Calling Balls & Strikes

For me, spring is about baseball. And as a fan of a long-suffering team, it is also about hope. Not many games have been played yet and so anything is possible. At this point in the season, everyone (except the White Sox) are just a few games back.

Baseball is hard. The very best players put the ball in play 1 out of every 3 times they step to the plate. Babe Ruth got a hit 34% of the time, "The Say Hey Kid" Willie Mays 30%, "Hammering" Hank Aaron 30%, Ty Cobb 36%. Ted Williams, perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, beat the pitcher in 35% of his plate appearances.

The cold math we all learn in song: “it's one, two, three strikes and you're out.”

“Out” is how most at-bats end.

One of the cornerstones of the game is that the umpire calls balls and strikes fairly. Calling the plate is a human endeavor. With all our technology and cameras, in baseball the umpire uses their best personal judgement to call a pitch coming towards them (sometimes at over 100 mph) either in the strike zone for a "strike" or outside the zone as a "ball." They call the pitch in milliseconds.

Every game, the pitchers and the batters need to learn quickly how an umpire is seeing the strike zone. The goal is that the zone is roughly the same for each game. Finding the edges a particular umpire is calling can mean the difference between winning or losing.

Players might complain about a strike zone, but if the umpire is consistent in the way they call the balls and strikes, that’s what matters. If the ump is consistent, both the pitcher and batter respect the zone and know what to expect. Consistency makes the system fair. Without it, the game breaks down.

There is a reason baseball is the great American pastime. It is built on some of our foundational common beliefs.

Anyone, from anywhere, with a combination of exceptional talent and hard work can make it to the big leagues. It is a game about hope and even the very best struggle. It relies on respect, consistency and fairness or it comes apart.

Here in Harbor Springs, we have some exceptional ball teams. Our baseball and softball teams at all levels are great on the field. One reason for their success is our incredible Little League program.

Kids here start learning the value of hard work and fair play early.

In the days to come, you are going to see a theme in this space. A theme I hope reflects the lessons our kids learn on the ballfield. A theme maybe we can put into play as a community: Respect. Consistency. Fairness.

Play ball, Harbor Springs!