, it might be called a strike. But in my experience in District 63--southern Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties in California--*most* umps would call that a ball, but they also might call out to the pitcher "an inch or two outside" to let the pitcher know that it was close to a (Little League) strike.

There are also issues with the vertical pitch zone in Little League. It's supposed to extend up to the batter's armpits, assuming that the batter is in a normal batting stance. So for batters who crouch more than what is typical, the official strike zone might extend up to the batter's eyes. But most Little League umps won't try to interpolate and will call strikes up to around the batter's chin.

The best Little League umps are consistent with whatever strike zone they implement, but, like Mick and others have mentioned, you don't always get the best umps in Little League (or the CWS). At 10U Little League is supposed to be developmental, so, like I've said, you don't want a walk-fest and you want batters to swing at balls with which they could make contact.
[/quote]

Agreed, and perhaps just a little tiny shout-out to the coaches who teach solid pitching mechanics to their little leaguers at the cost of rearing back and heaving it like a brain-dead hurler, so they can actually throw strikes, and the umpires who reward the accuracy of those pitchers.