strike zone? what do YOU think?

Hi guys

In Major League Baseball, the owners have decided that it is entertainment rather than a competitive sport. It is sort of like our lowest common denominator politicians who act only upon polls. Now,. one "holy icon" no one can get away with defacing is that old saw about democracy. The one that misparaphrases Abraham Lincoln: "God must love stupid people. He made so many of them."

The next time you see someone in a grocery store buy a "National somthingorother", you know, those papers about women birthing 25 pound frogs or somehing, I hope you will remember....."This person's vote for President of the United States counts just the same as mine!"

By the same token, stubbornly ignorant stupids pay the same price for a ballgame ticket as you do. Furthermore, they will probably drink more beer at the game, and more junk food, hence they are better customers.

The vast majority of those stupids want to see lots of hitting, lots of offense.
It is the only part of the game they can understand, (or possibly even see through several cups of beer).

So the strike zone is being squeezed to that end.

In amatuer ball, the primary reason the umps screw up calling pitches is that they are standing in a fashion that forces them to look DOWN. (Their legs are too straight and their butt is too high.) Its the same problem an infielder has when they do that when trying to track a ground ball. See, an infielder needs to be able to track the ball from the bat to get a feel for that particular ball's rhythm.

My knees are shot, so when umping behind the plate I go down on one knee so I can track the ball from the pitcher to the strike zone. I glance down at the plate, draw two imaginary vertical lines up into the air from the corners, and then focus on the pitcher's release. If the ball touches or is between those lines, then all I have to do is judge the height compared to the batters natural crouch "letters".

As any umpire, I still get yelled at a lot, but I know its just wishful thinking on the part of the partisan fans, and get a chuckle out of it. I know where that ball tracked!

Best regards
Kenneth Bean