The Strike Zone

[iFroggy]

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news/ap/20010202/ap-braves-highstrikes.html


Don't look for Tom Glavine to throw high strikes.

``I'm not going to pitch up there,'' the Atlanta left-hander said Friday. ``If I'm up there, then I've made a mistake.''

Commissioner Bud Selig wants umpires to expand the strike zone and call it the way it's defined in the rule book: if the ball crosses any part of home plate, and if the pitch is between the hollow of the knee and the midpoint between the belt buckle and shoulders.

In recent years, pitches above the belt usually have been called balls. All 68 umpires went to a training camp last week in Arizona where they were told what baseball's leaders expected.


What does everyone think about this? I think that the strikezone is fine. Some umpires need to do a better job of making consistent calls when the ball is in the same area, but I don't think they should issue a memo to change it. The 'midpoint' between the buckle and shoulders would be hard to define I think. That would probably mean somewhere around the numbers.

[lmanchur.]

Is this actually a NEW rule or the league simply trying to implement what is already in place? Because if it is simply implementing what's already in place, this is a move by the league that should have been done a LONG time ago... there are too many umpires with THEIR version of the strike zone.

It's impossible for everyone to call the same way, and there's always going to be questionable calls, but the strike zone, IMO, varies too much between umpires.

[iFroggy]

Yes, Lee, its an old rule. How can you 'expand' it if its old? The umpires have their way and I suppose it has to change. But, each umpire will have his own strikezone and they just need to be consistent with it. Weird, but probably true. :)

[Wedge231]

Its good how it was but maybe they want to keep the scoring low.

[iFroggy]

Exactly, that'd be a solution. If umpires start calling higher strikes, that would probably help.

[Smiling Tom]

This is another of Bud's attempts to speed up the game and I agree that a proper strike should be called. After all, 90 ft. between bases means 90 ft., not 89 1/2 or 90 3/4. However, I don't think it will speed things up at all, at least for the first couple of seasons. It may well slow the game down as players will surely have a beef with the umps, managers will come out to protect their players, etc. But if the rules say it's a strike at the numbers (and they do), then call the thing a strke.

[30X90]

That's right...Knees to the numbers is a strike.Now if the Umpires will all call them that way it would be fine.

Now..here's something I'm in favor of..restoring the pitchers mound to it's original height.Give the pitcher back that little bit of leverage.

See, I can't say for sure if pitchers are generally weaker or if hitters are just stronger...or if the ball has been "juiced" or the bat corked....what ever...I'm sick of all the Home Runs.
...and I STILL don't like the DH..heheh