Close call on Unit's 300th

An item by 'Duk on big league stew (yahoo! blog) has a photo and a video of the controversial pitch. In the photo, Wilson's pitch looks to be at least 3" low, but the strike zone isn't a plane, and in the video it looks to me like the pitch crosses the front of the plate. I froze at 3 seconds and that's my take. 'Duk raises another interesting point though, which is the way umpires (and scorers, for that matter) routinely consider external factors, like the way hits and errors are scored in the the late innings of a no-hitter, or a borderline pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning of a pitching legend's quest for his 300th win.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big_league_stew/post/YOU-make-the-call-A-ball-or-strike-for-Dunn-dur?urn=mlb,168338

http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4875541

 

It was a strike. You know why? Because the umpire said it was.

That's the end of the discussion.

 

Well by God, that solves it all. :

 

Re: Close call on Unit's 300th

but the gamer said it was a knee-high pitch ...

 

That's as much a strike as Randy Johnson is a GQ model.

 

Sorry, but the view in that photo cannot be used as the only piece of evidence. You can't tell by looking at that photo whether the ball is in front of, on top of or behind the plate.

Unless you have a side angle view that shows the ball cross the plate, it was strike because, like bydesign said, the ump said it was.

The "approximate line" is lined up with his right/front knee while the other line is lined up with his left/back knee. So, which is his actual strike zone?

Throw another photo or view up there and I might change my mind. Until then: Strike Three!

 

From the picture Rumple posted, the ball's level with his back knee -- and splitting the plate in half.

Steeeeee-rike.

 

Oh, not to mention, with two strikes, you can't take a pitch that close anyway.

 

I thought it was a horrible call.
But what I think doesn't matter. I'm not the ump.
That pic makes it look closer than I thought, definitely too close to take.

 

Agreed. Looked like a ball in real time. But that picture backs the ump up.

 

His back knee is lower because he has it bent down, and it's bent down because he's reacting to the pitch.
Dunn is what, 6'5 or 6'6??? That was a verrrrrrry questionable call. One of the seams might have crossed at the bottom of his kneecap.