mound believe it would level a playing field that has been tilted toward the hitters since two major-league expansions and the proliferation of other professional sports conspired to dilute the pitching talent pool. They also hope that giving pitchers a greater edge would speed up games, because better pitching means fewer hits, fewer walks and fewer at-bats.
July 4, 1995
In addition, pitchers presumably would become more aggressive and throw more strikes, which would make the game more exciting for the fans.
Hall of Famer Jim Palmer says so. He started his career pitching from the 15-inch mound and was unhappy when the change was made for the 1969 season, though it didn’t keep him from continuing to build up his reputation as one of the most dominant pitchers in the history of the game.
Steve Palermo came to the logical conclusion that if you have more leverage, you’ll be more aggressive, Palmer said. The more you’re on top of a hitter, the more confident you feel, but it’s also easier to maintain good mechanics on a high (vs. a flat) mound. On a flat mound, you have to rush your arm motion to get over the top before your front foot hits the ground.
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The more dramatic downward angle also would work against the hitters, because it would cause a subtle increase in velocity. Scouts have noticed that the velocity gap between the radar readings on the fast radar gun (which measures the speed of the ball out of the pitcher’s hand) and the slow gun (which measures the speed of the ball crossing the plate) diminishes the higher the ball is released, probably because the more downward trajectory reduces the decelerating force that gravity would place on an object moving horizontally.
Still, the change was proposed largely because of the psychological impact that it is expected to have on pitchers, many of whom seem hesitant to throw the ball in the strike zone.
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