In baseball, a pitch that would normally be called a strike, but because the home team is pitching with a very large lead, the umpire has shrunk the strike zone so much so that said pitch is called a ball. Therefore, the pitch is only called a ball in the top half of the inning. See bottom half strike.
"That pitch was right on the outside corner, but we're up by 15 and the ump's calling top half balls."
by bamaster47 March 28, 2009