I went to the Bats game tonight for the first time in a few years and within the first 3 batters I understood why I don't watch anymore. The leadoff batter for S/WB comes up and has a shift on where even if the shortstop was where the third baseman, it would still be a shift. In any game I know, his job is to get on base. If he was a really bad bunter he could still bunt .500 into this shift. He swings for the fences instead. He still got a hit and so did the second batter. What's the first thing the third place hitter does with runners on first and second? He tried to bunt.
I don't understand baseball anymore
- Thread starter Glenn's Take
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You know what. I will but up with the nnnn
nnn(((nnn)))nnnnnnnnn stuff because Willy did it, but I will not put up with the e being an i.
[laughing]
[laughing]You know what. I will but up with the nnnn
You better lock your doors tonight and hide yo wife. Glen
nnnnnnnnnn is a known killer. The man is fearless and skydives. You should come up to the natti gle
nnnnn and check out the reds they suck but the games are funYes. Yes they were. I was even going to pay for the extra cheese but they didn't make me.
Did any of the players pat their teammate on the butt after making a good play? Any playful hugging or groping after a home run? Did any of the players readjust their cup in the on-deck circle? Did any player get any dirt in their pants after sliding head first and then undo their belt and zipper to knock out the dirt? Were there any stare downs between a pitcher and a batter that went a little too long? And then did that same batter then charge the mound and start vigorously making out with the pitcher with intense tongue play as their matching gold chains became intertwined as one?
Not that I saw but I wasn't paying that much attention.
Much more action/faster pace in girls/women's fastpitch. Big thing is with no leadoffs, no time wasted trying to hold runner. Plus it's more compact such that you're closer to everything.
As a side note, well not so side, granddaughter hit a HR 25' past a 200' deep,10'- high fence in 14U national tourney in MSP this weekend.
As a side note, well not so side, granddaughter hit a HR 25' past a 200' deep,10'- high fence in 14U national tourney in MSP this weekend.
I hate the shift. However, it is a response to baseball players in this generation being taught to pull more and to hit for more power. I think at some point, the issue will correct itself and you will see more and more guys coming up that will be able to once again hit to all fields and the shifts will have to stop. There has also been discussion of banning them because baseball loves their offense.
It's the main reason I quit watching the game back in the mid 90's. Their response to the strike was to juice the players, the balls and moving the fences in. It made it just a home run derby and took any strategy out of the game.
Banning the shift may be the dumbest thing I ever heard of. It's like telling a football team that they have to play the same defense whether it was first and goal from the 1 or 4th and goal from midfield. They aren't interested in my opinion though.
I am hoping that more teams and more players coming up just work on ways to actually beat the shift and baseball goes back to featuring more of those players that can hit to all fields. Baseball has had a problem with trying to stay cool and their response to that has always been more home runs. While they aren't juicing anymore, they have sacrificed quality baseball to get more offense. The big indicator of this, to me, is the number of strikeouts that we are seeing. Every year in the past decade the MLB has raised the bar and set a new strikeout total record. This is because you're getting more guys swinging for power rather than for average, and teams are sacrificing a player going 3 for 4 with three singles for a guy who goes 1 for 4 with a home run.
Agree, learn to go the opposite way and/or bunt and the shift will go the way of the Wishbone offense.
I feel like bunting against a shift would violate one of the 13,976 unwritten rules of baseball and earn you a fastball to the head.
I know you're joking, but Matt Carpenter did it earlier in the year and got a double out of it.
Analytics is changing sports most notably baseball and football. Gather data and go with the percentages
LOL, yeah, I just LOOOOOVVVEEEEDDDD watching Jay Bruce whiff and hit into a ridiculous shift for years and years. Was pretty glad to see the Reds get rid of him . . . not that it has made a damn bit of difference in their overall record. :weary:
It's different in the minors, though. It's highly doubtful that bunting gets a guy called up to the majors, so the team might be instructing him that he's supposed to be working on making line drive contact to all fields, or elevate the ball with his swings. And the shift in the minors might never happen in the majors, so it's not a skill they'd care about him developing, per say.
Yeah, he could probably get on base a few times with a bunt in AAA, but that doesn't necessarily play into what the major league team needs from him. The majors is different. You see power guys like Carpenter and Schwarber do it here and there to screw with the defense and just get a runner on.
Yeah, he could probably get on base a few times with a bunt in AAA, but that doesn't necessarily play into what the major league team needs from him. The majors is different. You see power guys like Carpenter and Schwarber do it here and there to screw with the defense and just get a runner on.
With OPS becoming the dominate statistic over BA & RBI's, power is all teams look for.
It goes further than that. Situational hitting is a completely lost art. Man on second with nobody out? No one ever thinks to hit the ball to the right side of the field to advance the runner. Nope...they swing for the fences.
Man on third with less than two outs? You HAVE to make contact to the middle of the field. If they do it is by accident. You absolutely cannot strike out in this situation. It happens almost daily.
That being said...I love the game. Watch almost every day...but I am a dying breed.
Man on third with less than two outs? You HAVE to make contact to the middle of the field. If they do it is by accident. You absolutely cannot strike out in this situation. It happens almost daily.
That being said...I love the game. Watch almost every day...but I am a dying breed.
It's sad to be honest. In the WS last year there were at least 5-6 situations which called for a bunt to move the runner. I remember one attempt which they didn't get down. It's going to take one coach to make other teams remove the shift and win a few games with tactical offensive baseball plays for them to come back into "style".
I'm old school. Cut my teeth on the 82 Cardinals and Whitey Herzog. Speed, defense, putting the ball in play, situational hitting, pitching. I don't like the direction the game is going, and I may need a few days of bed rest when the NL adopts the DH.
Hernandez, Herr, Ozzie, Oberkfell, Porter, Lonnie, Willie, Hendricks. My favorite team of all time.
I'm starting to feel a little better that I just may not be a crotchety old fart. I really can't speak to the MLB game because I can't remember the last time I actually watched a game. Back in the day it was my favorite sport to watch but they have just so fundamentally changed the game that it's no enjoyable to me anymore.
One other thing I think hurt, at least to me, was the expanded playoffs. It's too easy to just squeeze into the playoffs and then get a hot pitching staff. in 2006, the Cardinals won the WS finishing the regular season at only 5 games over .500. One of these days soon a team is going to win a championship with under a .500 regular season record.
One other thing I think hurt, at least to me, was the expanded playoffs. It's too easy to just squeeze into the playoffs and then get a hot pitching staff. in 2006, the Cardinals won the WS finishing the regular season at only 5 games over .500. One of these days soon a team is going to win a championship with under a .500 regular season record.
Me too, a guy like Ozzie Smith is just not nearly as valuable these days because so many fewer balls are put in play, something like 40% of all ABs are Walks, whiffs or HRs. A great fielder is just not worth as much if that trend continues. Which is really sad, baseball is not as good when so many fewer balls are put in play, not nearly as much fun to watch
Herzog said Ozzie was so valuable because he saved 100 runs per season (as opposed to 100 RBIs), which amounts to the same thing when it comes to winning games.
I seriously doubt he had a 100 more chances per season than other top SS's of the time. Does that data exist? Then you need to subtract the greater offensive production of other SS's.
That's not what he said. He wasn't comparing him to other SS's, just simply (in his opinion) he saved 100 runs per season at shortstop.
But he would literally have to be compared to other SS to be “saving” those runs. It’s not like the alternative to having him is playing down a defender.
He kept 100 more balls in the infield than others. He covered the 4 & 5 holes much better than anyone else.
Saving runs is for pussies who bunt. Score more runs by smashing the ball like a man and you won't have to worry about how many you "save."
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Well if that's not more than any other SS - and by far more to compensate for his lack of O - then what's the point? Don't all SS's save runs? And 3B's? And 2B's?