Let’s start with the obvious: \u00a0the rule book:\u00a0Definitions of Terms (strike zone)<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(OBR 2016):<\/p>\n The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter\u2019s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.<\/p>\n To answer this, we turn again to rule book definitions, but this time we\u2019re looking for the definition of a strike, which we find in Definitions of Terms (strike)<\/a><\/strong>, where we learn, among other things, that a pitch is a strike \u201c\u2026 if any part of the ball [in flight] passes through any part of the strike zone.\u201d In other words, if any part of the ball touches any part of the strike zone, it is, by rule, a strike. (Note that I added that the ball must be \u201cin flight\u201d; that is, a pitch cannot be a called strike if it first touches the ground then bounds through the strike zone.)<\/p>\n So here’s what we know: Note that the black on the edge of the plate is not part of the plate.<\/p>\n In truth, the \u201cover the plate\u201d part of judging balls and strikes is the (relatively) easy part. The top and bottom of the zone, on the other hand, is a hotly contested, furiously debated, and nearly impossible to pin down aspect of the game. While defined by rule, it is adjudicated by eye, and we all know where that leads: arguments and ejections. I saw a spring training game earlier this week between the Yankees and Braves in which the Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez was ejected by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a ball call on the game\u2019s very first pitch<\/em><\/strong>. Holy guacamole, Batman! (And by the way, Gonzalez was right. It was a strike.)<\/p>\n We are going to talk\u00a0a lot more about\u00a0the strike zone over the coming months and years. We’re going to discuss the perilous subject of the top and bottom of the zone, as well as the mysterious art of\u00a0calling balls and strikes. We’re going to talk about Pitch f\/x data, on variations among umpires, differences for left- and right-handed hitters, differences related to the current count (how does an 0-2 strike differ from a 3-0 strike, for example), and a great deal more.<\/p>\n So stay tuned. The strike zone is a marvelous (if invisible) part of the game of baseball, and there is no end to trouble we can create by discussing its mysterious contours.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umpirebible.com\/ubBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/recPrism.png?resize=219%2C230\")
So the strike zone is a three-dimensional area over the plate (a rectangular prism<\/em> for you geometry geeks), and it extends from the hollow at the bottom of the knee to a point \u201cat the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants.\u201d\u00a0Discussing the top and bottom of the zone is a discussion all to itself\u00a0(because it fluctuates depending on many factors), so let’s\u00a0save that for another post. For now, let’s concentrate on\u00a0the “over the plate” part of the definition. But wait. First, we have to ask what it means to be “over the plate.”<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.umpirebible.com\/ubBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/zoneWidth.png?resize=185%2C295\")
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