All things Baseball

[Meyerkord]

There is another article in the morning news about the excessive length of modern baseball games. This year the average was 3h10m; in 1980 it was 2h33m. There's something in there about a 17 second pitch clock, similar idea to the shot clock in basketball. I would love to see MLB do this! It's been a problem for a long time. I remember talking about it thirty years ago, during the steroid era (ha!) when 9 inning games were regularly pushing 3 hours, mostly because of prima donnas who couldn't seem to keep their ##### in the batter's box between pitches. That extra half hour is a little big deal on school nights, something I think that matters for what we call "America's favorite pastime." Though the leagues don't seem to be losing any fans or money over it.

Why not limit the amount of time a batter can spend outside the box, but a pitch clock basically does the same thing.

They’ve experimented with pitch clocks in the minors and during spring training games in the past. Last I heard they were waiting until 2022 to try and implement this in the majors (that’s when the collective bargaining agreement gets renewed). It seems like the commissioner is all for shortening the game times. Limited mound visits, pitcher minimums, capped commercials breaks, it’s definitely moving in that direction and he’s expressed his desire to make games shorter. Seems like a painfully slow process

 

[Randy Daytona]

Great article from Sports Illustrated on the change in pitching philosophy trom starter/closer to pitching by committee. Statistically speaking, it is the correct decision even if it is less exciting and slower.

Relief Pitching Is Out of Control
MLB’s biggest issue is its lack of action, and the World Series was Exhibit A.

Baseball Desperately Needs to Fix This Issue

Games, especially postseason games, keep getting longer. Here’s why.

www.si.com

 

[Spekkio]

There is another article in the morning news about the excessive length of modern baseball games. This year the average was 3h10m; in 1980 it was 2h33m. There's something in there about a 17 second pitch clock, similar idea to the shot clock in basketball. I would love to see MLB do this! It's been a problem for a long time. I remember talking about it thirty years ago, during the steroid era (ha!) when 9 inning games were regularly pushing 3 hours, mostly because of prima donnas who couldn't seem to keep their ##### in the batter's box between pitches. That extra half hour is a little big deal on school nights, something I think that matters for what we call "America's favorite pastime." Though the leagues don't seem to be losing any fans or money over it.

The problem isn't the pitchers, per se. The rule is that a pitcher has to throw a pitch within 12 seconds of taking the mound, and the vast majority of pitchers actually do this.

The main issue is the other 30 seconds it takes to get there while the batter steps out of the box and re-adjusts his gloves, applies some more pine tar, and does a witch dance before getting back into the box when he just took a pitch. It's Nomar Garciaparra's lasting contribution to baseball.

The other issue that makes games feel slower is the drastic increase in strikeouts, so fewer balls are put into play. Once the umpires starting consistently calling the 'real' strike zone in the mid-late 00s, which made the called zone taller but also the narrower, the league should have moved the bottom of the zone back up to the top of the knees (which is where it was being called in the 90s anyway).

Anyway, I will say that I wish the WS started at 7pm local instead of 8pm. Maybe I'm getting old, but I'm not motivated to stay up to 11pm and beyond to watch sports. That's more significant to me than any pace of play issue.

Great article from Sports Illustrated on the change in pitching philosophy trom starter/closer to pitching by committee. Statistically speaking, it is the correct decision even if it is less exciting and slower.

I think that the railing against this is old-man-yells-at-clowd syndrome. The coaches and managers have realized that throwing max effort for 4-6 innings instead of pacing oneself for 8-9 is more effective. I also just don't think there are enough players who have the talent to go 7+ innings in modern baseball to fill every team's rotation.

 

[number9]

I have nothing to contribute other than a) I am a Red Sox fan, and thus a fan of the American League but also b) the Designated Hitter role is stupid and should be abolished.

As you were, gentlemen.

 

[Jim123]

The problem isn't the pitchers, per se. The rule is that a pitcher has to throw a pitch within 12 seconds of taking the mound, and the vast majority of pitchers actually do this.

The main issue is the other 30 seconds it takes to get there while the batter steps out of the box and re-adjusts his gloves, applies some more pine tar, and does a witch dance before getting back into the box when he just took a pitch. It's Nomar Garciaparra's lasting contribution to baseball.

Oh, I fully agree. It is the prima donna batters who drag the MLB games out, much more than the back-and-forth of the battery or pitcher's mound conferences (even though sometimes those get bad).

 

[ABMD]

I think that the railing against this is old-man-yells-at-clowd syndrome. The coaches and managers have realized that throwing max effort for 4-6 innings instead of pacing oneself for 8-9 is more effective. I also just don't think there are enough players who have the talent to go 7+ innings in modern baseball to fill every team's rotation.

What do you think has caused this? Players starting too young, too many pitches by the time they get to the majors (not enough rest), bad mechanics?

Unrelated to baseball, but related to sports. I have a niece that plays lacrosse and is very good at it. She has a training and conditioning coach that she sees weekly and plays year-round (Club and Travel teams) and she's a freshman. At some point I think it is all too much and puts too much stress on young bodies who are still growing, she has had knee issues already (as a middle-schooler).

 

[Spekkio]

What do you think has caused this? Players starting too young, too many pitches by the time they get to the majors (not enough rest), bad mechanics?

Expansion teams + bar to make the big leagues is that you have a 95+ mph fastball.

 

[Randy Daytona]

What do you think has caused this? Players starting too young, too many pitches by the time they get to the majors (not enough rest), bad mechanics?

It is not mechanics. There was a report that the number of pitchers, and the number of pitches, at high velocities is at a record level. This leads to longer pitch counts, more strikeouts with less balls in play and longer games with less action.

 

[jmcquate]

The problem with Baseball in today's world is the game it's self . To play the game, you must be comfortable with failing, sometimes miserably, alone, in front of your team mates and spectators. Although Baseball is a team sport, you are alone at the plate and when a ball is hit to you. I don't think today's kids and parents are comfortable with the humiliation that comes with the game. Soccer, on the other hand, below the High School level, you can hide on the field and still be praised for a win. If you don't grow up with the game, chances are your not going to be a fan.

 

[Spekkio]

The problem with Baseball in today's world is the game it's self . To play the game, you must be comfortable with failing, sometimes miserably, alone, in front of your team mates and spectators. Although Baseball is a team sport, you are alone at the plate and when a ball is hit to you. I don't think today's kids and parents are comfortable with the humiliation that comes with the game. Soccer, on the other hand, below the High School level, you can hide on the field and still be praised for a win. If you don't grow up with the game, chances are your not going to be a fan.

I don't buy that.

The issue is that it's always been tough to get small children into the game because it's a lot of boredom at lower levels, especially for kids who get put into the OF. Maybe our generation is just less stubborn than our parents' generation to make kids stick with something that they don't like.

There's also the cost aspect - somewhere between when I played little league and now, the practice of communal bats and helmets for kids 12 and under has disappeared. We've reached a snowball effect where the waning popularity has made it so that you pretty much have travel leagues very early on, and that's a lot if the kid isn't 100% into it. Conversely, if they do really get into it, you're stuck paying for fall and winter leagues to keep up with the Joneses... which entail travel.

At least the snack culture hasn't caught on with baseball like it has with soccer. That makes me rage.

 

[number9]

Unrelated to baseball, but related to sports. I have a niece that plays lacrosse and is very good at it. She has a training and conditioning coach that she sees weekly and plays year-round (Club and Travel teams) and she's a freshman. At some point I think it is all too much and puts too much stress on young bodies who are still growing, she has had knee issues already (as a middle-schooler).

I was a pretty successful assistant coach of a Div III team. Playing year 'round is great, but I would highly encourage her not to specialize in a particular sport. The best athlete I ever coached played three sports, and was a first-team All American in all three. She never specialized.

 

[ABMD]

At least the snack culture hasn't caught on with baseball like it has with soccer. That makes me rage.

My kids play in that league, all the players care about are what snacks I'm getting today.

 

[Randy Daytona]

The players and the owners reach an agreement today - PLAY BALL!

Of note, the playoffs expand to 12 teams and - unbelievably- the National League adopts the evil Designated Hitter.

MLB owners vote to ratify CBA, ending lockout

MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and union chief Tony Clark hailed the new collective bargaining agreement Thursday, which halted the league's 99-day lockout and salvaged a 162-game season.

www.espn.com

And as a sendoff to the Cleveland Indians who were the home of one of the greatest movies ever made

 

[jmcquate]

And as a sendoff to the Cleveland Indians who were the home of one of the greatest movies ever made

The movie was filmed in Milwaukie because of Bob Uecker's broadcast duties for the Brewers. One scene was filmed in Cleveland and I'm in it. They wanted an aerial view of Cleveland Municipal Stadium as an establishing shot for the one game playoff vs the Yankees. They needed a full stadium for the shot, and because the Indians were 20 some games out of first place, that wasn't going to happen on it's own. The production company went to the Flats in Cleveland, where all of the downtown bars and clubs were, and handed out free tickets, including some to me and some of my friends. So I'm one of the 70,000 fans in that aerial shot near the end of the movie.

 

[number9]

My favorite Bob Uecker quote is, I hope, not apocryphal: "The way to catch a knuckleball is to wait until it stops rolling and then pick it up"