“When they moved from the balloon chest protectors, umpires had a higher strike zone because they set up behind the catcher so they couldn’t get hit. When they went to the inside chest protector, the umpire got in the slot between the catcher and the hitter. He was down lower, with a lower perspective. Consequently, the strike zone got lower. For years, anything above the belt was a ball. Both sides became low-ball hitters. Even now, look at how many hitters swing at high fastballs and how many really hit it. Not many.”