Baseball Umpire Plate Information
Home plate is where the bulk of a baseball game is contested. Home plate umpires require proper equipment, complete knowledge of the rules, a good idea of how to identify the strike zone and the ability to tune out crowd noise and complaints from players. It's also where many arguments unfold between players, managers and umpires. At least two electronic home plates were invented in the modern era that attempt to take the guesswork out of calling balls and strikes.
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Size
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Home plate is a 17-inch wide pentagon. Its parallel sides are 8.5 inches long with two 12-inch sides that meet at its end to form a point where the umpire is positioned directly behind the catcher. Home plate is located 60 feet, 6 inches from the pitcher's rubber. Home plate is usually constructed of white rubber with black-painted sides. In baseball parlance, it is called "The Dish."
Significance
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Home plate is the location where the assigned umpire calls pitches for balls and strikes throughout a baseball game. The home plate umpire must determine ball and strike calls hundreds of times during a regulation game. Home plate serves as baseball's scoring mechanism. A player must touch home plate to score a run.
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Knowledge
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A home plate umpire must master general knowledge of the baseball strike zone. Calling balls and strikes during a game is subjective and many umpires have differing opinions on what qualifies as a ball or strike. Typically, a pitched ball is a strike when it crosses over home plate between the batter's chest and knee areas.
Equipment
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Home plate umpires require specific equipment necessary to avoid injury. Required equipment includes a face mask, chest protector and shin guards. Home plate umpires carry extra baseballs for quick and easy replacement after foul balls.
Considerations
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A baseball umpire at home plate needs skill, knowledge and the stamina to complete a game in hot conditions. Home plate umpires face a difficult task. Pitchers, batters, coaches and managers complain throughout a game on ball and strike calls. Spectators regularly heckle home plate umpires. A play at home plate, featuring a runner trying to score around a catcher with the ball attempting a tag out is exciting, but usually generates complaints from the aggrieved player. Hot summer temperatures can adversely affect a home plate umpire dressed in full gear. Home plate umpires should drink plenty of water between innings.
Fun Facts
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A batted ball that bounces off home plate and over a fielder's head into the outfield is called a 'Baltimore Chop." A batter standing too close to home plate, in the pitcher's estimation, may get a pitch thrown near the head, called a "Brushback," or "Chin Music." Umpires are known to brush off home plate many times during a game, especially when a player or manager is in the midst of arguing. Angry Major League Baseball managers, including Lou Piniella, Earl Weaver and Billy Martin, regularly kicked dirt on home plate to demonstrate their unhappiness with umpires.
Theories/Speculation
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A trio of students at Milwaukee's School of Engineering invented an electronic home plate in 1993, dubbed Final Call. The home plate was fitted with a microprocessor and automatically called ball and strikes when a baseball crossed its sensors and assumed the horizontal strike zone of two to four feet. The Ophir-Spiron Corp. designed a similar product in 2002 that utilizes laser technology designed to assist umpires with ball and strike calls. Apparently, umpire jobs are safe as neither product is utilized at any level of amateur or professional baseball.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit home plate image by kelleyjoy from Fotolia.com fast swing image by Stormy Ward from Fotolia.com
