Posted on 06/23/2018 4:25:05 AM PDT by a little elbow grease
There is a haunting stirring in the baseball community to establish that fielders defensive “shifts” should be against the rules.
From BusinessInsider.com: “MLB's New Commissioner Is Open To Banning Defensive Shifts To Increase Scoring — Here's A Simple Way To Do It.”
Does this seem to anyone else as more than heavy-handed, almost totalitarian???
Do you suppose that they also will want to impel OUTFIELDERS NOT TO SHIFT, play deeper in the outfield when a power hitter comes to the plate?
Do they suppose to suggest that when a sacrifice bunt is most likely about to be attempted, that the first and third basemen should NOT BE PERMITTED to creep in toward the plate in order to get the ball and throw out the runner at second base for a force play?
Should outfielders not be permitted to shade toward the right field line when a strong left handed pull hitter comes to the plate? My, my.
Baseball has been shifting since Ted Williams and even before that. Now that we realize its effectiveness, we exploit the advantage. Personally, I don't think that this particular strategy EVER should be made illegal.
As a baseball fan said on reddit.com: “People hate the shift when their team hits into it, but love it when the opposing team hits into your shift. It's a part of the game now. Hitters will just have to adjust.
As Wee Willie Keeler used to say, “ Keep your eyes clear, and hit’ em where they ain’t: that’s all.”
I’ll just say this now …………. I find this idea of restrictions on defensive players’ shifts to be about the most ignorant, idiotic, witless, reactionary, vacuous, mindless, unintelligent, half-baked, harebrained, imprudent, unwise, and foolish idea of which I have ever heard.
“If all seven position players want to form a human pyramid behind second base then they should be allowed to.” LOL
________________
LEAVE THE GAME ALONE …………… and hit’ em where they ain’t.
“Sacrifice bunts disappeared in all but a very limited set of circumstances involving a pitcher at the plate or a scenario late in a game where one run could end the game.”
They are routine in the National League, even today. It’s rare to see a NL game without a sac bunt.
.... for reference
I don’t care for the shifts either, a good savvy hitter will learn to go the opposite way against the shift but some will say you are still beating him by not letting him hit with power if he is a power hitter.
If you don’t appreciate that, you should find another sport.
THAT is exactly why I did.
Sacrifice bunts are actually counter-productive most of the time on a good offensive team. Moving a runner to second base on a bunt opens first base up and gives the defensive team a big incentive to intentionally walk a good hitter.
I’m thinking Aaron Boone is a unique case, and probably committed to using computer stats in his interview.
For the most part the skipper still makes the call. He may ask for data, and he may ask opinions from his other coaches, but he makes the call.
Hopefully, the MLB Commissioner will abandon this idiocy as soon as a few actual baseball fans are polled, whereby this patently asinine notion will be laughed out of the room...
Just count each run for 2 points. Bases empty homerun is worth 2 runs. Grand slam is 8 runs....ez
Just count each run for 2 points. Bases empty homerun is worth 2 runs. Grand slam is 8 runs....ez
Unsportsmanlike. It’s the baseball version of icing the kicker
Eliminate the batting lineup.
It sounded preposterous at first, but as I learned more details it began to make more sense. The general idea is:
1. There is no set order for a team to send its batters to the plate. The manager sends up his leadoff hitter, and then selects each batter after that however he sees fit.
2. This would make each inning very unpredictable, and it would be much harder for a pitcher to work through a "weak" part of a lineup.
3. Every player has to bat in a normal "batting cycle." That is, a player can't bat for a second time until everyone in the lineup has batted at least once, and so on. It's just that the order can change from one inning to the next.
4. This forces managers to weigh risk-reward options at every step of the game. If it's the top of the first inning and your first two batters are out, why send up a #3 hitter who is usually one of the best hitters in your lineup with the bases empty and two outs? Save him for the second inning! Send up your weakest hitter instead. In the National League, this might be the ideal spot to send your pitcher up to the plate instead of waiting until he becomes a rally-killer in the second or third inning.
5. The "Earl Weaver Rule" would still be in effect. That's the rule MLB adopted to deal with a bizarre lineup strategy the old manager deployed a few times back in the 1970s. Under this rule, every player in the starting lineup must bat at least once unless the opposing team changes pitchers.
6. This "open-lineup" concept would be a great weapon to diminish the effectiveness of relief pitchers late in the game. It's impossible for a manager to set up left-right relief pitcher sequences late in the game if he doesn't know which hitters are coming up next!
Any thoughts on this, baseball fans? LOL.
There’s a suspicion that GM Brian Cashman is really managing the team and making all the on-field decisions.
Whoa.
That just reignited last night’s scotch buzz.....I’m a little dizzy now....
“Any thoughts on this, baseball fans?”
Who leads off the second inning? Anyone who didn’t bat in the first?
It sounds ridiculous because we've gotten so used to dealing with fixed batting lineups, but it certainly adds an element of unpredictability to the game of baseball.
To me, it’s like defecating after you shower.
It just doesn’t feel right.
The big question should be: Would it work?
In the context of this discussion, it's no less ludicrous than a proposal to regulate the alignment of players on the field.
Calling Good People “Racist” Isn’t New: the Case of Ty Cobb
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzbJn2UAoIs
Also clears up a lot of other nonsense about the Georgia Peach.
Two rules for outfielders:
1.) Catch the damn ball
2.) Never throw behind the runner
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