The cadence of a Summer day for sure!
MLB What Do You Think?
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Absolutely nothing like a radio game to puff to?
Baseball radio broadcasts are an art!
Fair point, but I don't think adapting to hitting applies the same to pitchers as it does for fielders. A good pitcher is selected almost entirely based upon their ability to pitch. They are drafted for their dominance on one side of the inning and their sufficiency on other side of the inning is an after thought. Sure, if a pitcher hits its a bonus but that isn't their primary role. Their role is to ensure the other side doesn't. Players like Ohtani are the exception of course.
Fielders are actively sought for their ability to play both sides of the inning at a high level with willingness to sacrifice hitting or fielding efficiency for more success on the other half. Ultimately though, everyone saying they favor the small ball era is agreeing with me in a certain sense. The reason the shift is so effective is because batters are unwilling or unable to simply lay down a bunt for a basehit in many cases. Do that a few times and all of a sudden the defense stops shifting against that player...it ceases to be an effective tactic.
Not everyone is going to agree obviously, its an interesting conversation though. Ultimately we'll see what banning the shift does. It stands to reason hits will go up, runs along with it.
It comes down to pay and demand. If bunters were making top dollar, players would practice bunting overnight and become proficient at it to the reduction of going for power. No one is going to reduce training in hitting for power, to bunt without the appropriate compensation to do so. Strikeouts are not a black mark anymore, so why spend time on the training to avoid it if the money is in the long ball?
I see the point. However, I think teams are paying for humeruns from a very few hitters but are buying hits from the vast majority (or more accurately, getting on base via a BB, HBP or hit). A hit against the shift doesn't necessarily mean a bunt, that's just an example.
Hitting adjustments and planning for the shift properly would invariably mean: Fewer strikeouts, more hits, more runs and it stands to reason therefore, more wins. If teams and individual players displayed willingness to exploit the weaknesses inherent in the shift then it would cease to be effective on its own.
Just saw this thread. I had posted something about baseball over in the General Pipe Smoking section, and @Servant King linked to this.
As for baseball, I just love the game. I have many of the same frustrations voiced herein. But I can’t stop watching. I just enjoy it too much. Just pure enjoyment. And I live and die with the Cubs, and have done so since I was a young boy. I’ve done more dying than living. Lol.
I am actually looking forward to the shift being banned. I think it will make for more offense and encourage more guys to be “contact hitters” again. The plate approach of the Kyle Schwaber type hitter drives me nuts. Teams just want them to hit 30 HRs a year, and hopefully pair that with 50-80 RBIs, all while they bat .173. I hate that.
I am against the robot umps.
I also am against the video reviews that overturn calls on the field bc of a matter of millimeters, or bc the the untied laces of a glove grazed a jersey. But I’m also torn there, bc I want the calls to be correct, too.
One thing that never bothered me was the so-called “little league play” over the bag for turning a double play. I understand why they tightened up the scrutiny there, but there’s a certain grace to the old way of making those plays. Sometimes making things too “clinical” on the field can be bittersweet.
Just my opinions on the game. And I have plenty. I literally watch at least 162 Cubs games/year. I always start them about 30-60 minutes late though so I can skip commercials, or just skip through ABs if we’re getting slaughtered & I’ve lost hope.
I’m a fan. I’m still gonna watch. And I’ll smoke my way through another season. Puffing on a pipe and watching a ball game sure beats smoking and drooling into a smartphone for an hour.
As for baseball, I just love the game. I have many of the same frustrations voiced herein. But I can’t stop watching. I just enjoy it too much. Just pure enjoyment. And I live and die with the Cubs, and have done so since I was a young boy. I’ve done more dying than living. Lol.
I am actually looking forward to the shift being banned. I think it will make for more offense and encourage more guys to be “contact hitters” again. The plate approach of the Kyle Schwaber type hitter drives me nuts. Teams just want them to hit 30 HRs a year, and hopefully pair that with 50-80 RBIs, all while they bat .173. I hate that.
I am against the robot umps.
I also am against the video reviews that overturn calls on the field bc of a matter of millimeters, or bc the the untied laces of a glove grazed a jersey. But I’m also torn there, bc I want the calls to be correct, too.
One thing that never bothered me was the so-called “little league play” over the bag for turning a double play. I understand why they tightened up the scrutiny there, but there’s a certain grace to the old way of making those plays. Sometimes making things too “clinical” on the field can be bittersweet.
Just my opinions on the game. And I have plenty. I literally watch at least 162 Cubs games/year. I always start them about 30-60 minutes late though so I can skip commercials, or just skip through ABs if we’re getting slaughtered & I’ve lost hope.
I’m a fan. I’m still gonna watch. And I’ll smoke my way through another season. Puffing on a pipe and watching a ball game sure beats smoking and drooling into a smartphone for an hour.
I've been a baseball fan for 66 years (I was 9 years old when I discovered the game). The only real problems in the game stem from a terrible pace of play. Make the batters stay in the batters box and get a pitch clock would cure most of this. But, no, the union won't have it.
A's fan here. Been one for many years back to the Eckersley and Henderson days. Looks like the rebuild in Oakland is well underway. As exciting as it is to see the yoing players come up and succeed, it is incredibly frustrating to watch the teardown that occurs. I joke that it is the five year cycle that the A's go through ?
Baseball conversations on a pipe smoking forum. Two of my favorite things in one place—this is great!
I love baseball and always will. Growing up in western PA, I root for the Pirates, which means a lot more losing than winning in my 40 years. But it’s the beautiful game and I could watch it everyday.
One thing I have enjoyed lately is watching old games on ESPN Classics. I recently watched some of the Big Red Machine’s games from the 70s, and it was delightful. The pace of play, the commentary, the style of the game.
I love baseball and always will. Growing up in western PA, I root for the Pirates, which means a lot more losing than winning in my 40 years. But it’s the beautiful game and I could watch it everyday.
One thing I have enjoyed lately is watching old games on ESPN Classics. I recently watched some of the Big Red Machine’s games from the 70s, and it was delightful. The pace of play, the commentary, the style of the game.
I confess I am a fair weather fan of the baseball Giants, so right now I am a rabid G-men fan, with a 7-2 start. (Also a fair weather fan of the Warriors and San Jose Sharks.
Full time fan of the SF 49ers and the Tottenham Hotspur (English football.)
Full time fan of the SF 49ers and the Tottenham Hotspur (English football.)
It's just sooooo long. Maybe make it four innings long, with a five minute cap per side. JM2Cents
Michael- Unless it's a critical game or playoffs, I record every game, and start watching no earlier than an hour into it. I watch every pitch in the first inning, then FF until one team has a man on second. A solo dinger has no interest to me until the 8th or 9th inning.
Then if, and only if, it's a close game I might revert to pitch by pitch in the final two or three innings. Works for me; purists will vomit.
Then if, and only if, it's a close game I might revert to pitch by pitch in the final two or three innings. Works for me; purists will vomit.
As to baseball being too long, it probably is compared to other games. If we could all go to a game, avoid to eat there while enjoying our friends and family, who cares? If you have to go, go. If you can stay, stay. It is America's "pass time" right?
I enjoy small ball of hit and run, scrappy little infielders, and moving the runner. The most boring plays is the perfect pitching game and the home run dominance. Moving a runner with a sacrifice bunt or a short stop going right and jumping and twirling to first is pure artistry.
I enjoy small ball of hit and run, scrappy little infielders, and moving the runner. The most boring plays is the perfect pitching game and the home run dominance. Moving a runner with a sacrifice bunt or a short stop going right and jumping and twirling to first is pure artistry.
I admit to abandoning all thoughts and spending on anything to do with baseball in 1985, though I don't remember if it was a strike or a lock-out that season. Professional athletes are ENTERTAINERS, not heroes. Whose life did they save? How did they make the world a better place to live? How fat are their bank accounts (for the "star" players)?
At least their poorest paid players aren't dying of concussion-induced troubles like those of the NFL.
At least their poorest paid players aren't dying of concussion-induced troubles like those of the NFL.
Remember robot football on the ‘Jetsons’ ? Maybe baseball will get like that.
The interest in any spectator sport tends to increase with watching it. I started watching soccer (football) with a sense of boredom. I felt certain that the goals were too small, accounting for the low scores and nil to nil games. Watching it on TV on trips to U.K. and Ireland, i began to get the idea, pick up on the nuance.
So it is with baseball. But the side issues do detract. It leads to discussions that don't relate to the sport but to the business. Statistical analyses, enhanced by computers, have had some interesting results, but they may have buffed some of the ruff edges off the game and made it less exciting. The pitcher, catcher, batter interaction remains fascinating, in itself.
So it is with baseball. But the side issues do detract. It leads to discussions that don't relate to the sport but to the business. Statistical analyses, enhanced by computers, have had some interesting results, but they may have buffed some of the ruff edges off the game and made it less exciting. The pitcher, catcher, batter interaction remains fascinating, in itself.
I don’t know baseball well enough to know what ‘the shift’ is. I used to listen to Jack Buck and the Cardinals on my am radio (when it picked up the signal).
The shift is defensive tactic where instead of two players, you place three players on one side of the infield. Which depends on whether you’ve got a righty or lefty batting. And it’s done in response to their situational hitting tendencies when facing whatever type of pitcher is on the mound. So if a left-handed batter statistically hits the ball to the right side of the field almost every time he’s at the plate, you might have your 2nd and 3rd baseman split the area between 1st and 2nd base, and move your short closer to the left side of 2nd base, or even place directly behind the bag. And there’s many variations. Most often, the covering player would play perhaps a little deeper, maybe 5-10 feet on the grass behind the infield. My description may not be the greatest, so here’s a couple examples…
