Everyone is swinging for the fences. Pitching duels have been replaced by sloppy slugfests. Power is replacing finesse. The game is obsessed with the long ball, and other factors are being muscled out. This year Preston Wilson of the Florida Marlins is on pace to strike out 215 times, smashing Bobby Bonds's unenviable 1970 mark of 189 times.
Pitchers report that hitters no longer protect the plate with two strikes.
If they can't go deep, they're content to go down swinging. Expansion has thinned pitching talent, umpires ignore the rule book and shrink the strike zone, and the ball is wound tighter. But the balance of nature has been upset. Hitting 40 homers used to be a real achievement, something even the greatest sluggers, except for Babe Ruth, didn't consistently do. Now even infielders are doing it.