Pick up any rule book, and you will discover that the strike zone is from a batter's chest to his knees. If this is the rule, then why are so many pitches called "balls" which are right down the middle and belt high? The answer is baseball has become a hitter's game in which fans and officials want to see home runs and not a "no-hitter" or a complete shut out.

To accommodate people's desires to see more home runs, the strike zone has shrunk. It is now from the waist to the knees. The smaller strike zone, along with the expansion teams, which created the need for more pitchers (some of whom are not ready for the majors) has made baseball truly a hitter's game. With a smaller strike zone, many pitchers get behind in the count. To compensate, pitchers have to throw pitches right down the middle. Since major leaguers are so strong, they will murder these pitches. So the pitchers have no chance of survival.

These are some of the reasons for the record number of home runs by Seattle's Ken Griffey Jr. He is on track to hit sixty-five home runs this season. The record is sixty-one by Roger Maris in 1961. Everyone in baseball is calling for more good pitchers; maybe they should call for the strike zone to be re-opened to its original and correct size. l