Why Offense Has Increased: Part 3 ---No Pitch Above the Belt is a Strike

The 21st century American citizen wants authority, believes in authority, and loves authority. If an authority states something, it must be correct. Americans trust authority more than they trust themselves. Do you want to lose weight? Diet authorities and personal trainers will tell you how to do it. Do you want to know what the president said in her State of the Union speech that you just heard? Political authorities on Fox News or Cable News Network will tell you. Do you need driving directions? Your Global Positioning System in the talking SUV you just leased will inform you. Do you want to know what you are seeing when you go to the ball game? The baseball authority you listen to on the radio at the ball park will tell you what you just saw.

Too many individuals merely accept and do not question. The umpire is the authority on the baseball field, but the umpires are told by higher authorities (read that as Bud Selig, the owners, and QuesTec) what they must and must not do. One thing they must not do is call any pitch above the batter's belt a strike.

The Baseball Rule Book states that 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.

What part of the above statement is too difficult for Bud Selig, his underlings, the umpires, the media, or fans to comprehend? Everyone realizes that the strike zone has shrunk to approximately one-fourth of a rule book strike but the baseball authorities want it that way, the lap dog media who sell out to the baseball owners want it that way, and the fans think that the baseball authorities have their and the game's best interests at heart. After all, there is much more action in an 11-9 slugfest than in a 2-1 pitcher's battle.

A few years ago, former Marlins manager John Boles asked, "Why aren?t strikes called according to the letter of the law? How can letter high pitchers that were routinely called strikes during the 1960s be called balls in today's game?" A partial answer is to increase offense. Fans want high scoring games and not calling pitches up in the strike zone accomplishes that goal. Batters can concentrate on lower pitches and not worry about anything above the belt.

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