For MLB fans the long winter is about over. The idiots agreed on a contract. Spring training starts Sunday and the season on April 7 and go 3 extra days to get in 162 games. I always love millionaires fussing with billionaires. Still glad we will have baseball.

I’d like to see more double headers, but not the abbreviated 7 inning games like last season. I don’t know why they screw with the game and then fuss when people stop watching. Put the game back the way it was, it didn’t need to be fixed, it wasn’t broken. Owners and MLBPA have broken it while trying to fix it…..

(03-10-2022 04:56 PM)Usajags Wrote:  I’d like to see more double headers, but not the abbreviated 7 inning games like last season. I don’t know why they screw with the game and then fuss when people stop watching. Put the game back the way it was, it didn’t need to be fixed, it wasn’t broken. Owners and MLBPA have broken it while trying to fix it…..

All double headers will be 9 innings. Universal DH. Good no more pitchers trying to hit. The shift is outlawed. Opens up the field...good. The main problem for me is they need to deaden the ball some. Its like slow pitch softball. HR. hr. Make small ball the game except for guys who are true mashers. Everybody tries to hit homeruns. Put the ball into play. Hit and run...stolen bases. Constant power or strikeouts get boring.

I just want to state for the record that I hate the DH, but it in the MLB, MiLB, independent leagues, college ball, high school, American Legion ball, Pony League, Little League, 8-ball, or tee-ball.

I want the outfield to be the size of a cricket field so HRs are rare and we get to see a lot of small ball.

Call me a curmudgeon.

I could live with this as well:
Conan and Baseball

(03-10-2022 06:14 PM)OsageJ Wrote:  

(03-10-2022 04:56 PM)Usajags Wrote:  I’d like to see more double headers, but not the abbreviated 7 inning games like last season. I don’t know why they screw with the game and then fuss when people stop watching. Put the game back the way it was, it didn’t need to be fixed, it wasn’t broken. Owners and MLBPA have broken it while trying to fix it…..

All double headers will be 9 innings. Universal DH. Good no more pitchers trying to hit. The shift is outlawed. Opens up the field...good. The main problem for me is they need to deaden the ball some. Its like slow pitch softball. HR. hr. Make small ball the game except for guys who are true mashers. Everybody tries to hit homeruns. Put the ball into play. Hit and run...stolen bases. Constant power or strikeouts get boring.

The people in charge want a game that matches current consumption habits, meaning it looks good as a succession of highlight clips and has a high level of meme-ability and video game translation. That in turn means maximizing the mano a mano, all-or-nothing aspects and churning out HRs & Ks in particular. Strategy isn’t Twitter-friendly and nobody’s putting an infield groundout that advances the runner on Tik Tok.

The problem is that gearing the game to that makes watching a full 9 innings at once unbearable because it’s 4 hours of foul balls and pitching changes and the action ratio is about 5% “all” to 95% “nothing.” Producing baseball for people who don’t like baseball is a questionable growth strategy.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some kids to chase off my lawn and clouds to yell at.

In the early 2000 when McGuire and Sosa was hitting everything out of the parks baseball saw what power like that could do. It got everyone excited. Of course we found out why that was happening but the baseball admins wanted to keep that power excitement in the game. Like everything else it has gone to far and we have lost a lot of exciting offensive baseball. Strikeouts are boring and watching a baseball flying out the stadium gets tiresome after awhile. A good mixture of small ball is needed. Several years ago a player or writer said "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs but singles hitters drive Fords.". Still kind of true and players know it.

I don’t understand how the shift is a problem. You are taking away a manager’s ability to maximize his chances of winning. That’s like the NFL making it illegal to blitz.

Banning the shift is sthe stupidest thing I've ever heard the owners come up with. Who cares where they play the fielders?

If you use the shift you are taking away the opposing manager to win. So its a wash. Personally I never liked it. Defenders have always shaded players from one way or another. This type of shift was used in the past against certain players but very rarely. Now its constant. I have never liked it but I have always liked a hitter to use all of the field.

(03-10-2022 08:19 PM)Appst94 Wrote:  I don’t understand how the shift is a problem. You are taking away a manager’s ability to maximize his chances of winning. That’s like the NFL making it illegal to blitz.

The NBA banned zone defense ages ago, then later loosened up the definition. Pro sports gonna pro sports and tinker with things over time.

Personally, I don’t like the crazy shifts, but it should be the hitters’ problem to deal with.

Hate the DH, you are either a baseball player or you aren’t. Playing baseball is playing in the field and batting. A lot of strategy goes into when you change pitchers, with the DH, just change them whenever with no thought of the batting lineup.

As far as the shift, natter need to learn how to go opposite field and beat the shift. You have half the field wide open, just poke it out there and run all freaking day long.

I’m that old man as well that wants it to be baseball, Wrigley with no lights, double switch, starters that pitch into the 7th inning baseball. A groundball pitcher is just as good as a pitcher that strikes out 15.

The game isn’t hard, hit the ball, throw the ball, catch the ball. But it might as well be home run derby, an offensive team of nothing but batters, and a defensive team of nothing but fielders.

(03-10-2022 10:03 PM)HarborPointe Wrote:  

(03-10-2022 08:19 PM)Appst94 Wrote:  I don’t understand how the shift is a problem. You are taking away a manager’s ability to maximize his chances of winning. That’s like the NFL making it illegal to blitz.

The NBA banned zone defense ages ago, then later loosened up the definition. Pro sports gonna pro sports and tinker with things over time.

Personally, I don’t like the crazy shifts, but it should be the hitters’ problem to deal with.

completely agree ... also hate the DH, but wtfe....

my guess is they will soon deaden the ball to combat football scoring to save pitching....

#goCards

I said they are ending the shift but I may have misread that. There will be a rules committee to look at stuff like a pitch clock and the shift. If anything is changed it will be in 2023. I hope they get rid of it. Just glad baseball is back.

(03-11-2022 01:23 AM)OsageJ Wrote:  I said they are ending the shift but I may have misread that. There will be a rules committee to look at stuff like a pitch clock and the shift. If anything is changed it will be in 2023. I hope they get rid of it. Just glad baseball is back.

here's a simple breakdown for '22 and how it moves forward...

https://www.mlb.com/news/mlb-2022-season-faq

Quote:Are there any on-field rules changes?

The big one for 2022 is the National League’s adoption of the designated hitter. The universal DH was installed for the pandemic-shortened 2020 season before the NL reverted to its traditional rules for 2021. But going forward, pitchers will no longer have a spot in the batting order.

Beginning in 2023, a Joint Competition Committee comprised of four active players, six members appointed by MLB and one umpire will be tasked with making decisions on other changes, such as a pitch clock, limits on defensive shifts, larger bases and the automatic ball/strike system. Any rule changes that committee adopts can be implemented with 45 days’ notice to the players.

personally, I'm disappointed at the lack of discussion (in the media) regarding the automated strike zone ... that's a gimme putt in my mind - you still keep the the ump behind the plate w/o him having to negotiate the call - all he has to do is respond with a ball/strike call as it's relayed to him

(03-10-2022 08:19 PM)Appst94 Wrote:  I don’t understand how the shift is a problem. You are taking away a manager’s ability to maximize his chances of winning. That’s like the NFL making it illegal to blitz.

I've always felt this way too. Just seems weird to me to have set ranges that players are required to play within. (I guess that's how it will be judged.) Doesn't this hold back innovation just for the sake of...I guess tradition?

(FWIW, I also thought it was weird when the zone was illegal in the NBA.)

(03-10-2022 07:25 PM)McLeansvilleAppFan Wrote:  I just want to state for the record that I hate the DH, but it in the MLB, MiLB, independent leagues, college ball, high school, American Legion ball, Pony League, Little League, 8-ball, or tee-ball.

I want the outfield to be the size of a cricket field so HRs are rare and we get to see a lot of small ball.

Call me a curmudgeon.

I could live with this as well:
Conan and Baseball

I agree. But no need to enlarge stadiums…. Just deaden the ball. It improves safety.

MLB’s star is fast collapsing. They need to shorten the season and make games more valuable and have the World Series potential games (5,6 and 7) on Labor Day Weekend. Game 5 at team b on Friday. Saturday travel day, and 6 and 7 on Sunday and Monday. Now it’s football season.

Make them the Boys of Summer again. Not the boys of November

(03-11-2022 08:35 PM)THUNDERStruck73 Wrote:  MLB’s star is fast collapsing. They need to shorten the season and make games more valuable and have the World Series potential games (5,6 and 7) on Labor Day Weekend. Game 5 at team b on Friday. Saturday travel day, and 6 and 7 on Sunday and Monday. Now it’s football season.

Make them the Boys of Summer again. Not the boys of November

?!??

I'm assuming your talking about the expanded playoffs....

if so, a few thingys....

1. the play-in game was just silly stupid

2. the best of three series was the only logical move

3. more games, mo' $$$ ... like playoff hockey, it becomes a season within itself ... I'm cool with that

overlapping seasons is nothing new ... that's what DVRs are for ... with all the commercials these days, it's infinitely better to use the > button to turn a 3.x hr event into 1.5 hrs ... that's the advantage of hdmi thru the smart tele ....

(03-11-2022 08:46 PM)stinkfist Wrote:  with all the commercials these days, it's infinitely better to use the > button to turn a 3.x hr event into 1.5 hrs ... that's the advantage of hdmi thru the smart tele ....

What does this have to do with an HDMI cable and smart tele. I can turn a 3.x hr event into 1.5 hrs with a dumb TV and RCA composite cables, component cables or an S-video cable. I just need something to record to and those have been available for mass consumer sales for over 4 decades.

I am curious what I am missing here.