Jennifer Elrod:

"Chief Justice John Roberts saw the role of the judge as being an umpire. He said, 'I will remember that it's my job to call the balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat.' Some people have criticized that and said, 'No, that's not really what the judge does; they're not just calling balls and strikes. They're having to make grand decisions.'

"I think that, if you think of balls and strikes as a robotic action, then I agree that it's too simplified and we shouldn't talk about judicial philosophy in that way. But I think if you think of it that way, then you don't know baseball. Because calling balls and strikes is not robotic -- in fact, Major League Baseball's official rules, 9.02A, specifically say that an umpire's decision involves judgment not limited to calling balls and strikes, but in calling balls and strikes, it involves judgment. You know when the strike zone is big or tight, and you know that varies in games, that varies for batters. It's not robotic. I think of judges as umpires; we're not supposed to be players on the field rooting for our positions."