The Official’s Corner: Extra Innings Don’t Change the Strike Zone

Extra Innings Don’t Change the Strike Zone

One thing that has always puzzled me is what happens when a game goes into extra innings. It’s almost as if everyone suddenly expects the strike zone to change.

It doesn’t.

The plate is still 17 inches wide. The strike zone doesn’t get bigger or smaller just because the scoreboard says we’re in the eighth, ninth, or tenth inning. My job is to call the same zone from the first pitch of the game to the last.

Recently, I had a game go into extra innings, and every close pitch suddenly became a debate. Fans were louder, coaches were questioning pitches, and one player in particular couldn’t stop looking back at me after every outside strike.

The interesting part? He wasn’t just any batter. He was also the opposing team’s pitcher.

He had spent the entire game throwing to that very same strike zone. He knew where I had been calling strikes all afternoon. Yet, once he stepped into the batter’s box in extra innings, pitches on the outside third of the plate suddenly became a problem. He complained enough that he was getting very close to being ejected.

That has always confused me.

As officials, consistency is what players should want. If I’ve been calling that pitch a strike all game, why would anyone want me to change it just because the game lasted a little longer?

Pressure shouldn’t change the rules, and it shouldn’t change an official’s judgment. The fairest thing I can do for both teams is keep calling the same strike zone from the first inning to the last, whether the game ends in seven innings or seventeen.