"Nip It!"

Once again the strike zone cost a team a chance at winning the game. In the nation's capital, the Giants saw a pitch called "Ball four," put a runner on base before the next batter hit one out of the park.

"Ball four" for a pitch across the belt. Nowadays, with a good number of major league umpires, ACROSS THE BELT is "high". Whatever happend to the "letters or armpits" being the limit to high strike? (the home plate umpire was John Hirschbeck)


In the following day game, Will Little, again opted for the low strike zone. How low? Across the ankles was deemed hittable by the aptly named Little, as in ye of little strike zone!

Home plate umpires take the wind out of the game's sails when they have no clue of where the pitch is going. They're not good enough to be calling balls and strikes in the major leagues if the zone is changed frequently and one pitcher is seen better than another. It's all about CONSISTENCY!!!

The installation of umpires was to see that fair play would take place in the game. But it isn't fair when one pitcher is getting the low strike while his opposing hurler is being squeezed into getting very few calls.

I don't know exactly what the grading system is for the umpires and how diligently the powers that be, doing the grading, are sticking to rewarding consistency and penalizing inconsistency.
Let's face it, some umps are consistently inconsistent. Much the same way a switch-hitter decides he ought not bat from both sides due to the dramatic decrease in productivity umpires who are consistently inconsistent behind the catcher, behind the plate, should simply umpire third - second - and first base. If that isn't fair for his fellow umpires then he should be demoted to Triple A and someone should be called up from Triple A.

In the words of Bernard "Barney" Fife, we have to "Nip It" before it costs too many teams games and their chance of making the post-season.


Kevin J. Marquez