YES should just say no to strike-zone box

TV’S WORST ideas remain those with the best chance to be duplicated then perpetuated.

Now YES’ Yankees telecasts, responding to the wishes of perhaps no one outside of YES, has added one of those computerized strike zone boxes during and over all live pitching.

Does it matter that they’re misleading — providing one-dimensional looks at the three-dimensional — unnaturally intrusive, distracting, always irrelevant and often wrong? Not a bit. Last Sunday, Giancarlo

Stanton took a called strike. He showed no problem with the ump’s call of what appeared to be a good pitch. But on YES, it was outside.

Tuesday against the Yanks, the Rays’ C.J.

Cron took a called strike. Cron had no problem with the call, which appeared to be correct. But YES’ box called it a ball.

Wednesday, Stanton, on a two-strike pitch, took outside. Neither pitcher nor catcher conveyed any disapproval of the call, which appeared to be a good one. The only place it was strike was within YES’ computerized box.

The next pitch, Stanton, who’d looked at strike three — as per YES’ box — hit a two-run homer.

How did Mississippi State make it to the women’s NCAA final vs. Notre Dame? It received help — the standard basketball gift — from Final Four opponent Louisville.

Louisville had a threepoint lead with 11 seconds left. MSU ball, timeout. With 6 seconds left, instead of fouling, Louisville allowed MSU’s Roshunda Johnson to tie it with a 3. Louisville was then crushed in OT. To be continued ...

Not that there won’t be plenty of others to choose from, but if it comes down to the Yanks and Red Sox, remember this little “By the Book” number Thursday that gave Boston a 3-2 win:

The Rays led, 2-0, in the ninth, when manager Kevin Cash, as per his norm, finally found a reliever opponents could crush.

Though his per-inning relievers in the sixth, seventh and eighth had been superb, allowing only one walk among them, everyone has to have a closer. So in came reliably unreliable Alex Colome, who was clobbered for four hits, two walks and two earned runs.