Keep it Fun & Moving, Mr Umpire

It is cold here in the midwest this time of year. The weather can be nice at times but more times than not it is windy, wet and cold. As parents of ballplayers we pack up our lawn chairs, our blankets, thermos of hot coffee or cocoa, wear multiple layers and enjoy the ball games (that is right, I said enjoy!)

All of this is great for about 90% of the games. The umps know it is cold and tend to keep things moving along. They tend to speed up inning changes, they ask that players sprint back into the dugout after an out, they tend to expand the strike zone a little to get players to swing the bats, and they tend to do a great job overall – that is 90%. This blog entry is not to bad mouth umpires – not at all. I do not question umps ever on a judgment call, only on rule interpretation issues (a practice all coaches should employ).

Yesterday I was at a game where the umpire thought he was the king of the free world. He had a strike zone as small as the width of a PVC pipe and did not want to take any flack about it from anyone. The wind was blowing hard from left to right field, right across the diamond, making it even colder than it was outside (game time temp=52 degrees). My hot chocolate did not last half an inning before it got too cold to drink.

I would like to ask the ump of this game what he was trying to accomplish by having a strike zone that small on such a cold day. He certainly has his right to have a strike zone where he wants it to be, as long as it is consistent I am good with it. But on a day like that I would like for the zone to be expanded to a true zone: one ball width outside of each corner of the plate, knees to armpits high. The kids would have more fun because they know they would need to be swinging the bat when at the plate, the coaches would be able to keep moving and keep a little warm, and the fans would enjoy the game more because there would be some action to watch.

My plea is for all umps to hear this – keep the game fun – expand the strike zone. (Especially on cold days – have I told you how many former ball players are on the lacrosse team at our high school?)

Best of Luck,
Coach Chuck

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