306 replies to this topic

[russsnyder]

Here is my take. Youngsters are still following the football game. So the sport is keeping their fan base intact, as older folks go through life's process and are no longer with us, the fandome is still thriving with younger ones. Granted rec sports football isnt what it was, but still pretty strong, compared to baseball.

 

Youngster just dont really care or understand what they are missing out on the game of baseball.  Its well down on their radar list.

 

Baseball is not going to die overnight.

 

If this planet is around for another 30-40 years. not sure, MLB will be able to survive.

 

I think baseball will survive, however, I can see it being about as relevant as horse racing in fifty years.

 

Even with the tweaks, it's an acquired taste for many young people.

 

Further, baseball has lost touch because not as many kids play it anymore.

 

Recreation leagues are dying and if you are not playing travel baseball by the time you are ten you are most likely done with the game. I don't think many of the changes that they have made have actually helped the game. IMO, replay takes the soul out of the  game and should be limited to fair or foul and home run calls. ( The game has enough down time already. Who wants to watch umps  with head sets on for a couple of minutes?) Starting the runner at  second if the game is tied after nine innings is a stupid rule unless you are playing a tournament. That's why you have extra innings. If the game takes twenty innings, let them play. It's kind of cool to see a box score with a guy going oh for 8 with 5 K's.

[CantonJester]

25% of all PAs are Ks, 40% don’t have a ball in play, and there have been more Ks than singles for a few seasons now (and the gap is widening).

Problem.

 

They're going to implement mandatory positioning in AA for the first half of the season, and potentially mandate two defenders on each side of the bag for the second half of the season.

 

You get this into MLB, and you'll see more balls put into play, and more baserunners. More baserunners means more base-running. Less fielders bunched into the 'hot zone' a hitter's likely to put the ball into play means more athleticism on the field.

 

Basically, it'll go a long way to making the game watchable again. 

[McNulty]

They're going to implement mandatory positioning in AA for the first half of the season, and potentially mandate two defenders on each side of the bag for the second half of the season.

You get this into MLB, and you'll see more balls put into play, and more baserunners. More baserunners means more base-running. Less fielders bunched into the 'hot zone' a hitter's likely to put the ball into play means more athleticism on the field.

Basically, it'll go a long way to making the game watchable again.

Hard disagree. This isn’t going to put more balls in play. The rest is polishing a turd.

[McNulty]

There isn’t an offense problem. It’s an action problem.

I’m stealing this from Joe Sheehan but:

Order of events:

— pitchers gain velo and spin and become very hard to hit

— hitters adapt by looking to maximize the value of their contact

— parallel to this, we gain near-perfect info on where hitters hit the ball

— managers put fielders where balls will be hit

Pitchers have gained so much of an advantage and hitters have no mechanism to catch up.

And Cerrano, just because I love the game doesn’t mean it’s not flawed or can’t be improved. It’s not binary.

[Mike in STL]

There isn’t an offense problem. It’s an action problem.

I’m stealing this from Joe Sheehan but:

Order of events:

— pitchers gain velo and spin and become very hard to hit

— hitters adapt by looking to maximize the value of their contact

— parallel to this, we gain near-perfect info on where hitters hit the ball

— managers put fielders where balls will be hit

Pitchers have gained so much of an advantage and hitters have no mechanism to catch up.

And Cerrano, just because I love the game doesn’t mean it’s not flawed or can’t be improved. It’s not binary.

Hitters are getting stronger. Quicker bat speeds. Harder exit velos. HRs are being hit like crazy. If pitchers were getting harder to hit, there would be less HRs.
https://www.baseball...ing/hihr6.shtml

I don’t agree with the order of events. I think as we got more data, teams started shifting to where a hitters spray chart tells them to. Hitters answer has been to hit over the shift. Not away from it.

When you uppercut more to improve the launch angle, your bat head isn’t in the hitting zone as long. Hence, more swings and misses. But more balls flying out when squared up.

Hitters can absolutely catch up to pitchers. They can know a pitchers tendencies based on situations just like the pitcher knows their hitting tendencies. It’s part of the chess match. It’s what makes the game great.

Slaves to launch angle are what make the game a three true outcome, and more boring game.

[russsnyder]

Hitters are getting stronger. Quicker bat speeds. Harder exit velos. HRs are being hit like crazy. If pitchers were getting harder to hit, there would be less HRs.
https://www.baseball...ing/hihr6.shtml

I don’t agree with the order of events. I think as we got more data, teams started shifting to where a hitters spray chart tells them to. Hitters answer has been to hit over the shift. Not away from it.

When you uppercut more to improve the launch angle, your bat head isn’t in the hitting zone as long. Hence, more swings and misses. But more balls flying out when squared up.

Hitters can absolutely catch up to pitchers. They can know a pitchers tendencies based on situations just like the pitcher knows their hitting tendencies. It’s part of the chess match. It’s what makes the game great.

Slaves to launch angle are what make the game a three true outcome, and more boring game.

Excellent post.

Good pitching generally beats good hitting. However, hitters and their unwillingness to adjust has contributed greatly to the increase in strikeouts in baseball. While pitchers are certainly throwing harder, I think moving back the mound would be an overreaction. What's Walt Hrniak up to these days?

[Old Man]

I think baseball will survive, however, I can see it being about as relevant as horse racing in fifty years.

 

Even with the tweaks, it's an acquired taste for many young people.

 

Further, baseball has lost touch because not as many kids play it anymore.

 

Recreation leagues are dying and if you are not playing travel baseball by the time you are ten you are most likely done with the game. I don't think many of the changes that they have made have actually helped the game. IMO, replay takes the soul out of the  game and should be limited to fair or foul and home run calls. ( The game has enough down time already. Who wants to watch umps  with head sets on for a couple of minutes?) Starting the runner at  second if the game is tied after nine innings is a stupid rule unless you are playing a tournament. That's why you have extra innings. If the game takes twenty innings, let them play. It's kind of cool to see a box score with a guy going oh for 8 with 5 K's.

I totally agree. 

[Nigel Tufnel]

Pitchers have gained so much of an advantage and hitters have no mechanism to catch up.

 

 

I agree that this seems true...  but then why isn't scoring down?

[TwentyThirtyFive]

Hitters are still going to take their walks. Maybe more if they can track the ball better. They also are very much focused on launch angle and avoiding hitting the ball on the ground. Most aren't concerned about contact if its weak contact just to avoid a strikeout. I agree that the ball isnt put in play enough but moving the mound seems like it would only help with 1 out of the 3 issues with the 3 true outcomes. Meanwhile I have zero interest in watching 20 runs be scored every night.

[You Play to Win the Game]

I agree that this seems true...  but then why isn't scoring down?

My guess would be the tinkering with the baseball itself.

[Old Man]

I agree that this seems true...  but then why isn't scoring down?

4.65 for last year, isnt really down too much.

 

I think that high for a few years was a combination of juiced batters, and juiced balls. IMO

[You Play to Win the Game]

And it isn't necessarily the runs being less or not, but the way they are being scored.

[mweb08]

My guess would be the tinkering with the baseball itself.

 

Plus a lot of very strong hitters emphasizing launch angle. 

[You Play to Win the Game]

Plus a lot of very strong hitters emphasizing launch angle. 

Is the tooth paste out of the tube with this? Why would guys do anything to go away from hitting homers?

[mweb08]

Is the tooth paste out of the tube with this? Why would guys do anything to go away from hitting homers?

 

They only would if it became more beneficial to do something different. So the number of dingers would need to decrease and/or they would have to start having more success with hitting the ball within the confines of the field.

[glenn__davis]

Get rid of fences, or at least move them way back.  Would place a greater premium on speed and athleticism both on the basepaths as well as in the outfield positions.

 

Not at all logistically feasible I know, and probably comes with in-game problems that I didn't consider in the 10 seconds it took me to make this post.

[russsnyder]

Interestingly, MLB is deadening the ball this year.

 

https://www.cbssport...son-per-report/

[Mike in STL]

Interestingly, MLB is deadening the ball this year.

https://www.cbssport...son-per-report/

They never admitted to juicing it, but now they’re going to deaden it? As in bring it back to normal probably?

They should with all their tech be able to find the sweet spot where the ball is fair for all, and those are the specifications, period.

Balls wound tighter, not telling us they are juiced, telling us they are dead, humidors only in some places for storing balls, it’s insane.

[russsnyder]

They never admitted to juicing it, but now they’re going to deaden it? As in bring it back to normal probably?

They should with all their tech be able to find the sweet spot where the ball is fair for all, and those are the specifications, period.

Balls wound tighter, not telling us they are juiced, telling us they are dead, humidors only in some places for storing balls, it’s insane.

 

  It is crazy.

[Old Man]

They never admitted to juicing it, but now they’re going to deaden it? As in bring it back to normal probably?

They should with all their tech be able to find the sweet spot where the ball is fair for all, and those are the specifications, period.

Balls wound tighter, not telling us they are juiced, telling us they are dead, humidors only in some places for storing balls, it’s insane.

dont each ball, get wiped with dirt by the umpire crew before each game? Which the dirt is different all across the US of A.

 

correct my post: magic mud is used from a secret place in New Jersey for all big league games.