Going Batty  * The ball is juiced. The stubborn old men who run
baseball will forever deny it, but the poor devils earning 28
cents an hour to sew the things together in Haiti might tell a
different story: The solid core is livelier, they might tell
you, and the wool windings around that are much tighter than
they used to be. The cowhide cover's also more taut, imparting
something like the physics of a Superball. But the red stitching
holding everything together is sewn more flatly to the surface,
making the ball harder to grip and, thus, more difficult to
cuuuuuurve or sliiiiiide.  * In 1996, the plate is a postage
stamp. There's no debating this one. While some guys wearing
blue are still known as "pitchers' umpires" because of their
broad interpretations of the strike zone, the heater at the
knees or the hook just below the letters is no longer called a
strike. In terms of latitude, pitchers who used to make their
living nibbling at the corners of the plate are also out of
luck. The slider "on the black" h