Pitching distance and height addressed in posts a year ago.

Randy Johnson

Position: Pitcher

Bats: Right  •  Throws: Left

6-10, 225lb (208cm, 102kg)

Born: September 10, 1963 (Age: 58-218d) in Walnut Creek, CA us

Pitcher's mound and distance are historical anachronisms. So is the strike zone. Sunday, April 4, 2021

You have to be a moron to like the strike zone and calling of balls and strikes. Monday, April 19, 2021

Replace whining cheaters with pitching machines. Thursday, June 17, 2021

Why moving the pitching distance back three feet to the middle of the diamond makes so much sense. Thursday, June 17, 2021

Pitcher's release distance to home plate? Thursday, June 24, 2021

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Bring back the pitcher's box. And get rid of the stupid mound. Thursday, March 20, 2014

When baseball was climbing out of its primordial slime a pitcher's box was born on flat earth.  In the beginning there was no mound...

The idea was to put the ball in play, not stand around watching the pitcher and catcher play catch waiting for the batter to either strike out or walk...

More fiddling occurred over the years.  The pitcher's box died in 1893.  Why?  Beats me.  The configuration became pretty much what we have today with a distance of 60 feet 6 inches but still on flat ground.  No mound.

So there was a pitching area from 1863 through 1873, then a pitcher's box from 1874 through 1893.  But no mound.

Let's consider two lefthanded pitchers.  Hall of Famer Whitey Ford was listed as 5 feet, 10 inches tall.  Randy Johnson SIX feet, 10 inches tall.  Both were required by rule to pitch from the same distance.  But Johnson could step forward and release the ball much closer to home plate than Ford.  In what galaxy is that fair?  All pitchers should be required by rule to RELEASE the ball from the same distance, not start from the same distance...

... a practical grounds-keeping function, but much more mundane.  When a hole needs to be filled, extra dirt is brought to the hole.  The next logical step is to bring extra extra dirt in order to eliminate trips...  One team copied another and finally it had to be regulated, hence the mound...

100 years of stupid rules is enough.

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Previous post:

Strike Zone change: the ball must be completely over home plate. Saturday, April 16, 2022