Posted on 10/22/2016 5:42:49 PM PDT by saminfl
I haven't watched baseball since Curt Flood. I am watching tonight. I was a diehard Dodgers fan when they Drysdale and Koufax. Are they not using wood bats anymore ? The bats have strange color and make a different sound than what I used to hear. When did they start wearing their pants that droop over their shoes?
Those are wood bats. They are just painted.
The pajama pants have been around for years. I prefer the old style stirrups and a few guys on each team still sport them.
99% or more of players wear two batting gloves. I believe in Curt Flood’s day some guys wore one batting glove like golfers and many wore no gloves at the plate.
Many other changes: many players wear body armor while batting and a lot of catchers where hockey goalie type masks.
A lot more emotions/show-boating on the field.
Yeah, some of the latest uniforms look like pajamas.
Most players are on drugs.
The bats are made from cheese.
There is one left: the Cubs always sit out the World Series.
and as a long time Dodger fan (I saw Koufax at the Coliseum) I kind of hope that tradition falls by the wayside.
You remember Cal Ripken then? Well he had a kid who could really play the game.
I agree with mostly everything previously posted, also, the barrels of the bats are thinner than in olden times, another factor in the difference you note.
Not sure if your reference was intentional, or not, but Curt Flood’s suit vs MLB, resulted in the end of the ‘reserve clause’, that broke the bond that teams enforced over players, to one team, causing free agency, hence the reason they don’t tend to stay with one team.
Hope you enjoy the game !
Nope — George Hendrick started wearing the slacks.
There is no game that requires more almost instant complex mental decisions and reactions than baseball where multiple options of play are possible and only one or two likely to be successful.
More than any other physical sport, it is the thinking man’s game. IMHO. It requires not only high levels of physical ability, talent and years of playing, but the ability to mentally react as fast as one does physically.
Those who have not played or been avid fans have no idea of the complexity of the game - all the more so at the level of the League Championships or World Series. All one has to do is listen to the pro broadcasters who describe in detail what is going on in each play scenario.
It may seem slow at times but that’s only when the stakes are not high, and the value of winning or losing one game is not critical. At my age, I don’t enjoy the game during the season, but when playoff time comes, and the stakes are high, it can be as exciting as any sport there is.
My humble opinion of course.
The way the bullpen is used is going to be a shock to you, they make a lot more pitching changes. The reason they do it is because it works. The more time through a line up the worse a pitcher normally does, from fatigue and batters becoming more familiar with the release point, movement and timing of pitcher. But it makes the game longer. Another shocking thing is going to be the number of strikeouts. A good two strike approach is generally rare and actually extinct on some clubs.
Freegards
If the professional teams started to metal bats you would see pitchers getting seriously injured or killed.
Having the cuff band around the ankle instead of the lower leg inside of the ankle is more comfortable for players.
Actually, the saggy pants was a 90s thing, a throwback to the early days.
I couldn’t have said it better if I was Shakespeare.
Most bats are Ash but some use Maple. All are wood still in pro ball.
All that is correct in my opinion. You have to like suspense to dig baseball, the folks who find it boring usually aren’t thinking along with it on all those levels to make it suspenseful like it should be.
Parts of the modern era of baseball are arguably not as cool. It would be cool to see more complete games. It would be cool to see more small ball. Not necessarily because they are more effective, but because they are aesthetically generally more pleasing to behold.
Freegards
All that chewing going on is not terbacky anymore. It has been banned and replaced with chewing gum.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.