MLB: a bag of a**holes. Topic

Posted by MikeT23 on 5/14/2014 9:53:00 AM (view original):
Posted by burnsy483 on 5/14/2014 9:52:00 AM (view original):
No, because it dilutes what a home run is.  Home runs should be rewarded for those who at least hit a ball hard.  

I disagree that baseball is going to put forth rule changes to increase home run totals to steroid era totals.
I know you're not old enough to remember but you do know that baseball A) lowered the mound and B) added the DH position to increase scoring, right?
I'll add that baseball didn't care so much about PED because chicks dig the long ball.  

They only cared when the media-driven outrage started.
5/14/2014 9:59 AM
Posted by tecwrg on 5/14/2014 9:59:00 AM (view original):
Posted by MikeT23 on 5/14/2014 9:52:00 AM (view original):
Would you say there are more people like you or more people who like 9-7 games?
I'm answering for myself. 

Maybe more people would like 9-7 games.  These would be the "casual" fans.  I think the hard-core people who love and appreciate the game will enjoy a well-played 4-3 game more than a 14-12 slugfest.
It's not a "maybe".    Every league attempts to increase scoring.  Can't touch a QB or receiver in football, no more hand-checking in the NBA, hockey is a completely different game than it was 20 years ago.    It's because people like scoring. 

MLB needs the "casual" fan and there are a lot more of them.
5/14/2014 10:01 AM
BTW, "Casual fans enjoy the slugfest while hard-core people appreciate the well-played low-scoring game" sounds like some of BL's "You probably just don't understand advanced metrics" bullshit. 

It's entirely possible to appreciate both but prefer one over the other. 
5/14/2014 10:14 AM
I think ticket prices have driven away more casual fans than the lack of scoring.
5/14/2014 10:17 AM
Doesn't help but, comparatively speaking, baseball is still a cheap date.
5/14/2014 10:20 AM
After all, you want to be entertained.    Watching two guys toss a ball back and forth isn't very entertaining. 
5/14/2014 10:21 AM
I'm on tec's side on this. But I understand that baseball needs to increase their appeal to the 25 and younger fanbase, because the old-school guys won't be around forever.  I can see MLB doing something at some point to increase scoring, but i don't think 300 ft home runs is the answer.

I think a bigger issue is the pace of the game.  People are impatient.  We got to get people in the box quicker, and pitchers throwing the ball more often.
5/14/2014 10:41 AM
I'm not on a side.  Unless reality has a side. 

We have an ADD society.   We need to see something happening or we lose interest(I'm using "we" in reference to society).   I don't know that it necessarily has to equate to scoring(soccer seems to be on an uptick of sorts while NASCAR is trending down).   But, when it's just a pitcher and a catcher throwing, baseball doesn't have much movement.   As I said earlier, pitcher usage/batter approach isn't likely to change any time soon.   So we're going to see whiffs at a 20% rate for the rest of our lives.   So, if we want something to happen, it has to be scoring when the ball is in play.   And that's a homer. 

Of course, MLB could move the mound back.   But that seems like raising the rim in basketball or making the field wider in football.   There's no real precedent for that but there is a precedent for moving the fences.
5/14/2014 10:55 AM
I read a few years ago that football and baseball have similar times of "ball in play".   After all, football is 4 seconds of action, 30-40 seconds of lining up.   It just looks like a lot is going on.

Of course, with K rates where they are, that may no longer be true.
5/14/2014 10:58 AM
I think forcing pitchers to pitch faster or batters not being allowed to leave the box unless it's a foul ball would help to accomplish the "ADD society" problem you speak of without dramatically changing the game.
5/14/2014 10:59 AM
Posted by burnsy483 on 5/14/2014 10:59:00 AM (view original):
I think forcing pitchers to pitch faster or batters not being allowed to leave the box unless it's a foul ball would help to accomplish the "ADD society" problem you speak of without dramatically changing the game.
Agree completely.  A nine inning game completed in 2:20 flows a lot better than a nine inning game that takes 3:20 to play.
5/14/2014 11:05 AM
If the ball isn't put in play, it's still two guys playing catch. 
5/14/2014 11:11 AM
Posted by burnsy483 on 5/14/2014 9:45:00 AM (view original):
I'll say this about the "an outs an out" argument, but I'm not getting into a conversation about this - the Mets have obviously adopted the "an outs and out" mentality, and there have been plenty of times in the last year or so when the Mets were in situations where a ground ball or a sac fly would have been beneficial, and the Mets struck out.  Drives you insane.  So, yes, generally putting the ball in play and making out has little benefit.  But you can be sure I'd rather the guy who slugs .500 with 100 strikeouts rather than the guy who slugs .500 with 200 strikeouts.  There's a benefit to putting the ball in play.
A couple different things going on here. You'd rather have a player who slugs .500 with 100 k's vs a player who slugs .500 with 200 k's. The guy with 100 k's is going to reach base between 30 and 50 more times than the guy with 200 k's. The question is, can the high K guy maintain that .500 slugging percentage if he makes an effort to reduce the strikeouts. I don't think he can. I think that, for some players, the cost of a high slugging percentage is the strikeouts.

Over a large sample, an out is an out. Obviously, there are certain situations where a ground ball out helps more than a strikeout. There are also certain situations where a ground ball out hurts a lot more than a strikeout. How often someone makes an out is infinitely more important than how they make their outs.
5/14/2014 11:17 AM
Many more situations where a non strikeout out is more beneficial than a strikeout. Many more. Start with Sac Flies.
5/14/2014 11:23 AM
BL proves once again that he doesn't understand baseball.
5/14/2014 11:28 AM
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MLB: a bag of a**holes. Topic

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