Originally Posted by Marcellus:
And the pussification of America continues.
I know some guys who make the same argument - "well why not make them call out the pitch while they're at it!?!"
And when I ask them how the shift helps the entertainment value of the game, they don't really have an answer. Just that it helps teams win and therefore should be legal.
My counter is that EVERY sport has rules designed to maintain competitive appeal. It's stuff like illegal formation or illegal man downfield in the NFL. Prohibitions on certain kinds of defenses in hockey and basketball. Or hell, goaltending in basketball; afterall, if you have a guy tall enough to swat a ball away on its way down, why shouldn't you be allowed to do that?
Eliminating the shift will make the game more entertaining. It will create renewed emphasis on speed, defense and contact. It's a GOOD thing for the product on the field.
I just cannot understand the opposition to it unless it's just the idea that baseball should be a free for all out there and whatever it takes to win is fine. Spitballs, sign stealing, all of it. So long as everyone's on a level playing field, why not?
I can't get there. This will improve the game. The shift blows. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I know some guys who make the same argument - "well why not make them call out the pitch while they're at it!?!"
And when I ask them how the shift helps the entertainment value of the game, they don't really have an answer. Just that it helps teams win and therefore should be legal.
My counter is that EVERY sport has rules designed to maintain competitive appeal. It's stuff like illegal formation or illegal man downfield in the NFL. Prohibitions on certain kinds of defenses in hockey and basketball. Or hell, goaltending in basketball; afterall, if you have a guy tall enough to swat a ball away on its way down, why shouldn't you be allowed to do that?
Eliminating the shift will make the game more entertaining. It will create renewed emphasis on speed, defense and contact. It's a GOOD thing for the product on the field.
I just cannot understand the opposition to it unless it's just the idea that baseball should be a free for all out there and whatever it takes to win is fine. Spitballs, sign stealing, all of it. So long as everyone's on a level playing field, why not?
I can't get there. This will improve the game. The shift blows.
You fix the shift by learning to tap a ball the other way.
I get that baseball has changed the height of the mound, and made other various rules modifications over the years but seems to me they are making up for the players inability to adapt. :-)
Its along the lines of the fact players simply cant bunt anymore when needed. Basic shit.
In the end will the shift being gone even be noticeable watching afterwards?
Nah but it probably annoys me because its irritating watching players fail to adapt to it.
The pitch clock is a waste of time as well just like the 3 batter minimum. Games aren't noticeably shorter.
While I am at it, I also loathe the ghost runner in extra innings as well.
Originally Posted by BigRedChief:
These are the best hitters in the game. They have had at least 5 years to learn how to hit a baseball through a wide open side of the infield. WTF is the issue?
Only conclusion has to be that MLB wants home runs not singles.
Guys throw too damn hard. You can't just go up there looking to poke balls opposite field because then they'll start to come inside on you and knock the ball out of your hands. And with the rise of mid/high 90s heat as well as gyroscopic sliders and shit like that, it's become fuck near impossible to hit.
Yeah - these are the best hitters in the world and they're STILL getting absolutely strafed by the endless array of guys throwing 98. I mean you have 6th and 7th inning relievers like Scott Effross throwing shit so vile it would've made heads spin even 15 years ago.
We can't keep pretending like pitching isn't getting too far ahead of hitting. These guys are learning about pitch tunneling and spin mirroring. Or sequencing/arsenals based on the above. And there just IS no counter for it. Pitchers learning how to make their pitches look the same until they're 8 feet away from the plate and then dart in 3 different directions just isn't something that can be countered.
Honestly, I'd move the damn mound back as well. The game has tilted so far away from hitting that it doesn't make any sense to try to play small ball. Because odds are you're not stringing 3 hits together against any pitcher that executes. So if you're just waiting for the guy to make a mistake, you just swing hard and hope you hit it. It's cranking the risk/reward knob in your favor.
It's not that complicated - this isn't the sport your dad watched. Hell, it's not the sport your dog watched. This game has changed a ton in the last decade. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Marcellus:
You fix the shift by learning to tap a ball the other way.
I get that baseball has changed the height of the mound, and made other various rules modifications over the years but seems to me they are making up for the players inability to adapt. :-)
Its along the lines of the fact players simply cant bunt anymore when needed. Basic shit.
In the end will the shift being gone even be noticeable watching afterwards?
Nah but it probably annoys me because its irritating watching players fail to adapt to it.
See my next response - it isn't that simple. They'll throw 98 mph sinkers that blow your bat apart if you try that. Or a slider at your back foot. Guys like Jeff Suppan going out there and getting by at 91 are an endangered species. Those are guys you can wait on and drive the other way - but they also aren't the kind of guys you NEED to do that against.
And when that little oppo single requires 2 guys behind you to ALSO execute for even a single run to score - the odds just don't support doing it. Not when wave after wave of fireballs are coming their way.
Players just CAN'T adapt to what pitchers have learned through things like pitchtrax. Pitchers are the proactive party in this scenario and there are things that they have learned to do that hitters simply cannot counter. The game begins with the guy on the mound. As Wainwright said during his warmups "I can be a little late when I'm at home - they can't start the game without me". And when those guys on the mound are starting to get insurmountable advantages, it's time to change things up.
What it SHOULD do more than anything is allow truer swings. Which requires pitchers to be more careful with how they approach an AB. It could mean that hitters get back to the old school 'drive it up the middle' approach that they had to get away from when teams started shifting middle/pull. And that's a good thing because now they can stay balanced and in the middle of their timing instead of trying to cheat ahead (or behind if they want to go oppo). Now you're looking at fewer poorly hit balls because they can take an ordinary hack and be rewarded.
Again - how does the shift IMPROVE the game? I can give you ways eliminating it will make the product more entertaining. How does keeping it in there do it? I've tried to come up with a way. I'm a purist at heart and am generally anti-change in sports. But I cannot in any way come up with a makeable argument in favor of the shifts impact on the entertainment value of baseball. [Reply]
I am curious if many/any teams will have the stones to essentially run a 2 OFer formation. I don't think I've seen any rules against OF shifts. So let's say a lefty pull hitter is up. You can't shift on the IF, so what do you do?
Well you take your LFer and put him in short RF. You put your CFer with a bit of a cheat into LF and have your RFer abandon the line a bit and play straight behind the 2bman.
I don't think I'd do it because I've seen too many balls mis-hit the opposite direction and that's a triple the second it finds grass, maybe even an inside the park.
But it's a counter that someone's gonna try at some point. [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
I mean you have 6th and 7th inning relievers like Scott Effross throwing shit so vile it would've made heads spin even 15 years ago.
Too soon.
I'm assuming they shot down the pick off limit since I haven't read anything about it. That's the only rule where I sat there and said, "Who the fuck made up this shit?" [Reply]
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut:
See my next response - it isn't that simple. They'll throw 98 mph sinkers that blow your bat apart if you try that. Or a slider at your back foot. Guys like Jeff Suppan going out there and getting by at 91 are an endangered species. Those are guys you can wait on and drive the other way - but they also aren't the kind of guys you NEED to do that against.
And when that little oppo single requires 2 guys behind you to ALSO execute for even a single run to score - the odds just don't support doing it. Not when wave after wave of fireballs are coming their way.
Players just CAN'T adapt to what pitchers have learned through things like pitchtrax. Pitchers are the proactive party in this scenario and there are things that they have learned to do that hitters simply cannot counter. The game begins with the guy on the mound. As Wainwright said during his warmups "I can be a little late when I'm at home - they can't start the game without me". And when those guys on the mound are starting to get insurmountable advantages, it's time to change things up.
What it SHOULD do more than anything is allow truer swings. Which requires pitchers to be more careful with how they approach an AB. It could mean that hitters get back to the old school 'drive it up the middle' approach that they had to get away from when teams started shifting middle/pull. And that's a good thing because now they can stay balanced and in the middle of their timing instead of trying to cheat ahead (or behind if they want to go oppo). Now you're looking at fewer poorly hit balls because they can take an ordinary hack and be rewarded.
Again - how does the shift IMPROVE the game? I can give you ways eliminating it will make the product more entertaining. How does keeping it in there do it? I've tried to come up with a way. I'm a purist at heart and am generally anti-change in sports. But I cannot in any way come up with a makeable argument in favor of the shifts impact on the entertainment value of baseball.
Interesting tidbit I heard tonight. Apparently the 11 man committee who decides rule changes has 4 players as reps and all 4 voted against the pitch clock and eliminating the shift.
Frankly I figured players would vote to eliminate it.
To be honest I’ve hated the shift since teams started using it but it’s annoyed me the couldn’t adjust. I guess I’ll just have to go with what you said it’s just not that simple since evidence proves that theory out.