[Mick]

So Belt does bunt and gets a base hit and RBI out of it. It was a squeeze, but still, it shows he should do it more often. Don't let them shift.

Also, did you see the called third strike on Slater in the top of the 6 th? It was at least six inches outside. Bad calls are one thing, but this wasn't close.

I can't wait for a technological approach to calling balls and strikes.

To be fair, this ump is calling everything with a very wide strike zone. Maybe he thinks the game is over and wants to go to dinner. I think it will be a while before MLB will accept an all electronic balls and strikes call. It would be interesting if the umps had an earphone interfaced to the computer that would make the call. The ump could then pretend to call balls and strikes. That you might sell.

The problem, as I see it, is that they're calling the Little League strike zone.  When my sons played LL, the umpires told us that they called the standard strike zone, plus one extra ball's width all around the strike zone...chiefly because LL pitchers weren't very accurate.  But MLB pitchers should be that accurate.  

Here, Melancon pitches three balls outside the strike zone.  The closest of the three was 2.26 inches away...and of course, after the umpire calls the first pitch a strike, he has to call both of the remaining pitches strikes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz0Y4ohDKbs

Reminds me of the old joke: If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?  Answer: Four.  Because no matter what you call it, a tail is a tail and a leg is a leg.  And no matter what you call a three-inches-outside-the-strikezone pitch, it's a ball.  Period.

[Mick]

So Belt does bunt and gets a base hit and RBI out of it. It was a squeeze, but still, it shows he should do it more often. Don't let them shift.

Also, did you see the called third strike on Slater in the top of the 6 th? It was at least six inches outside. Bad calls are one thing, but this wasn't close.

I can't wait for a technological approach to calling balls and strikes.

To be fair, this ump is calling everything with a very wide strike zone. Maybe he thinks the game is over and wants to go to dinner. I think it will be a while before MLB will accept an all electronic balls and strikes call. It would be interesting if the umps had an earphone interfaced to the computer that would make the call. The ump could then pretend to call balls and strikes. That you might sell.

The problem, as I see it, is that they're calling the Little League strike zone.  When my sons played LL, the umpires told us that they called the standard strike zone, plus one extra ball's width all around the strike zone...chiefly because LL pitchers weren't very accurate.  But MLB pitchers should be that accurate.  

Here, Melancon pitches three balls outside the strike zone.  The closest of the three was 2.26 inches away...and of course, after the umpire calls the first pitch a strike, he has to call both of the remaining pitches strikes.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz0Y4ohDKbs

Reminds me of the old joke: If you call a tail a leg, how many legs does a dog have?  Answer: Four.  Because no matter what you call it, a tail is a tail and a leg is a leg.  And no matter what you call a three-inches-outside-the-strikezone pitch, it's a ball.  Period.