Posted by crazystengel on 7/5/2019 1:56:00 PM (view original):
tpistolas, your second paragraph is all about respecting baseball's history and traditions.

Then your third paragraph is "9 innings is too long, I'm good with 7."

I enjoy a post with a twist ending!

Haha I guess you could say I respect and qualitative history and have less regard for the quantitative history! I’m more of a WPA guy than a Saves and RBIs guy anyway!

usa softball international cup

watch how they move the game along

you hardly have time to get a beer or take a ****

the thing about WATCHING a game is it has to be game-like

fun. non-stop. giggety action with cartwheels and tumult

MLB sucks

Ban Joe Buck and John Smoltz from doing anymore play by play.

Posted by DoctorKz on 7/5/2019 5:40:00 PM (view original):
The game has been in flux since the inception of the DH experiment in 1973. The player's union will never surrender the extra roster spot, and the DH will invade the NL at some point. Add offense, not a bad idea, but now they want to speed up the game. What, go back to 1 hour 50 minute 2-1 games? Pick a direction, and stay with it...

The game has evolved, or devolved, depending on your point of view. I am not a fan of the 3 run homer approach. I prefer pitching, speed and defense. I know the numbers say to hit the ball in the air. It gives the highlight shows plenty of video, but the current game sucks to watch...

The 3-run homer approach isn't bad, but it should be a "risk". As in "do I go with the 3-run homer approach or do I build a team on singles, speed and defense?" At one point in time, you had to choose and tailor your team to your approach, and there were pros and cons to each approach. There's no risk now because everything about the game is geared towards homers. And instead of fixing that problem (unjuicing the ball, making parks biggers, etc.), Manfred and his genius council are obsessed with changing the game to continue to benefit the one-dimensional hitters. Pull happy hitters keep grounding into the shift? Screw making them learn go go the other way. Let's just ban the shift!

Manfred is a problem on his own as well. Ever since he got the job, he has been obsessively tinkering with everything to try and find his stamp and put it on the game. He doesn't bother studying what baseball actually needs or what fans want - just where he can make the biggest impact for his own legacy.

MLB will experiment with stealing first base in Atlantic League


Baseball trivia buffs better take note because the answer to “how many ways can a batter reach first base?” might be changing. Major League Baseball will allow hitters in the Atlantic League to steal first base in the second half of the Atlantic League season, according to the Washington Post.

Just to be clear, this change is not coming to MLB during the second half. It’s coming to only the Atlantic League.

That is significant as MLB is connected to the Atlantic League. The two leagues partnered together in February. For MLB, the partnership is all about testing radical ideas to see how they impact baseball. If any of those ideas stick, MLB could consider adopting them in the future.

As for the whole stealing first base thing, here’s how it will work, according to the Post.

In the second half of the season, the league will allow batters to steal first base: Any pitch on any count not caught in flight will be considered a live ball, and a batter may run to first base, similar to a dropped third strike.

On any ball dropped by the catcher, a runner can attempt to steal first base.

The rule would drastically alter the game if it is adopted in MLB. Players like Billy Hamilton might suddenly gain extra value. If a ball gets away, he can easily make it to first base. Given his speed, he’ll probably steal second base too.

Not only that, but players like Hamilton might see fewer breaking balls as a result of the new rule. If pitchers fear wild pitches or passed balls, they might serve up more fastballs to players with elite speed. In Hamilton’s case, that would be a good thing. He hits fastballs and sinkers much better than breaking stuff.

With all that said, there’s no guarantee this will come to MLB soon. MLB has experimented with a few different ideas in the Atlantic League this season, including moving the mound back and automated strike zones.

After the season, MLB will evaluate the data from those experiments and determine what worked and what did not. If it wants to implement those new rules, MLB would negotiate with the MLB Players Association on those changes. In recent years, the players have been hesitant to agree to any rule change that would alter the game.

MLB will experiment with stealing first base in Atlantic League




Ultimately, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred can unilaterally implement rules as he sees fit. Even without player approval, some of these changes could come to MLB over the next couple years.

While some fans might not be on board with that, at least MLB is testing extreme rule changes instead of immediately putting them into practice and hoping for the best.

That’s not to say the league’s plan is perfect, but at least it’ll have done some research before proposing something drastic.

———

Chris Cwik is a writer for Yahoo Sports.

you really wanna put 18 guys out there in a bowl with no one to separate em and ten thousand loudmoufs watchin?

things can get heated

what if they start sharpening their spikes again

what if they start keepin shivs in their hose

rocks in their pockets, bones in their nose

Atlantic League player becomes first professional to steal first base days after new rule is introduced

It was a first at first

I saw this today. In one of the minor leagues, they have implemented the robot umpire for balls and strikes. And the managers are already arguing against the calls.

Too funny.

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/atlantic-league-coach-ejected-for-arguing-over-automated-strike-zone-just-one-inning-into-robot-umpire-era/

Stupid changes to the game won't help. Put an originalist thinking commissioner in charge. The game doesn't need more novelties. ..

We need more players like Mark Fidrych, Dr Strangeglove, The Human Rain Delay...Spaceman Bill Lee, Psycho Lyons, Mad Hungarian. ..just let them play...