Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Columnist
When Sid Fernandez arrived in spring training he found a New York Yankees’ uniform that fit and a strike zone that might have been tailor-made.
Of all the years Fernandez could have picked to make a comeback, this one stands as opportune.
Indeed, if baseball had purposely set out to come up with ways to try to lure the former Kaiser High pitcher back from nearly three plus years of retirement, it couldn’t have done much better than the "new" strike zone. Next to putting a team in Hawai‘i, this might have been about the best way to entice him off a golf course and back onto the mound.
Fernandez’s return comes smack dab at the start of a season in which Major League Baseball has pledged to retool the strike zone.
Actually the "new" strike zone has been in the rule book -- page 23 -- all along. But this time in an effort to bring balance to an equation that has favored the hitters in recent years, they will actually enforce it.
Where past efforts ran into stubborn disobedience from the Major League Umpires Association, now with the demise of Richie Phillips’ group, it is the commissioner’s office that has the hammer.
And the commissioner’s office wants the return of the so-called "high strike," a concept that has been as elusive as a salary cap. Officially it is at the point of, "a horizontal line at midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the uniform pants."
What the umpires are being told is to envision that area two-to-three baseballs above the hitters’ belt as part of the strike zone.
For the Fernandez that we remember from 15 big league seasons with the Dodgers, Mets, Orioles, Phillies and Astros, it is part of his old neighborhood.
"We were in the clubhouse (in Tucson, Ariz.) when we saw on ESPN that Sid was making a comeback and the talk was like, ‘Oh, man,’ this strike zone is gonna really help Sid since he’s a high-ball pitcher," said Mike Lum, White Sox hitting coordinator.
"He’s been one of those guys with a lot of juice on his fastball who can get away with throwing it up that high," Lum said.
"As deceptive as his fastball can be, this strike zone should help him," said Barry Meister, Fernandez’s agent.
Indeed, when Fernandez was healthy, his high, whistling fastball embarrassed hitters. It contributed to the .204 opponent batting average which was among the best for active pitchers in his era.
If his wicked trademark fastball can approximate the 90 mph range he used to reach, Fernandez has a chance to find his zone this season.
Ferd Lewis has been reporting on Hawai‘i sports since 1973.
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