GEORGE Soule’s Tavern

Good morning, baseball fans. @IAMRAGS is right on the money with this one. Randy is right about the 3D strike zone and how little of the baseball — that one-eighth of an inch — would actually have to clip the zone. If MLB goes to that 3D zone, hitters better figure some things out in a hurry, because with the swings we’re seeing now, team averages could easily end up 20 or 30 points below where they are today. The swings are too long. Everybody is trying to lift the baseball. The barrel gets in and out of the hitting zone too quickly. That’s why so many of us old-timers look at today’s game and ask, “What in the world are we doing?” Then we hear the same tired argument: “Velocity is so much greater now.” No. It isn’t. Are there MORE guys throwing at the upper end of the velocity range? Absolutely. I’ll give you that. But let’s play around and give the velocity crowd their argument anyway. Let’s play Quantum Leap. It’s the year 2000. Take today’s velocity and drop it into Major League Baseball back then. Would those big-league hitters adjust? Absolutely they would. They always have. Their swings were shorter and more direct. The barrel stayed through the hitting zone longer. Guys used the entire field and could consistently drive the ball the other way. Now give those same hitters TODAY’S strike zone too. That’s where this gets really interesting. Back then, pitchers were routinely getting a ball — sometimes a ball and a half — off the outside black called a strike. Some nights it was even more. When we still had separate National League and American League umpires, you basically had two different zones. The National League was generally lower and wider. The American League was a little tighter and higher. You adjusted. You had to. So give hitters from that era today’s tighter strike zone, and I don’t care if you also give pitchers today’s so-called velocity increase. I believe some guys would have been flirting with .400. No bullshit. I think batting averages across the board could have been 10 to 15 points higher. Now, would I personally want to hit with a 3D zone? Hell no. The outside part wouldn’t bother me nearly as much because we were already having to cover plenty of ground out there anyway. The inside part is where that 3D zone would punish hitters. And with the way swings are built today, it could get ugly fast. Maybe that ends up being a good thing. Maybe it finally forces organizations to get some of this bullshit out of hitting and get back to shorter, direct swings and using the whole field. RJ, you’re spot on, brother. #MLB #Baseball #Hitting #TheHugeShow #SheGone03