2022 MLB (non-Tigers) catch all thread

[casimir]

17 hours ago, gehringer_2 said:

it's a little bit to cut down on the distance by an inch or two, which will make the steal very very marginally easier, but I think it's also partly additional safety - more room for both the runner and fielder to be on the base the rest of the time.

That's true, there was the safety aspect to it.  That actually might have been the primary driver.

[Hart]

I was initially against the defensive shift rules.  But I saw some quotes from Carlos Correa that mentioned fans like more action at games.  Which is true.  We do need more action and this is an easy way to get it.

I'd be curious to know how many players favor it vs how many are against it.  

 

[chasfh]

7 hours ago, buddha said:

an "entertaining possibility" that almost never ever happens.  

i bet you were on the edge of your seat during every intentional walk.  lol.  come on.

Happened enough for me. I liked when this happened. Although I guess it’s a good thing we’re shielded from such horror now so we can leave the ballpark after the game at 10:23:45 PM instead of 10:24:15 PM lol 

[bobrob2004]

I don't see how banning the shift solves anything.  The only thing that makes sense is that they want more offense to appeal to the younger generation.  They are removing strategy in favor of more action because that's what they think the kids want to see.  

If you want younger fans, try this: 

- Eliminate all 9:30/10:00pm games.  How can you expect kids to stay up past midnight to watch a full game and be ready for school the next day?

- Eliminate blackout restrictions.  Most people in their late teens/early twenties use streaming services and will be more than happy to pay for MLB.tv if they were able to watch their hometown teams.

- Better promotion of your best players.  Every kid should know who Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, and Aaron Judge are even if they are not baseball fans.  The same way they promoted Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in the 90s.  Sure, the home run record race helped, but you don't need a special event in order to promote your players.  Are they doing these rule changes in hopes to create another race?  "Hey maybe if we eliminate the shift, someone could hit .400!"  I wouldn't doubt if that was their mindset.

 

 

[Tenacious D]

What is your solution for start times on the west coast? If you moved it up to 8:00 PM ET, for example, that would be 5:00 PM Pacific. Too early for anyone who works.  Other professional leagues optimize the schedule for the local market.

[bobrob2004]

9 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

What is your solution for start times on the west coast? If you moved it up to 8:00 PM ET, for example, that would be 5:00 PM Pacific. Too early for anyone who works.  Other professional leagues optimize the schedule for the local market.

Ok, compromise.  Have some start earlier and others stay the same.  Why should all the punishment be on the east coast?  

The 9:30pm start time on Labor Day should have never been allowed to happen. 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, casimir said:

That's true, there was the safety aspect to it.  That actually might have been the primary driver.

the primary driver was to bring back the stolen base and speed back into the game.

again, to put action and athleticism back into the game and try to incentivize teams to move away from the "three true outcomes" baseball that has made it largely a boring, stationary, drawn out affair.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, chasfh said:

Happened enough for me. I liked when this happened. Although I guess it’s a good thing we’re shielded from such horror now so we can leave the ballpark after the game at 10:23:45 PM instead of 10:24:15 PM lol 

lol.  ok.

how many times, chas?  once?  five times in fifty years?  maybe?  give me a break.

[gehringer_2]

Just now, buddha said:

incentivize teams to move away from the "three true outcomes"

except that deadening the ball would have been more effective than banning the shift. Banning the shift doesn't decrease the incentive to swing for the fences and strike out at all- it only increases it because you have decreased the penalty for that approach. Sure, there will be more base hits, but not because batters are doing anything to actually play for the base hit rather than the HR.

[buddha]

Just now, gehringer_2 said:

except that deadening the ball would have been more effective than banning the shift. Banning the shift doesn't decrease the incentive to swing for the fences and strike out at all- it only increases it because you have decreased the penalty for that approach. Sure, there will be more base hits, but not because batters are doing anything to actually play for the base hit rather than the HR.

there were multiple rule changes approved.  lets see how they play out before declaring they are all stupid because rob manfred is teh stupidest.

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, buddha said:

there were multiple rule changes approved.  lets see how they play out before declaring they are all stupid because rob manfred is teh stupidest.

banning the shift is the wrong answer to the right question because it introduces a set of totally unnecessary variables for the rules to fret over forever (can this fielder be 'here' or does he have to be 'there') in place the absolute simplicity of 'a fielder can play where-ever he wants to" that managed to serve for a century  - until they rabbited the ball that is. But it's the modern American affliction: When you break something, you can never admit it and just put it back, you have to go 100 yards out of your way to change any and everything in the environment so you can deny you ever broke what you clearly did, and all without ever getting back to where you really want to be.

Edited September 10, 2022 by gehringer_2

[Tenacious D]

18 minutes ago, bobrob2004 said:

Ok, compromise.  Have some start earlier and others stay the same.  Why should all the punishment be on the east coast?  

The 9:30pm start time on Labor Day should have never been allowed to happen. 

Punished?  A 1 pm ET start time, say the Angels at Detroit, starts at 10 am Pacific. Not the ideal time to be watching a baseball game— high schoolers and college kids are probably still sleeping in. Solving game times is not the issue.  

It’s time to realize that baseball as a product isn’t as compelling to younger fans, compared to the NBA, NFL and NCAA. All of these efforts to make the game more interesting are like putting perfume on a pig.  They wreak of desperation.

[gehringer_2]

13 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

All of these efforts to make the game more interesting are like putting perfume on a pig.  They wreak of desperation.

For me it goes back the same argument that baseball is not really much a spectator sport anyway. The appeal of baseball was always that people watched it because they could identify vicariously with the players because they had played baseball. In the older generation even the women played in grade school, played softball in co-rec leagues with their guys, etc. That's is all disappearing and that is what baseball cannot fix by trying to turn the game into something 'entertaining' that it never was in the first place. They might someday come up with a successful mass market product, but it's connection to baseball as it was known to the generations born before 2000 will be incidental. Cultures change. Baseball as we knew it is/going to be a casualty.

Edited September 10, 2022 by gehringer_2

[bobrob2004]

2 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

For me it goes back the same argument that baseball is not really much a spectator sport anyway. The appeal of baseball was always that people watched it because they could identify vicariously with the players because they had played baseball. In the older generation even the women played in grade school, played softball in co-rec leagues with their guys, etc. That's is all disappearing and that is what baseball cannot fix by trying to turn the game into something 'entertaining' that it never was in the first place. They might someday come up with a successful mass market product, but it's connection to baseball as it was known to the generations born before 2000 will be incidental. Cultures change. Baseball as we knew it is  going to be a casualty.

I never played baseball. I was never any good at it. The reason I was drawn to it was because the played at a slow enough pace that I was able to follow along. I could never get into basketball of football because I never could figure out what was going on. I loved that I was able to strategize along with the manager in baseball. I couldn't do that in other sports because it was too fast paced. 

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

lol.  ok.

how many times, chas?  once?  five times in fifty years?  maybe?  give me a break.

It happened, I liked when it happened, and I wish it hadn't gone away. That's how I feel about it.

[CMRivdogs]

 

[bobrob2004]

I think the game start times is a major problem that needs to be addressed.  There's no reason why the All-Star Game should start as late at 8:00pm.  No playoff game should start at 10:00pm.  I know they want to spread the games out throughout the day, but with half the teams making it to the playoffs, there's going to be overlapping games regardless.  It's all about corporate greed, getting at much ad money as possible.  This is a business that doesn't need corporate greed.  Every single owner has a main business that makes them rich.  They can all afford to sacrifice a little to make the game more accessible to people.  

None of the rule changes fixes any actual problems that MLB has.  

[oblong]

It’s not a problem for other leagues.  They maximize viewers nationally. For every one you think they would lose on the east coast they would lose on the west. 

[buddha]

4 hours ago, Tenacious D said:

Punished?  A 1 pm ET start time, say the Angels at Detroit, starts at 10 am Pacific. Not the ideal time to be watching a baseball game— high schoolers and college kids are probably still sleeping in. Solving game times is not the issue.  

It’s time to realize that baseball as a product isn’t as compelling to younger fans, compared to the NBA, NFL and NCAA. All of these efforts to make the game more interesting are like putting perfume on a pig.  They wreak of desperation.

nyah.

its baseball finally waking up to the realities of the modern sporting viewer.

all other sports have made meaningful changes to speed up play, bring in more speed and skill, and change the game to make it more watchable (three point shots and 24 second shot clocks, eliminating the two line pass prohibition, changing the pass interference rule).  every sport except for baseball.

i dont know how all these changes will play out, but i'm willing to give them a chance.  i hope it does speed up the game and bring more baserunning and balls in play.

maybe if it does, we can even bring back the SHEER EXCITEMENT of the four pitch intentional walk?  lol.

[oblong]

 

[Tenacious D]

3 hours ago, buddha said:

nyah.

its baseball finally waking up to the realities of the modern sporting viewer.

all other sports have made meaningful changes to speed up play, bring in more speed and skill, and change the game to make it more watchable (three point shots and 24 second shot clocks, eliminating the two line pass prohibition, changing the pass interference rule).  every sport except for baseball.

i dont know how all these changes will play out, but i'm willing to give them a chance.  i hope it does speed up the game and bring more baserunning and balls in play.

maybe if it does, we can even bring back the SHEER EXCITEMENT of the four pitch intentional walk?  lol.

Not sure why you’re reacting to my post.  I really don’t have an issue with these changes, just don’t think they’ll have the desired impact.

[gehringer_2]

3 hours ago, buddha said:

nyah.

its baseball finally waking up to the realities of the modern sporting viewer.

all other sports have made meaningful changes to speed up play, bring in more speed and skill, and change the game to make it more watchable (three point shots and 24 second shot clocks, eliminating the two line pass prohibition, changing the pass interference rule).  every sport except for baseball.

i dont know how all these changes will play out, but i'm willing to give them a chance.  i hope it does speed up the game and bring more baserunning and balls in play.

maybe if it does, we can even bring back the SHEER EXCITEMENT of the four pitch intentional walk?  lol.

the comedy is that most important thing they are doing, the pitch clock (which I am all for), isn't really even a change - it's just enforcement of what was always theoretically on the books but the Umps just stopped enforcing a few decades ago.

Edited September 10, 2022 by gehringer_2

[buddha]

29 minutes ago, Tenacious D said:

Not sure why you’re reacting to my post.  I really don’t have an issue with these changes, just don’t think they’ll have the desired impact.

i was just ranting.

[buddha]

25 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said:

the comedy is that most important thing they are doing, the pitch clock (which I am all for), isn't really even a change - it's just enforcement of what was always theoretically on the books but the Umps just stopped enforcing a few decades ago.

ive been watching baseball for 50 years and ive never seen them enforce it.  because they didnt have to until the last 20-25 years.

[casimir]

2 hours ago, buddha said:

i was just ranting.

That’s new.  😆