call balls and strikes
Originally from baseball — the home plate umpire's job of calling each pitch a ball or a strike without favouring either team.
Definitions
Originally from baseball — the home plate umpire's job of calling each pitch a ball or a strike without favouring either team. In broader US usage it means to judge fairly, call things as you see them, and not let bias sway your decisions. Politicians, journalists, and judges get praised (or challenged) for whether they really call balls and strikes. It's the American shorthand for impartiality with accountability.
The senator promised he'd call balls and strikes on the legislation regardless of which party introduced it.
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(baseball) To act as a home plate umpire.
Comments
(by extension) To act impartially.
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