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Discussion: Black home plate mat moves

Posted	Discussion
June 15, 2009 Gary Heifner 248 posts	Black home plate mat moves With the new black matt covering the white home plate an almost happened. The RH batter kicked the matt toward 1st as he ran to 1st. Half of the white home plate was now exposed. There was a play at home and was wide toward the 1t base side. I had the edge of the black matt with my foot but the throw was a little wide on the 1st base side and was just out of reach. Runner safe. However, had I caught it, it would of beat the runner. Now, picture I had the corner matt but it about 8-10 inches more toward 1st than it should of been. What would of been the call had I caught the throw. This was a 1 run game in the Championship game.
June 15, 2009 Joncon 285 posts	Hmm...some kind of "detached equipment" rule. I believe the ump would have to make a judgement call. Along the same lines, A batted ball that hits a regular plate is a fair ball but there are no lines on the new mat/plate combo to determine the baselines. It will come up.
June 16, 2009 4Four4 Men's 60 73 posts	Some great pitchers are able to take advantage of the slightest (1") askew slant to the unattached mats. They instruct their catchers NOT to straighten them out unless the ump notices. Raining a deep one in on the hands can be very effective. (These guys are good.) DH - #4 The Tub
June 16, 2009 Joncon 285 posts	And a good catcher wil kick the mat back a bit whenever he can to expand the strike zone :) If you're not cheating, you're not playing hard enough.
June 16, 2009 Dirty Men's 50 1375 posts	Yet more reasons why the mat is such a stupid idea.

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