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Article: A hollow solution: The enlarged strike zone might speed up games, but first the umpires have to buy into it
- Article from:
- The Sporting News
- Article date:
- April 1, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright The Sporting News Apr 1, 1996. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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Umpires are sensitive -- some even eat pastrami quiche. Their feelings are hurt when players yell at them. That's the reason baseball's weird experiment with the strike zone is doomed to meaninglessness. Umpires simply are unwilling to become Frankenstein's monsters to indulge marketing scientists trying to inject new life into the game.
Theoretically an enlarged zone will speed up tedious three-hour games. The zone officially is enlarged 3 to 4 inches -- its bottom moved from the top of the kneecap to the "hollow" below the kneecap. But umpires insist their individual zones are "instinctive" and cannot be modified. They are angry they weren't consulted on the change, and don't want to ...