It's true that a passed ball did result in a series of runs in the 1941 World Series. However, when Hugh Casey fanned Tommy Henrich and the ball got past Mickey Owen, there were NO men on base. Hence, Henrich went to first base. Even with the passed ball, the Dodgers still had a chance to end the game with a 4-3 win. Then, Charley Keller singled, and Henrich went to second. Next, Joe DiMaggio doubled and THAT'S when Henrich and Keller scored. Everyone knows what happened after that. When I did the 1974 Pirates segment, the passed ball directly resulted in a run scored. When Owen dropped the ball, the Yanks didn't score immediately. The Yanks just took advantage of their second chance.

1. Runner on first, one out, I'd much rather see the batter strike out than hit into a double play. Of course, the next batter may strike out, too (or hit a long fly ball to the warning track that the outfielder makes a great catch to keep from being a home run or even get a double on which the guy who had been on first gets thrown out at the plate to end the inning).

2. An at-bat that ends with a strikeout involves at least three pitches. If there are runners on base, a lot can happen when these pitches are thrown. Good things for the offensive team include stealing a base, a balk being called, a passed ball, or a wild pitch. The last two can come on one of the earlier pitches, before strike three. Of course, for any of these situations that doesn't cause a run to score, if that strikeout is the third out, it was only a temporary good thing. But if it was only the first or second out, the runner(s) who advanced is/are that much closer to scoring.

The stat of batting average with runners in scoring position is not always meaningful. Getting a hit with a runner on second doesn't always score that runner. Conversely, making an out (not the third out, of course) that has a charged at-bat (grounder to the right side) sometimes scores a runner from third. The latter situation also includes some errors and fielders choice situations in which everyone is safe.

Counterintuitive as it might seem, increasing the size of the strike zone might decrease strikeouts. It would decrease the likelihood that the batter would receive a walk and decrease his expectation of receiving a "fat pitch" on subsequent offerings.