No Consensus on Strike Zone Yet; Deal Reached on Recruitment
Commissioner Gallaway hosted the first of what is expected to be several demonstrations and conversations of possible strike zone technology this past Sunday at Ft. Reno. The ground was still snow covered, but seven players representing five teams from last season participated in the summit.
The group, dominated mostly by pitchers, were in full agreement on a strike board, possibly one as large as three feet wide and eight feet tall. Commissioner Gallaway steered conversations closer to the 20 inch wide by 30 inch tall board that was used during Weeks 1 and 2 of the Summer 2009 Season.
The main focus of the tests was to determine an appropriate speed limit on pitchers if the new board is in place. It is widely agreed that a strike board without a speed limit would dramatically move the game in favor of pitchers, most of whom nobody likes anyway.
The PWL is officially a slow-pitch league, where pitched balls must have arc on them. However, in recent seasons this rule has become somewhat of a joke as a couple of pitchers have flagrantly disregarded the requirement in an effort to pad their strike out and ERA stats. Despite a growing movement to have pitching stats from those years marred with an asterisk, the Commissioner has focused on looking forward and not backward.
“We must solve the long term pitch speed, called strike, and endless at-bat problems for the future, and not dwell on the past,” Commissioner Gallaway said. When asked if the Commissioner despised the pitchers that fail to follow the rules, Gallaway replied, “I probably would if I gave them any thought.”
The pitchers present Sunday were pushing for a 40 to 50 MPH limit, and a rule that the fields would be rotated so that the wind was always blowing in from the outfield, even if it meant changing the field layout and moving the fence between innings. At 40 MPH from the 30 foot distance of the pitcher’s rubber, it’s the equivalent of an 80 MPH major league pitch.
Pitchers could still throw pitches as fast as they want, and mix up speeds to fool batters. However, any pitch not swung at that hit the strike board would only be a called strike if it was within the speed limit.
When the Commissioner pointed out that pitches over about 35 MPH were neither slow, nor had arc, the pitchers scoffed and took additional sips of their Rolling Rock Lite beers that were left over from a high school party one of them had recently attended.
The pitchers present complained that they couldn’t get the ball to break at 30 MPH, and it would be unfair because it’s possible that three or four times out of every ten plate appearances that batters might put the ball in play, or even get a hit.
Also at issue is a proposal the Commissioner floated to hold pitchers accountable for not delaying the game as batters have been accused of in the past. The proposal would be that if a pitcher threw 4-6 consecutive “balls” that missed the target, and weren’t swung at, they would be warned. If they did the same thing again the same game, a new player would have to come in to pitch.
“It’s important that if we do add called strikes, that we also make sure pitchers are required to work in the strike zone and not just always throw around it without any repercussions. Without walks, a rule like this is the only way to ensure that pitchers don’t intentionally throw crap nowhere near the zone to get a batter to swing out of boredom, or to move the game along”, the Commissioner said.
Cy Young Award winning pitcher Tony Ragano, often regarded as one of the best in the league, defiantly argued a rule like that would be ridiculous, and that even he, the best pitcher in the league couldn’t be expected to be able to hit a target over 600 square inches big from 30 feet away at least once in 8-12 attempts. “Have you ever played ring toss at the fair”, Ragano said, “it’s like that except way harder.”
When it was pointed out that if he couldn’t hit the strike board on a regular basis then the entire point of the conversation of adding a board for called strikes was moot, Ragano countered with, “Way harder.”
Walks have long been off the table in the PWL rules discussion as a “pussy move” that no self-respecting wiffleball player would want to add to the game.
There was agreement made at the summit though regarding recruitment. It was generally agreed that not enough players in the league are super-focused on pitching to the point of actually being terrible hitters, and that every effort should be made to recruit more assholes to the league for the Spring season. Andrew Martin of Alcoholics Anonymous was put in charge of this effort and immediately began contacting his Facebook friends.
Strike Boards are not only fair, but logical, Mar 8, 09:47 PM:
speaking of pussy moves…
there is nothing more pussy than not having a strike board. if you vote against the strike board you’re either gay or a pussy. or a gay pussy.
Hardware Collection, Mar 8, 10:42 PM:
I just want you to know that I have a hardware collection.
Tony C, Mar 8, 11:14 PM:
There has to be some balance if there is a strike zone … what about 10 balls to a walk?
And if the issue is wind making it impossible to pitch to the board, then delay the game.
John Cain, Mar 9, 01:20 AM:
There’s a tendency here to eschew simple solutions in favor of complex rule systems. Call me a pussy all you want, but allowing walks seems more simple than allowing only 6-8 balls consecutively if and only if subsection A is breached with punishment to be determined by the lunar cycle. Similarly, why institute a speed limit when you can just push the pitching mound back?
Jack S, Mar 9, 08:55 AM:
I honestly don’t see the problems with walks. Why the hell should the pitcher get the advantage by not worrying about walks? If you can’t throw strikes, you should be punished. Perhaps each player can have the option of taking the walk or resetting the count if some of you think its dishonorable to take walks.
We’ve (barnburners) been playing with a strike board in our backyard for about 10 years. Everything you guys highlight as problems are not that big of issues in reality. It’s better than an ump calling strikes, it evens the playing field for the pitcher, and it makes the games go by quicker.
If you people shoot down the strike board, we’ll bring our own and force the opponent to use it.
Barnburners mommy, Mar 9, 09:24 AM:
Plus my wittle boys are going to tell me about it, then I’m going to have to get involved. And you know what that means- no chocolate sprinkles on your sundaes tonight!
Alex Filides, Mar 9, 12:10 PM:
I agree with Jack S here, We’ve had enough games last season that were 1-0, not to mention the home run fences have been pushed back and now the pitchers want a strike board. So we’re going to let the pitchers start throwing at the low outside corner with no consequences. Honestly, the speed of the pitch wasn’t that much of an issue with me. However, with the strike board, and the fences being pushed back, don’t the pitchers have enough of an advantage? I’m not opposed to having a strike board. If you believe walks are for pu**ies, then we might as well bring live baseballs into the game, because using a wiffleball isn’t very manly either.
recruitment?, Mar 9, 12:20 PM:
so you actually find it a problem that there aren’t pitchers who are bad hitters?
in what world does that make sense?
so now we should start recruiting lefty specialists and develop bullpens?
these proposed rules grossly favor the pitcher. have the wind blow in? really? that would be as much fun as a sober night with andrew martin. the best parts of wiffle ball are the long-ball. just like baseball.
i’m in favor of strike board, mainly cuz it allows called strikes and prevents bastardizations of the game, like cat eyes 10 minute at bat. the speed limit definitely favors the hitter, which is a good thing. nobody wants to sit around for a awful game of no offense. but there needs to be limits for hitters, cuz no called strikes or balls is stupid.
P.S.
my mommy will kick your ass.
A.A, Mar 9, 01:34 PM:
I never have a sober night so you wouldn’t have to worry about that lol. And its not the fault of those of us who can pitch that you so called hitters would rather play under hand pitching so you can have a home run derby. As a pitcher I would be perfectly fine with walks now that the pitchers have the strike board. The greatest advantage of the strike board though is that hitters can’t stand around for an hour waiting for their pitch. The strike board will speed the games up dramatically as long as teams have pitchers that can hit the damn thing
Alex Filides, Mar 9, 02:39 PM:
Can’t argue with my AA friend, he’s almost as smart as I am. ;)
Hardware, Mar 9, 04:17 PM:
This is all very compelling and rich… And I still have more hardware than you. HAHAHAHAHA… Have some.
AA - Wall, Mar 9, 04:22 PM:
People really don’t get Gallaway’s humor and sarcasm in his articles? Ah it’s the best people!
1963 Mets, Mar 9, 08:45 PM:
Who proposed moving the fences back? If the pitcher can’t hit the strike board with 6-8 pitches, he should get off the mound. Period.