Strike Zone: "the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the kneecap". Somebody tell Aaron Boone, Yankee manager.

"beneath the kneecap".

https://img.mlbstatic.com/mlb-images/image/upload/mlb/atcjzj9j7wrgvsm8wnjq.pdf

The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate 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. (For diagram of STRIKE ZONE, see Appendix 5.)

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I know: what the heck is "the hollow" and how the heck did that get into the rule book and when? Yankee manager Aaron Boone learned baseball from his MLB grandfather (Ray) and father (Bob). Do you think that Ray Boone (1948-1960) had to be concerned about his knee hollow? Did the umpires back then?

The top of the strike zone was simpler too for Ray. Try to touch yourself at the top of your personal strike zone. Ask others to try. Good luck. And we expect the plate umpire to do it on pitches traveling 95 miles per hour? 100 MPH? Or Bugs Bunny pitches?

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/statcast_leaderboard

Somewhere on this website it shows that Yankee Aaron Judge (no relation to Aaron Boone) has the most pitches taken for called strikes that were outside the strike zone: 53 so far in 2022. Let's not even get into how they know.

So, Aaron Boone must be justified in being upset that his best hitter and best all around player, Aaron Judge, is being treated unfairly just because of his size: 6-7, 282 pounds? Judge hit home run number 29 this afternoon and is on pace to challenge the American League season record of 61 in 1961 by Yankee Roger Maris, who had 30 at this point in 1961.

Actually, Aaron Boone is NOT justified in being upset.

1. Like many baseball rules, the strike zone is moronic. It is by and for morons, a.k.a, baseball fans who never really challenge it and who have no idea what the rule is. The strike zone varies with each batter but only vertically, not horizontally. Having it vary is supposed to make it fair to different size batters but only half way. Short guys have to reach extra hard to hit outside pitches.

2. The strike zone is imaginary. You cannot touch any part of it. No fair ... the plate helps to define the strike zone but the plate is not part of the strike zone. The pitcher, batter and umpire are supposed to deal with that three dimensional, adjustable, irregularly shaped area. Irregular because the plate has an irregular shape.

3. There are computer thingies that supposedly know the strike zone for each batter. They can even display a rectangle on the television screen to share this absolute knowledge. Funny thing, but that rectangle looks the same to me for each batter. Oh, well.

Now the plate umpire does not get this information. No, the plate umpire must make a snap decision and call ball or strike for each pitch taken. And then we compare the ump's decision with absolute truth.

Aaron Boone also does not get that absolute truth. He, too, must make a snap decision as to whether he should whine and complain. If sufficiently aggrieved, Boone can berate the ump verbally from the dugout as he did in yesterday's game. It's against the rules to argue balls and strikes and Aaron Boone was ejected ... again.

Boone's specific complaint was whether a called strike on Aaron Judge was too low. Boone might be able to have a pretty good idea given his location in the dugout, probably better than the plate umpire whose eyes, like the batter's, are well above the knees even of Aaron Judge.

The strike zone rule shown above omits some detail, which is probably located elsewhere:

1. Only part of the ball must be above the plate. That's where that metaphor of a pitch being on the black (the outside of the white plate has a black border) comes from. The ball need only be tangent to the inside or outside edge of the plate.

2. But what about "the hollow beneath the kneecap"? Must the ball be above the top of the hollow? Can it be only tangent to the bottom of the hollow? What is the umpire looking for? What is Aaron Boone looking for? Are they the same?

Finally, never argue with the officials in any sport. It gives the players an excuse for failure. A bad call by the plate umpire is something the player must deal with, like a ground ball hitting a pebble and taking a bad hop. It's part of the game.

Never get called out on strikes. If you get called out with runners on base, don't come back to the dugout. If Aaron Boone had that policy, he and his team would be better off. Players should not talk to or about the officials.

Instead, Aaron Boone had yet another temper tantrum. How did that help him or his Yankees?