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NEW YORK -- Wade Miley hears the talk about lifting the bottom of the strike zone in an effort to spark offense and insists there has been too much tinkering already.I dont know why they just cant leave the game alone, the Seattle pitcher said. Cant we just go play and try to get three outs and go from there?Concerned about the drop in offense in recent years, Major League Baseball has studied whether to restore the lower edge of the strike zone from just beneath the kneecap to its pre-1996 level -- at the top of the kneecap. Any change for 2017 would require an agreement with the players association, which is skeptical. Membership is split.I think its kind of outrageous what theyre trying to do with the strike zone, Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood said. Obviously, Im biased. Im a pitcher. But at the same time, its shrunk drastically, maybe even in the last five or six years.Baseball people talk about the strike zone the way most discuss the weather: constant complaints about hard-to-fathom change.Wood threw 11.9 percent of his pitches last year at the bottom of the strike zone, according to Fangraphs, which defined the lowest portion as between 1.5 and 1.75 feet off the ground. That was the highest-percentage in the major leagues, just ahead of Minnesotas Kyle Gibson at 11.3 percent and Mileys 11 percent.When the strike zone was last changed, umpires took years to adjust.MLB has used computer software to track umpires strike zones since 2001, which has helped bring the umpiring staff into closer alignment on balls and strikes. Umpires receive a grade now after every game worked behind the plate, and that has resulted in an expansion of the strike zone over much of the past decade.Any adjustment to a new rule-book definition would take time.Theyd have to start in the minor leagues. I think for some of the guys to try to adjust to a new strike zone is going to be chaotic, said umpire Bob Davidson, who worked his first big league game in 1982. I hope they just leave it the way it is. I think we call it now the way the rule book states.Offense has increased this season. Through Thursdays games, the big league batting average is .256, the highest for a first half since 2010, and teams have combined for 2.31 homers per game, the most in the first half since the Steroids Era peak in 2000.But one trend remains constant: strikeouts.Teams combined to average 15.95 strikeouts per game in June, the third-highest month in major league history behind September 2015 (15.96) and April 2016 (16.26), according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The last 28 months dating to September 2011 are the highest-strikeout 28 months in big league history.Were at an interesting time in the game, Gibson said. I think they should ask players about strikeouts and how much they care about strikeouts because I dont think its as frowned-upon as it used to be -- because a guy whos striking out a lot is probably also hitting a lot of homers. And if you ask anybody in here if theyll take a 150-strikeout and 30-homer year, theyre going to say, yeah, sign me up.The strike zone has changed many times -- by definition, not just opinion, like Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon calling Laz Diazs zone last weekend amorphic. The top was moved from the armpits to the top of the shoulders ahead of the 1963 season, then lowered before 1969 following a drop in offense. The top was redefined again before the 1968 season to the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants -- where it remains.If the bottom came up, would the top come up, too? said Toronto pitcher R.A. Dickey, the 2012 NL Cy Young Award winner. If they want to introduce an era of better offense, then that would be one way to go, for sure. Because if youre having to elevate balls, thats right into the swing path of most hitters.But just raising the bottom alone likely would result in only a slight change.I think thats a tough pitch for umpires to call already. Not only are they blocked a little bit by the catcher, but the pitches that I throw down there arent straight four-seamers. Theyre sinking down already, Gibson said. I think most of those probably arent called strikes. Theyre probably groundballs or swings and misses or foul balls. ... But, yeah, raising the strike zone for me is going to be a little more difficult, depending on how they call that. But its just like any other rule change. Just like the slide rule at second. Im going to have to make an adjustment and hopefully its not an adjustment that causes me to get hit a whole lot. Wholesale Shoes For Sale Online . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Wholesale Shoes China Free Shipping . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. http://www.wholesaleshoesfreeshipping.com/ . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Wholesale Shoes Free Shipping Worldwide . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. Wholesale Shoes Free Shipping Online . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. TWICKENHAM -- Eddie Jones has opened the door on the possibility of staying on beyond 2019 but sounded a note of caution over how fickle sport and reputations are.When Jones took the job in November he was adamant that he would be in the job until the next Rugby World Cup and would then head to Barbados to rest and watch cricket. But this week both the Rugby Football Union and Jones have raised the possibility of him staying on beyond the next World Cup.But Jones says any discussions will be parked until after the Japan tournament in 2019 and warned how quickly a coachs stock can fall if results start going the wrong way.Its very flattering that people even talk about it but these things run their natural course, Jones said. Look at Jose Mourinho after three games.Everyone thought he was going to change Manchester United; two games later theyre saying hes made all these mistakes.Thats the life we live; I understand that. When you win games your stocks are pretty high; if we lose against South Africa people will be saying Why have we employed this Australian? There wont be any discussion about 2019.He added: If we dont deliver, the only thing theyll be asking me is what time does your flight leave. If we do well, then therell be a discussion and if we do well the discussion will take place after we do well.At this stage I have a plan in place which is to give everything Ive got for England over the next four years.Jones confirmed the 45-man Elite Player Squad on Friday -- the administrative side of the England squad which sees the RFU pay the clubs a set amount per player in the group -- and the 37-man group that will train together ahead of their November Test against South Africa.Saracens Alex Lozowsski was included in the 45-man group but not in the training squad with Jones seeing him as a player for the future while Sam Jones and Mike Williams will be given the chance to impress in next weeks camp in Brighton ahead of the Nov.dddddddddddd 12 match against the Springboks.Sam Jones appears to be in the box seat for the openside berth with both Jack Clifford and James Haskell sidelined.Hes probably one of the most destructive tacklers in the league at the moment, Eddie Jones said of Sam Jones. And that gives him the opportunity to play Test rugby, because he brings something different to the table.Guys like him, its about how they can make the adjustment from being a club player to an international player.Ben Morgan also earned a recall with Jones impressed by his form before he took charge of England -- I think having watched him play that hes got the potential to be a successful Test player - but Danny Cipriani continues in international exile.Look hes a talented player but I said it quite clearly to him: at the moment hes not one or two in England in terms of stand-offs, Jones said. We see George [Ford] and Owen [Farrell] together as one and two. They are 23 and 24 years old, they are the heart of the England side. They can organise the team, they are tactically smart.So for Cipriani to get into the squad hes got to be able to show he can be number one. 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