The strike zone is really stupid.

Baseball has a lot of really stupid rules but the strike zone is probably the most stupid.  I've been writing about this since my very first radical document back in 2006.  Eliminating the catcher, which is a good idea on its own, would force a complete re-evaluation of the strike zone.

Protect Joe Mauer from himself: eliminate the catching position.  Tuesday, September 24, 2013

The strike zone is IMAGINARY!  You cannot touch it.  Yes, you can touch the plate but the plate does not touch the strike zone.  And the strike zone is three dimensional.

It varies from one batter to another.  It can even vary for one batter if the batter changes his stance.

It varies only in height, not width.  What sense does that make?  If its variance is supposed to accommodate batters of different sizes, shouldn't that include width?

Send in the midgets!  Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Here is a reasonable way to attack the stupid walk rule: send in the midgets! Dwarfs if you prefer. Small human beings. Eddie Gaedel rides again! It is a tribute to the constipation of thought of the brain dead MLB management that no one has tried this again since Sunday, August 19, 1951 when Eddie Gaedel pinch hit for the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel was 3 feet 7 inches tall. He walked. The event was dismissed as a mere publicity stunt by the Browns owner Bill Veeck. Actually, Veeck had stumbled onto a way to expose the stupidity of the MLB walk rule, which should have been changed radically after Babe Ruth walked 170 times in 1923. Make a mockery of it until they change it ... hopefully for the better but with MLB you never know. Current AL teams in particular can do this by having the midget be the DH, designated hitter, someone who does not play the field. Wouldn't the midget be a slow runner? Not necessarily but he/she would probably be faster than David Ortiz, the Boston DH. Plus, it would provide an opportunity for women to play MLB. The requirement is not that the player be able to hit, but to be small and run fast. Why not women? How could MLB legislate against it? Can you say Americans with Disabilities Act? Good luck trying to ban midgets, women, dwarfs, even children in 2010.

Send in the midgets!
_______________________________

The plate umpire has long since abandoned his position directly behind the plate and violated the rule on every pitch for many years.  The ump is guessing, especially on pitches on the edge of the plate away from the batter.  The ump also allows the catcher to violate a rule by putting one foot outside the catcher's box.  How about an umpire's box and enforcing the rules?

I'm sick of reading about pitch framing.  It's existence merely proves my point, that the strike zone concept undermines the integrity of baseball much more than performance enhancing drugs (PED), including steroids, ever did.

Framing pitches by catchers: doesn't that mean there's a serious problem with calling balls and strikes?  Wednesday, April 30, 2014

The strike zone should be and always should have been a physical target that the ball hits to be a strike.  Yes, the same size for all batters, just like in football and basketball.  I'd allow the batter to set the height of the target between his knees and shoulders.

Originally, pitching meant throwing the ball underhand, like softball today.  Pitches were probably slower than today and the silly strike zone was incorporated more easily.  But today, the speed of the average fastball is about 91.5 miles per hour ... with movement.  Then there are all the Bugs Bunny pitches that suddenly zip away from the bat.  Who can expect umpires to correctly determine if such pitches pass through some part of that imaginary three dimensional strike zone?

Baseball fans, that's who expect it.  Then when it appears that a call has gone against their team the fans scream in anguish.  And, of course, those fans have even less idea than the plate umpire, especially if they were foolish enough to attend the game.

Fix it!  Don't distort it more by ignoring current rules and by praising pitch framing.