Baseball's structure is fairly steady. Teams play 162 games every season and have done so every year since the American League expanded to 10 teams in 1961 and the National League did the same a year earlier. The All-Star Game is played around the midseason mark and the World Series takes place at the end of every season. However, several controversies have affected the rules and the governing of the games by umpires.
Strike Zone
The Major League Baseball rule book describes the strike zone as being from the top of the shoulders to the bottom of the knees. The strike zone has undergone subtle changes through the years, but no matter how it is officially defined by the rules, it is in the hands of each home plate umpire. Some umpires will have bigger strike zones that favor the pitchers and some will have smaller strike zones that favor the hitter. MLB managers, coaches and players grow frustrated when a strike zone can change from one game to the next or within a game. "The one thing you want from an umpire is consistency," said former MLB manager Bob Brenly. "When an umpire changes his strike zone that can be too much of a handicap to overcome."
Designated Hitter
In an effort to bring more offense to the game, the American League added the designated hitter rule in 1973. That rule gives managers the ability to have one player bat for the pitcher throughout the game. The designated hitter has remained a staple of American League baseball since that time. However, the National League has never added the designated hitter. The two leagues play by separate sets of rules when in comes to the designated hitter. When the two leagues meet in interleague play, the All-Star game or the World Series, the designated hitter is used in games played in American League ballparks but not in games played in National League parks.
Tying All-Star Game to Homefield Advantage in World Series
The 2002 All-Star game in Milwaukee finished in a 7-7 11-inning tie. The All-Star game had become little more than a showcase game in which managers felt obligated to get all their players into the game. When both teams ran out of healthy pitchers, commissioner Bud Selig declared the 2002 game a tie and baseball was roundly criticized. In an effort to make the game more meaningful after the 2002 game, baseball officials decided to give the league that won the All-Star game home-field advantage in the World Series. The decision was criticized on several fronts.
Instant Replay
Baseball has used instant replay to help umpires decide whether they have gotten home run calls correctly since August 2008. It can be difficult to determine whether a ball has flown over the wall or hit the top of it, especially in stadiums where a yellow line on the wall is used to determine home runs. However, baseball does not use instant replay to determine fair and foul balls on non-home runs or on safe-or-out calls. Critics believe more calls would be made correctly if instant replay was used in these situations. Baseball has deemed that expanding instant replay would unnecessarily lengthen games.
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