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dennisnow the umpires have a small strike zone and any one can hit it out of the park,makes pitching a little tougher than even 15-20 years ago. all the factors favor the hitter.smaller strike zone,smaller parks,body armor for batters,lighter bats,bigger players,tighter wound balls,parks in the west where the ball travels farther,umpire warnings if a batter is hit or god forbid is pitched inside!no wonder pitchers are afraid to challenge batters so they feel they have to be perfect with their pitches. plus they are pampered in the minors(when was the last time a minor league pitcher won 20 games) and managers are afraid of being blamed for blowing out the staffs arms.i think this started with billy martin in the late70's early 80's in oakland.back then they did not count pitches and games were played much quicker.imo they probably do throw more pitches per inning now than at any time in baseball history.