why is the hammer strike taking over?

[bniu]

Does anyone know why the hammer is being used more widely in baseball? I'm an old school guy and I feel that strikes should be exclusively signaled with the point and the hammer should be reserved exclusively for outs. And besides, doesn't everyone remember the doug eddings controversy?

And btw, does anyone know why Tim McClelland has switched to the box stance and hammer on called strikes? I've seen footage of him last decade and I liked his kneeling stance and point to the side for called strikes (he'd actually turn left for lefty batters and turn right for righty batters) much better than his current stance...