BASEBALL STRIKES OUT...

EVER SINCE MARVIN Miller unionized the major league umpires and got them everything they justly deserved (except capital punishment), they have worked hard at making themselves unbeloved by mankind.

They have been arrogant and tyrannical, challenging everyone on everything and, even worse, refusing to subscribe to the strike zone as written in the official rules.

We shed not a tear when the union was ultimately struck out by the courts. But, as usual, it managed to survive and get a little lucky when Baseball's brilliant management ordered them to "hunt for more strikes."

It was so dumb that both the media and the public sided with the umpires and Baseball had to rescind its edict.

We believe that Baseball's command to "hunt for more strikes" stemmed more from grammatic inefficiency than arrogance. What Baseball had meant to say was "hunt for the high strikes you are not currently calling so that we can shorten the length of games - which are currently running longer than world wars."

As we have said on numerous occasions, Baseball should never have allowed the umpires to tinker with the strike zone and call balls and strikes by personal whim.

What Baseball should have done was monitor their officials the way it has always been done in football and basketball: watch them regularly, evaluate them, caution them when necessary, and, if they continue to flaunt their individuality, fire them.

That is the only way to maintain the integrity of the game and its officiating corps. If all else fails, Baseball may be forced to have Greg Maddux pitch every game for both sides.

He pitches only strikes - slightly above the knees on either the inside or the outside corner, and he never walks anyone. That kind of pitching will enable Baseball to finish a game in two hours.