if you want to see more offense, lower the mound. It might even offset the effects of the shift.
I'd leave the mound alone for now.
What do people think about the strike zone? When I started watching baseball, it was basically from the shoulders to the bottom of the knee. If that were to return, would it help:
- Stop the excessive "nibbling" by pitchers leading to high pitch counts early in games?
- Get the bats off hitters' shoulders and have them swinging at pitches as the game was originally designed?
- Make a bad situation (too many Ks, not enough balls in play, low BAs) even worse?
I don't know. The "old" zone did seem to result in faster games, more .300 hitters than today, no loss of power hitters ... until it didn't (the watershed year of 1968).
Anyone recall exactly when and why the strike zone started getting "compressed"? Clearly, attempts to broaden the strike zone in recent years have failed. At least to my eyes.
