I don’t think actually calling the strike zone as written would damage the offense. For one thing everybody would actually know where the zone is, so batters would know better which pitches to watch and which to swing at. For another, it’s not like the umps’ zones are bigger, they’re just different, some call them a little more to one side or the other, some shrink the vertical, some grow it. It’s all pretty random. Consistency would help both sides, then the teams wouldn’t spend the first 3 innings figuring out this guys zone. Or studying tape on them, the league should have panicked when Schilling said he studied ump tapes to get a handle on their zone.
Now they have charts for umpire tendencies, I just saw a game in the Marlin’s park where they showed them hanging up in the dugout.
I guess we disagree about actually calling strikes by the book would do. Maybe one day we’ll see. I tend to think at this level there would be a massive adjustment needed, and I don’t think today’s players would do it too easily. Look how many pull hitters can actually put the ball in play the other way with all this drastic shifting.
Now we have situations where the dumb ump is hanging over the plate trying to see the play at home and he blocks out the replay angle that will let NY call it. Good grief.
Freegards