Determining Pitch Height: 12ft Ceiling Guidelines for Umpires

Question
Do you have some way to determine wheter a pitch is above or below the 12 ft celing. I get a lot of what I would call border line pitches during the games I am behind the plate.  Eventually both sides start complaining about the pitches.  Any advice?

Answer
Hi Don,

I wish I could help you a lot but I'm afraid I can't.  12' is nothing we see in everyday life.  Here in our clinics we use 2 lines at 6 and 12 between the pp and hp and train umpires from the front, back and sides.  Go to all the clinics and umpire schools you can.

12' is lower than most umpires and players think.  The key is a consistent top height.  It should be 12 but if you're a little higher consistently, most teams aren't going to bitch.  

If you call the 14' pitch illegal (as you should) call it every time, 10 in a row if you have too.  You'll see pitcher's challenge you with the same pitch after you call the 1st 1 illegal.  Don't let the 2nd or 3rd one go.  Don't call a pitch illegal early on and then let it go in the later innings.

You will find with a consistent height, that pitchers will soon accommodate that.

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