Rule 2.00 – The Strike Zone

The Strike Zone is defined as that area over homeplate 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’s stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball.

Unless your name is Kyle Snyder, in which case the upper limit is a horizontal line at the top of the belt, and the lower limit is a horizontal line at the top of the belt.

Honestly, where was the umpire’s strike zone in the 5th inning? With the bases loaded and a 2-1 count, Snyder threw a PER-FECT curve right over the plate between the belt and the knees. Ball. So for the next pitch he throws a strike at the letters. Ball. I feel bad for Snyder. The guy pitched great for 4 innings (0 runs, 4 Ks, 0 BBs) but due to a blind umpire, he gets caught in a nasty jam. (So he gave up 2 hits and a HBP to start the inning, but that umpire needs to re-read the major league rules.) Plus, it doesn’t help that Tito virtually ended the game by bringing in a reliver with a name that ends in “z” to finish the inning. (See picture above. Yes, that is a new one. Yes, that picture is available almost every game.)

There’s also Manny being Manny. First to third with two outs? It may not be in the official MLB rulebook, but everybody knows that you never, EVER, make the last out of an inning at 3rd base.

So less than a week after we had a 3 game lead, it’s down to 1/2 a game. Wonderful. Tomorrow it’s the Royals and their league-worst 5.82 ERA. Maybe that can solve some of our woes? If it can’t, we’re in deep shit.