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
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LEAVE THE GAME ALONE …………… and hit’ em where they ain’t.
I watched my first Bball game at Ebbits Field. Earnie Banks played shortstop and the peanuts had salted shells. The B-41 to Civic Center was my ticket home.
You want scoring watch or play cricket. An exceptional at bat is scoring a hundred runs or more. It’s called a century. If your ball manages to avoid the fielders and rolls to the edge of the playing field (Oval) you get 4 runs. Hit it into the stands you get six (called hitting for six). I guess it’s the equivalent of a home run. No foul lines so every ball is fair. Cricket is baseball on steroids. Pre civil war Cricket and Baseball were about equivalent in popularity in the US. The rise of baseball was due a great deal to soldiers playing the game.
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I guess the CUBS were visiting EBBETS FIELD?
You have a gun with two bullets. You’re in a room Hitler, Stalin and Walter O’Malley. What do you do?
Shoot O’Malley twice.
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Pretty true.
Running on a ground ball is optional. There are only two bases.
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A lot.
Those two were the finest hitters I've ever seen in my lifetime. Nobody ever played a shift against them because it would have been pointless. Heck -- fielders served a whole different purpose when those guys were at the plate. The fielders were there to keep them to a single when they put the ball in play. :-)
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So true................ I'm hoping that some of these excellent college players today are studying this and doing as you say!
They don’t see it.
Yes indeed, the Cubs were in town. When they learned how well Banks could hit he became their 1st baseman. I was such a fan as a kid that I’d wait for the late editions of the newspapers to hit the stands and I’d look at the box scores from the West Coast (never paying for the paper of course). I could do batting averages, ERAs, all the stats in my head just by looking at the latest box scores. It was my game all the way.
Williams was a genius.
LOL........ I'm surprised the NFL ever let the QB's take the snap in the "shot gun".
;-)
They're under three hours long. Football games go longer and soccer, which is boring as hell feels like it's a lot longer than it actually is.
I look at it this way: with the average cost of a ticket to go see a game, I don't want the game to get sped up. I want as much playing time for my money as I can get. Especially with how much the players make!
That’s COMMUNIST! Restrict a players freedom - so it’s communist!
Lessee, another way would be to put a weight on the pitcher’s pitching arm.........or make the first baseman have to stand 10’ from the bag, and run to it for every ball hit.........
Already “the thinking man’s sport” is suffering in attendance - communist rules will only make it worse.......
LEAVE THE PERFECT GAME ALONE!
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Yes, and add Bill Madlock to those two, please.
;-)
Pro baseball too slow paced. Why? Drives me crazy if I’m at the game, more so if it’s hot.
yes
Don't be surprised if the players of color demand it get renamed because the NFL is promoting gun violence!
And hey, while we're at it, what's up with the half-back position? Are they really saying a halfback isn't as good as a fullback? Is the halfback retarded or something?!
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