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My opinion on this is simple. I feel there are two "zones" in which the players get. The first zone is the batters box. This is the batter's space. The second zone is the area from the inside line of the batter's box, across home plate and into the opposite batters box. This is the pitchers zone.
The rule should be simple. A pitched ball that strikes a batter in the batters box shall be ruled a HBP. A pitched ball that strikes a batter outside the of the batters box shall be ruled a dead ball and a strike or ball shall be awarded based on the location of the ball in relation to the strike zone.
There are only three things for an umpire to judge. Was the ball in the batters box or outside the batters box. Was the ball a strike or ball. Did the batter attempt to make contact with the pitched ball by swing or bunt attempt.
This rule would clearly define the space for each player and hopefully would eliminate the batters crowding the plate looking to get hit by a pitch. This also should not be a difficult call to make as the umpire should have a great view as to the location of the ball relative to the inside edge of the batters box. This rule also would eliminate the judgment of "did the batter attempt to avoid being hit by the ball?"
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