kay, it’s a foregone conclusion. The strike zone will be called differently this year. Everybody says so. Commissioner Bud Selig says so. Executive Director of Baseball Operations Sandy Alderson says so. The umpires' union president John Hirschbeck says so. Player’s union official Gene Orza says so. Even Steve Palermo, retired umpire and TV network gadfly, says so. So?

Perception is…

In an address to the media, Sandy Alderson announced, "With certain exceptions, nothing above the belt has been called a strike. In some cases, nothing touching the belt has been called a strike. That's what we're looking to change."

There, plain and simple: The Executive Director of Baseball Operations has spoken. The upper limit of the zone is not being enforced, so let’s fix it. That must be the major problem, right? I mean, Sandy wouldn’t be saying that unless pretty much all of baseball, or at least most of the Major League agreed with him. Right?

Continued...