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Ozzie Smith has partnered with Kingsford Charcoal to start the conversation about what people like most about baseball – i.e. the long ball, dominant pitching or amazing glove work. Fans can join the conversation by sharing their thoughts along with the hashtag #BestofBaseball for a chance to win a VIP trip to the 2017 All-Star Game ... 

As part of this ongoing conversation, the Hall of Fame shortstop and Cardinals legend recently spoke to CBS Sports about the rise of strikeouts in baseball and what could be done to get contact -- and great defense -- back to its prominent place in the game. 

Commissioner Rob Manfred has of course made improving the pace of play a prominent part of his agenda. At some point, maybe Manfred will introduce measures to cut down on strikeouts and incentivize more balls in play. Speaking of strikeouts, in 2013 the league for the first time topped the 20 percent mark when it comes to strikeouts as a percentage of total plate appearances ... 

Year

K%

2013

19.9 percent

2014

20.4 percent

2015

20.4 percent

2016

21.1 percent

2017

21.7 percent

As you can see, those numbers are still trending upward. Throw in the current percentage of walks, and these days you've got the defense just standing around more than 30 percent of the time. By comparison, in Smith's rookie season of 1978, batters struck out just 12.6 percent of the time ... 

CBS Sports: I grew up on 1980s baseball, and I still very much love watching the game. However, there are just not enough balls in play for my tastes these days. 

Ozzie Smith: Isn't that the truth? 

CBS: Yeah. I mean, I get it. I understand why batters are swinging hard. Home runs are more valuable than singles. 

OS: Hey, home run hitters drive Cadillacs. 

CBS: Yes, I get it. But do you have any thoughts on what can be done to bring contact back into the game? Something you think players might be agreeable to?

OS: I don't know that there's anything they're going to be agreeable to because it's kind of become the norm. You know, there's nothing worse than watching a game and you see guys taking the same swing 0-and-2 that he's taking 1-0. We were brought up in a different time where we knew that to put any pressure on the defense you had to put the ball in play. You put the ball in play by choking up when you got two strikes. What's amazing is that we saw a guy hit 73 home runs choked up on the bat. Nobody's really taken heed of that. It's OK for a guy to strike out 200 times, but that was a no-no for us. To strike out 200 times a year, that's crazy. It's become part of the norm now and people expect that. That to me has never been a great brand of baseball. You need people to put the ball in play, and if you're better at catching and throwing, then you're going to win more games over a 162-game schedule. That was just an understanding that we had. 

CBS: I look at, for instance, the Mets this year. They're quite possibly a contending team again, and that's one of the worst defensive teams up the middle that I can remember seeing. But they can get away with that. There are so many strikeouts these days, especially in that Mets rotation, that they can do that kind of thing. 

OS: Well, let me say this. I think that over the long haul, over 162 games, if you don't catch and throw the ball as good as or better than the opposition, it's going to catch up with you at some point in time. And unfortunately, it catches up with you at the worst time, be it in the World Series or playoffs are whatever. But if you can't do it, that's going to be exposed at some point. 

CBS: I'm of the opinion that the emphasis on game times is a little misplaced. I don't mind a three-hour game, especially if I'm at the ballpark, it's more what's happening within those three hours that's baseball's problem right now. 

OS: Right. 

CBS: Let me toss out a few ideas that have been bandied about to get contact back in the game. I'd like to hear what you, as a Hall of Famer and someone who's been around the game for decades, think about them. First, reducing the size of the strike zone. 

OS: I don't know, it's kind of hard unless you go to automated. I think every umpire is going to call it a bit differently. I think that's where your consistency needs to come from, having the umpires understand where and what the strike zone is. It's weird listening to people say, "This guy has his own strike zone." Well, that's confusing because it's supposed to be from this point to that point. So that's one of the ways, making sure umpires have a better idea of what the strike zone is. And even at that, when you have the human element involved, it's hard to do it consistently.

CBS: Another idea I've seen, and I'm not sure how you're going to feel about this, is to reduce the size of fielders' gloves so that there's more incentive for batters to put the bat on the ball. 

OS: (Laughing) That to me is not going to be an incentive to put the ball in play. That has to come from the player, making sure that he works to put the ball in play with two strikes. The size of the glove with that because everyone's hands may be a different size. You have to play with the equipment that's most comfortable for you. 

CBS: Hey, it's not my idea. I'm just passing along. Along those same lines, I've seen people say that we should mandate that the bat handles be a little thicker so that players can't do the whip swing. 

OS: (Laughing, again). Here again, it comes down to what you're most comfortable with. It's always going to go back to the player willing to make the commitment to make himself better at what he's trying to do. It's all personal stuff, man. If you want to be the best you can be, then you've got to realize that striking out is not the best thing and that I'm going to put pressure on the defense by putting the ball in play. You've got to take a lot of pride in that. 

CBS: There are so many more hard-throwing relievers these days and teams are carrying so many more pitchers on the roster these days. That leads to weaker benches and also are those hard-throwers in the pen. What would you think about limiting the number of pitchers on the roster or maybe increasing the number of batters they have to face so they can't just face one hitter and come out? 

OS: No, not really. Here again, it takes you away from what the game is really about. I've got to be able to make the adjustments that I need to make to make my team successful. With guys throwing as hard as they're throwing, I, as a baseball player, know that I've got to cut down on my swing if I want to put any pressure on the defense. If a guy's throwing hard and I know a team is not good defensively, the only way I'm going to put pressure on them is to put it in play. It goes back to the player taking pride in the product that he puts on the field. If a guy's a hard-thrower out of the pen, then I know I can't have that giant, hard swing because a big swing has more holes in it than one designed for contact. 

CBS: Is there any kind of change you would make if you had absolute power to do that -- to try to get contact back in the game?

OS: No, it's just about having guys understand and taking pride and making sure that they are statistically -- and we have statistics for everything. Well, that's a statistic there: how often does a guy cut down on his swing with two strikes and put the ball in play? That's a good negotiating point when you go in and negotiate a contract. 

CBS: Do you still enjoy watching baseball?

OS: I enjoy watching a game where the game's played extremely well. I don't like these 15-4, 15-14 games, those are not real exciting baseball games to me. It's about that 3-1 and that 3-2, that pitching duel, which we rarely see anymore. You don't see guys going the distance anymore. I think the preparation is to go five innings -- we call it "five and fly" -- and the guy's out of there. Back in the day, guys like Gibson and Marichal and those guys told everyone they were going the distance. That mindset prepared you for nine innings. It's all in preparation, preparing to go the distance. You want to have as many of those players as possible on your roster. 

CBS: Do you have a favorite shortstop among all these great young ones that we have in the game right now? A guy you particularly enjoy watching?

OS: They're all pretty good. We got a chance to see Francisco Lindor on the big stage and see how talented he is. He brings a certain effervescence to the game, you know, with that great smile. He seems like he's having fun. You've got Andrelton Simmons, who's been compared to me on several occasions. Terry Pendleton, who was an old teammate of mine and a coach down in Atlanta, told me six or seven years to go to look out for this kid Simmons because he was something. And then you have Brandon Crawford in San Francisco, who's brought a stability to that organization. Elvis Andrus in Texas. Lot of good shortstops -- Corey Seager in L.A. You've got a lot of shortstops who are sure-handed and play the position very well. 

CBS: Finally, any advice for youth baseball players out there?

OS: Well, you [the parent] can't want it more than he [the player] wants it. If he doesn't put anything in, he shouldn't expect to get anything out of it. And that's not just baseball, that's life. No success is going to come to him without some blood, some sweat, and some tears.