Because of the plague (COVID-19) several weeks ago playgrounds in New York City had their baskets removed from backboards so that social/physical distance could be enforced. Now that has also been done in at least some of Westchester County, which borders the Bronx to the north.
But basketball could still be played, just in an imaginary way with players shooting at non existent baskets and deciding whether or not the shot went through the hoop. It's silly but maybe better than nothing.
What's really absurd is that it is comically similar to the core of organized baseball since baseball's inception. Informal kids versions of baseball games often have a physical target for the strike zone. In city stick ball, a rectangle is drawn on the wall behind the batter. If the pitch lands within the rectangle, it's a strike. Pretty simple and basic, with the strike zone being physical, not imaginary.
However, "real" baseball has a strike zone with no physical boundaries. It's above home plate but does not touch home plate. If a pitch touches the plate, it's a ball. The width is fixed but the height varies with the stance of each batter. So the strike zone varies vertically but not horizontally.
And yet baseball people take it's very absurdity for granted and cannot imagine anything different, like stick ball, which many have played. Years ago I proposed rule changes that would fundamentally improve the strike zone and make baseball much safer and drastically better paced and therefor more entertaining.
- eliminate the catcher
- place a round bull's eye or equivalent behind home plate; a pitched ball hitting it is a strike
- let the batter choose where between his knees and shoulders the target's bottom or top will be placed for that plate appearance; in other words, baseball would return to something from the 1800s: the batter calls for a high or low strike zone
- base runners may not leave their base until the ball is hit by the batter
- the "catcher" may play anywhere, probably near the pitcher who almost by definition is not a baseball player and cannot field well
- the "plate" umpire stands behind the pitcher and hands him a new ball as needed
- the pitcher delivers within three seconds of receiving the ball from the umpire.
Or baseball can continue to slow down and bore the heck out of us. Basketball without baskets should be a wake up for baseball people but I doubt it. Otherwise, they would have fixed this mess long ago.
Click the link below for all my posts on the strike zone:
https://radicalbaseball.blogspot.com/search/label/Strike%20Zone
Why is the Strike Zone below the belt?
Kenneth Matinale 8/7/19
Automated strike zone does not need a plate umpire getting hit in the head by fouls.
Kenneth Matinale 8/4/19
Could the pitcher throw strikes without a catcher?
Kenneth Matinale 6/17/19
Strike Zone: does the entire ball stuff apply vertically?
Kenneth Matinale 2/13/19
Subtle strike zone change: ENTIRE ball must be over the plate.
Kenneth Matinale 2/13/19
Eliminate the corners of the strike zone.
Kenneth Matinale 7/17/18
Pitching has devolved to nibbling at the knees.
Kenneth Matinale 6/27/16
Balls and Strikes still vary by umpire ... more than 2 to 1.
Kenneth Matinale 2/8/16
Touch your body at the top of the strike zone.
Kenneth Matinale 10/20/15
Automated strike zone within five years.
Kenneth Matinale 8/25/15
Independent Atlantic League tries timid radical rules: 3-ball walk, 2-strike foul SO.
Kenneth Matinale 4/19/15
Strike Zone: last major refuge for human error.
Kenneth Matinale 5/9/14
The strike zone is really stupid.
Kenneth Matinale 5/8/14
Balloon chest protector would improve strike calling.
Kenneth Matinale 2/7/13
Imaginary strike zone can be made real: a unifying theory.
Kenneth Matinale 2/6/13
Send in the midgets!
Kenneth Matinale 3/24/10
Fool Proof Strike Zone
Kenneth Matinale 9/19/08
https://radicalbaseball.blogspot.com/search/label/Strike%20Zone
No comments:
Post a Comment