Posted on 09/12/2019 9:32:20 AM PDT by DFG
Major League Baseball’s remarkable home run surge has led to countless records being broken this season.
Now the biggest one has fallen.
When Jonathan Villar of the Baltimore Orioles launched a three-run home run during Wednesday’s 7-3 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers, it was No. 6,106 hit across MLB this season.
That breaks the previous record of 6,105 hit in 2017.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/misc.shtml
Well attendance has dropped some but still much higher than say 30 years ago.
Look at the attendance over the years in the link I posted.
Hardly dying. Has a smaller market share, but baseball financials are as good or better than any pro sport.
Strong Central American and Asian interest in baseball, and growing numbers of MLB players from places like Australia.
MANDATORY travel time if they want their kid to play. There is no "well, I can't make it this weekend since we have a family birthday or whatever".....You want your kid to play, you take them to the games.
From senior friends of mine who have grand kids in these programs, the parents are literally committed to over $5,000 per summer in uniforms, equipment, travel and lodging. That's just plain crazy!
That's just softball. And those costs don't even compare to the hockey parents such as my niece where they also have to pay for ice time for practices...........Sheesh!
The Dodgers didn't do too badly with those player moves, since they were a pretty solid contender in most years through the 1980s and 1990s.
Baseball has become a home run derby. I’d prefer no fences until 600 feet.
Yep, 600 feet fences.
Maybe. Hey! How bout divots like a golf ball!
Maybe. Hey! How bout divots like a golf ball!
The Phillies have hit Bryce Harper in the 2-hole for several games this year. I thought it was a desperation-move to get him out of a hitting slump by the simple expediency of getting him an extra plate appearance each game.
Look at the average attendance per game in those statistics. Average attendance peaked in 1994 at about 31,000 per game, then dropped off noticeably after the players' strike ended that season. It took until 2006 to reach that figure again, and peaked in 2007 at almost 32,700. It's never reached that point since, and has dropped pretty consistently over the last ten years.
To be fair, I should also point out that MLB has generally been moving toward smaller ballparks over the last 25 years. The old multi-purpose stadiums are being replaced by baseball-oriented parks that have a smaller seating capacity.
It’s not just soccer. It’s also Basketball & NFL drawing most of the African-American athletic talent. What remains for MLB is the white athletes who aren’t perceived to have the size or explosiveness to play either of the other 2 American sports and have the family financial backing to play “travel ball”. That, and a healthy leavening of Latin American players.
Is that you, Rick Barry?
I did a small research study on this topic back in the early 1980s when I was a kid, and with my rudimentary statistical capabilities I determined that a typical MLB lineup from that era was actually not a very good approach to fielding a team. The whole idea of putting power hitters in the middle of the lineup was a major flaw. These were big, slow sluggers who would come up (hopefully) with runners on base and then drive them in with extra base hits and home runs.
The problem was that this model was really only set up to work for the first inning ... and after that, all bets are off. If I remember correctly, one of the flaws of the sluggers in the middle of the lineup was that the #4 and #5 hitters were statistically the most likely to lead off in the SECOND inning ... and these guys tended to be terrible leadoff hitters.
“Add to that today’s players are also bigger and stronger.......”
Are they really? I think that size & strength, on average, probably hit it’s genetic limits in the 80’s with nutrition & weight training. Then the steroid-era followed.
Mostly now, we have homogenized hitting & pitching techniques. Show me a player today that has a ‘unique’ hitting stance. Better yet, show me a pitcher with a different windup/motion. they’re all too busy trying to disguise their grip and deliver from a consistent arm-slot. IOW’s there’s a lot less wasted motion.
Sorry but that's when it got started. Every training technique since then has been enhanced and magnified for not only the current players but for the teenagers who hope to make a career in MLB.......
So that’s what you term as fraud?
The fields are better kept, cutting down on bad bounces. The bats are better balanced. The gloves are state of the art. The shoes today are as well. The infield is raked at the end of the sixth inning. There are probably more guys scouted today. The average player is probably larger and faster than the guys years ago.
We use computers to keep track of just about every stat that can be kept on opposing hitters and pitchers. I’m sure there are stats on stadium outfields and where the sweet spots are for knocking balls out of the park too.
The grounds people harden or soften the area around home plate depending on what team they are facing.
None of this is cheating. It’s part of the game.
In fifty years there will be more advancements.
On top of all that, players today get the best medical care possible. They avoid some minor injuries turning in to larger ones. They also use state of the art methods of training to prevent injuries.
Things change.
Years ago pitchers were dominating. They lowered the mound. Maybe it’s time to think about raising it back.
There are so many factors, it’s hard to say one things is accounting for the increase in homers.
Pitch speeds can account for part of it. Strike zones may.
Anyone thinking that baseball should remain just as it was, is kind of forgetting how many factors just naturally improve.
The worst thing is when there’s a critical moment in the game and the “fans” are doing the wave. There are signs on the big board trying to shame them into stopping, but they don’t. Of course, many will say, “Just let them have fun!” I do. I just don’t participate.
I don’t know what to tell you on that. It’s difficult to find numbers of people who play each. Different regions may have varying kinds of stats.
When I Google, I come up with 6.520 billion Baseball hits.
When I Google, I come up with 3.000 billion Soccer hits.
When I Google, I come up with 0.468 billion Lacrosse hits.
Do you know what Garvey was being paid in the time of multi-million dollar payouts? Something in the neighborhood of $350,000.00. He didn’t ask them to pay out what San Diego offered. He asked for a reasoned salary in that day and age.
The Dodger thumbed their nose at him. What he wound up making made it clear how little respect management had for him. He had come up through the Dodger system, and played for them his entire career.
Garvey was a vacuum cleaner at first base. He salvaged many terrible throws, getting the out and preventing the runner from taking second on the play, other runners scoring.
He was not only an excellent fielder, he was a great hitter.
I adopted his swing. My last year of playing league baseball, I was hitting around 550 going into the second half of the season.
His bat positioning was very good. The bat was raised. As he swung the bat, it’s own weight helped build up speed. It also contributed into a great level swing.
The guy that they got to replace Garvey was a sub-par fielder. He never materialized at the plate either. He was a washout that lasted about two years.
Nobody is claiming that that those players should have been kept forever. Fact is, they were one game away from the World Series in 1982.
The owners let their player manager run the show. He promptly let go five excellent players. Any guy with a lick of sense about baseball knows it isn’t just talent that gets you to the show. There’s an X factor you can’t put your finger.
Players mature with the major league club. They need some of the older guys to be there to give them pointers at that level.
In one fell swoop, the planer manager canned 5 of the 9 starters. He didn’t bring along a couple per year for the oldest ones. He just arbitrarily lopped off heads.
For the record, the Dodgers finished 1st, 4th, 1st, 5th and 4th in their division leading up to the 1988 team.
That’s not exactly near the top all those years.
I’m actually surprised more Blacks haven’t entered baseball. Less brutal, which means a longer career.
Your comments seem on target to me.
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