Balls and Strikes

[Theoldmole]

]Lima also became disgusted before the end of the inning, and not just with the balk call, just the third of his major-league career, which "changed the whole game" in his estimation. Upset with Hernandez's strike zone, Lima asked the umpire why he wasn't getting the benefit of calls on the corners, or the few inches off the plate. According to the pitcher, Hernandez replied: "You're not going to get three inches, four inches, five inches." "What about Smoltz?" Lima asked. "You're not John Smoltz," Hernandez allegedly replied.

I tend to believe this probably happened more or less the way Lima recounts it. And I tend to think this is one of the dumbest and more outrageous traditions in baseball -- the idea that a strike zone is an expression of the umpire's personal taste.

[Elster88]

]And I tend to think this is one of the dumbest and more outrageous traditions in baseball -- the idea that a strike zone is an expression of the umpire's personal taste.

Me too! That's why I like Questec....or any tool designed to make the strike zone match the rule book. Shouldn't a strike be an objective call and not a subjective one?

And that's why I loathe when a pitcher like Schilling (or Glavine) talks/talked trash about Questec. Behind the crying was this basic idea: "I've been getting balls called strikes by incompetent umpires my whole career. Why should the rules be enforced now?"

[nymr83]

I'd like the rule book strike zone (ESPECIALLY the "high" strike) called all the time.
What i'd settle for is an umpire calling the same strike zone for every pitcher, the same zone with 0 strikes and with 2, the same zone in the 1st and 9th innings.
If Hernandez really said what Lima alleges i think he needs to be suspended. If you went to your job and told your boss "well gee boss i know my job is to flip burgers but i think they taste better when you only cook them on one side" you'd be fired in a second.