Jayson Stark: Competition Committee Agree's to Changes to Strike Zone, IBB's

[justice98]

I like the human element WHERE IT BELONGS in sports. From the players. Anybody who thinks the game is better by having umpires continually screwing up calls can't be taken seriously as a sports fan.

I wholehearedly agree.

Changing the strike zone to accommodate the umpires is absurd to me. The umpires should change and come up to the rules, not the other way around. So what happens when they umps don't call this strike zone correctly?

[Can_of_corn]

I wholehearedly agree.

Changing the strike zone to accommodate the umpires is absurd to me. The umpires should change and come up to the rules, not the other way around. So what happens when they umps don't call this strike zone correctly?

That is the exact opposite of what is happening.

[TakebackOPACY]

The strike zone was expanded in '96. This would reverse that expansion. Plus, the strike zone as it is actually called by umpires has been steadily expanding lower. This would be an effort to reverse that trend.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/strike_zone_rules_history.shtml

http://www.hardballtimes.com/the-strike-zone-expansion-is-out-of-control/

[DrungoHazewood]

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I think that it's like kicking an extra point. Has to be done. But I'm an old curmudgeon.

Then maybe they should make it harder, like the new extra point distance. Put a circle or a spot or something 50' behind the plate by the backstop. All intentional walks have to be four pitches to the catcher while he's standing there.

[DrungoHazewood]

I also would be fine with a rule that says if the catcher moves both feet out out of the catcher's box to catch a pitch any runners get a free extra base.

[DrungoHazewood]

The IBB rule seems trivial; I guess it will speed some games up by a few seconds.

But shrinking the strike zone seems like a potentially epochal change that could lead to a dramatic increase in run scoring. Historically, scoring more runs is good for attendance, and run scoring has dropped off in recent years, so I can understand why they are making the change, although it will slow the game down.

In 1963 they tweaked the strike zone a bit, making it a little bigger, and clarifying the boundaries including where on the knees and shoulders the edge was. The game transitioned from the one where Maris and Mantle both chased the Babe in one season and Jim Gentile beat them both with 141 RBI, to the one where Bob Gibson had a 1.12 ERA.

[Ohfan67]

I'm a little bummed. I really enjoy the current version of baseball versus the '90's offensive outburst. I like the scoring environment where every run means a lot.

[Can_of_corn]

I think your cause and effect is too simple. Britton to off to a great start as a rookie. Hard to say the strike zone is what caused his problems. More likely, he was a different pitcher back then and his shoulder problems were a large cause of his problems. The conclusion could be correct but it's based on inadequate information.

I think you are overlooking one thing. Britton is a one pitch pitcher because that's all he needs right now. His slider is a plus pitch, IMO, and I think the stats back that up. I could certainly see him going to the slider more, especially early in the count. A change in the strike zone would definitely hurt Britton more than most but I don't think it's an automatic death sentence for him either.

If Britton wasn't making 6.3M already and looking at a nice arbitration raise I would be willing to roll the dice on his ability to adapt.

Too rich for my blood at the ~10M he's making next year.

It would be a tough sell for me even without the strike zone change.

[Reboulet'sStache]

I wouldn't want Britton back at his salary next year, regardless of any changes to the strike zone.

[Reboulet'sStache]

How did you feel about the O'Day contract? I have no problem with Britton on a 1/10M contract. I'm not against exploring a trade but I certainly would not have a problem in a 1/10 contract either. Considering that Ubaldo will be on a 1/13 contract and Gallardo a 1/11 or so contract, it's not something that would bother me.

Against it.

[ArtVanDelay]

This game is over.

[ArtVanDelay]

This game is over.

Oops, wrong thread.

[Hallas]

So my understanding of this is that since the current strike zone stipulates that any part of the ball that is in the strike zone when the ball is over home plate is a strike. This could potentially mean that a pitch that grazes the bottom of the zone at the front of home plate would be 1/4 the way down a batter's ankles by the time he can swing at it. These pitches aren't really hittable unless you're Mike Trout, and probably shouldn't be strikes.

They're raising the bottom of the zone about 2 inches it looks like for most people, which after the umps recalibrated their strike zone, seems to be about right.

The only downside here is that it's exceedingly hard an umpire to be able to tell where the top of the kneecap is. I think player uniforms should be modified to give the umpires (and the players/fans) a better sense of the strike zone.