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What line of latitude is the northern limit of the tropical zone?

Why does MLB even pretend to define a strike as “at the letters” when clearly...?

  • ...any pitch above the belt is called a ball? Here is the actual rulebook definition: "The STRIKE ZONE is that area over home plate the upper limit of which is a horizontal line at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants, and the lower level is a line at the hollow beneath the knee cap. The Strike Zone shall be determined from the batter's stance as the batter is prepared to swing at a pitched ball." “midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants”? It’s not happening, no one calls it! . When Alderson pushed for the umpires to call the rulebook zone in 2001, we did see some feeble attempts to call the “high strike”, but it looks like it’s now back to same old, same old… Why not just change the definition if they are not going to follow the rulebook? Does this bother anyone else, or am I just being anal-retentive again?

  • Answer:

    This bothers me greatly. I have always been for a computerized strike zone. In spring training, all contracted players in the minors and majors are measured for a strike zone with a stance that they had better not change all season. If the player changes a stance, he is still considered in his original measured zone. The computer instantly calls balls and strikes and all the home plate umpire has to do it keep track of the lineup card, the ball-strike count and call safe or out at home. Then there would be no arguments on balls-strikes, and the computer would register where all pitches went, just like the computerized rectangle strike zone on ESPN that shows where a pitch was.

Professor X at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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The League does not seem willing to control it's Umpires. It's Basically like a Frat House with no Rules... you do Whatever the Heck you want to do, and the Umpires do. For sake of Argument, If they did call the rule book zone, we woulndt be seeing any 4 hour Red Sox v Yankees Games... and Wouldnt that be a shame :-) If the League enforced the rule, The Umpires would Comply, Theyre employees afterall, but they dont.

Ω†♡Kim with Issy and Jade♡†Ω

Smaller strike zone equals more pitches that are hittable which leads to more runs and happier fans.

jeffrjohn

It sort of bothers me--It seems that the umpires just keep calling balls and strikes based on tradition or habit, and pay no attention to the league's efforts to enforce the actual rules. Down the road, as the technology improves, we may see balls and strikes called entirely by machine.

rolandhadley

It's not really true that it helps the hitters... if you've ever played ball and get a hold of a ball between your belt and your chest, you can really hit it hard. It's not just for the hitters. It bothers me, but not that much until it becomes something that REALLY gives the hitters an advantage. It isn't that big of a problem now I think, and it makes pitchers get creative.

Sean C

Actually I'd say the top of the zone is now somewhere around the middle of the batter's thigh, 6" to 8" BELOW the belt... It bothers me a great deal because I think it has had a tremendous effect on the game. People talk about juiced players and juiced balls, but I think the ever-shrinking strikezone actually has more to do with the inflated hitting stats since the days of Gibson and Drysdale. What's worse, as the zone has become lower it has also become WIDER (the late Eric Gregg's strike zone was shaped more like a triangle than a square). This has encouraged a generation of pitchers to become "nibblers," rather than "let's see you try to hit this" guys. At this rate, the average AL game is going to run 4 hours...

a_man_could_stand

The rulebook should be updated yes. The smaller strikezone that is actually called now is part of the effort to make baseball into a hitter's game, not a pitchers game. It is essentially the same concept as changing the height of the pitchers mound. A small change gives the hitter a greater advantage, creating more runs, and theoretically in turn making baseball more attractive to casual fans. Could you imagine if a umpire called strikes with the rulebook zone though? The increase in strikeouts would be enormous.

Hyphen

ya it bothers me a lot and thank god that u care 2.....but they r not going 2 change the rule over that silly little thing

PATRIOTS

The strike zone is over the plate above the knees, and it goes up to the letters.

9/11 was NOT an inside job

That's only the way it appears on TV. When I go to the stadium to watch, I don't much disagree with the umpire calling strikes and balls.

Sarrafzedehkhoee

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