Through Sunday games were producing an average of 10.28 runs, a rate that, if it holds up, would be the highest since 1930. If baseball is serious in its search for ways to shorten games, curbing runaway offense is a logical place to start. Umpires were asked this winter to call higher strikes and stop extending the zone beyond the corners of the plate. A smaller strike zone and one that frames the wheelhouse of low-ball hitters like Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. Tune down the ball, which is jumpier than ever.
Pitchers can' t get a good grip anymore.
Raise the mound. Thirty years ago, after pitchers dominated the 1968 season, the mound was lowered from 15 inches to its current 10 inches. Offense surged by more than a run per game in '69. If you raise the mound, you get more parity in the game and, in all likelihood, fewer arm problems, too. The Mariners next play the Twins in a three-game series beginning on July 23, which means ball hawks should buy their outfield seats at the Metrodome right now.