MLB playoffs

@luv baseball posted:

I DVR'd  game 6 and watched the whole thing in less than 10 minutes.  3 1/2 hour game that had 10 hits and 4 walks and 27 K's.  Not one of those pitchers is getting near the HOF either.  Just crappy nibbling and a bunch of 3-2 sliders.

So, I am not sure what you think should be changed. 10 hits, 4 walks and 27ks is really a good game for some.

Maybe they need better managers who don't panic so easily. Snell was shutting down the offense.  BS call on not wanting LA seeing him for a 3rd time. Cash panicked.

What's with the white Sox hiring a 76 year old LaRussa.

Definetly agree there needs to be changes, somewhere.

I went to three of the games and they were all great!  I’m shocked someone would call it a snoozer.😳?   I’m not even a fan of either team, but it was good to let Kershaw get his Series.

Imagine how much longer it could have been without limited mound visits or with the ability to change the pitcher after every batter...  Just ~3.5 hours - haha - Red Sox and Yankees were averaging what 4 hours a few years ago?! Pitch clocks aren't going to speed things up magically. Baseball is a leisurely game that isn't played at the pace of video games. If you want something radical, then let's just have 3 balls for a walk and 2 strikes for an out.  That'll change everyone's approach. No more waiting to see a strike... Be aggressive, push the action.

The absolute worst part of all this is kids this days try to do the same thing and I bet when that happens you don't mind. Cannot tell you how many times I hear some parent tell their cherub at the plate - take your time, don't let him (umpire or pitcher) rush you, look at a few pitches, make sure you see a strike, etc. etc.  Kids put their hand up, look at the umpire, wait to get into the box, dig the dirt with their feet, tug on their batting glove, look for a sign, ask for it again, (is this getting too long?), etc., etc.  Oh and it happens every pitch...   For more than 1/2 of them, it's not going to matter. If you were told to look at a pitch or wait for a strike, just step in and do that - you weren't swinging anyway, so why bother with all the bs to delay things? Pitchers - it's a free strike - take it.

@TPM posted:

So, I am not sure what you think should be changed. 10 hits, 4 walks and 27ks is really a good game for some.

Maybe they need better managers who don't panic so easily. Snell was shutting down the offense.  BS call on not wanting LA seeing him for a 3rd time. Cash panicked.

What's with the white Sox hiring a 76 year old LaRussa.

Definetly agree there needs to be changes, somewhere.

I have suggested a few things in other strings -

1) Pitch clock.  12 seconds from pitch to pitch or pick off.  Something happening all the time and fast.

2) Change  BB to 3 and K's to 2.  Once upon a time these were 5 and 4 so it has been done before.

3) You get three strikes max.  Take or swing and miss on 2nd you are out.  One foul ball.  Every At bat is 6 pitches max

4)  Change BB to ground rule double.  A walk with 2nd and 3rd becomes 2 runs.  Stop the nibbling put the ball in play.

5)  Push fences back 20 feet wherever possible .  Power allys should never be less than 380 and CF 420.  Make HR harder and value contact more.  The lowered mound for more offense in 1968 so rebalancing things is not foreign to the game.

6)  Play with 8 instead of 9.  Open up field and value contact more.  Fixes shift issue by removing defender.

7)  Start every inning at top of batting order.  See Betts, Judge, Trout  bat 9 times instead of Pederson 2X  before he is PH by Hernandez who hits 2X as well.   ZZZZZZ.  Would NBA say every player has to take the same amount of shots or LeBron gets 25 and Caldwell-Pope gets 6?

Imagine games that are 8-6 with 25 hits 2 walks and 11 K's that are played in 2:15.  Batters putting 1st or 2nd pitch in play regularly.  Pitchers working in zone.  Guys like Degrom having 15 complete games because he can do it in 95 pitches.

1st and 3rd.  Ground balls to open side of field where there is one infielder.  Hit and run to open infield for ground balls.  Value speed and athleticism more.  Bring back hitting .375, end striking out 175 times a year for 38 bombs.  Change equation back to need 190 hits and 25 HR.

NFL thinking is what is needed. 

That's my 2 cents.  Radical for most I suppose but they could try this stuff in Milb

Sorry that I asked.

Geez! Calling that plan radical is being kind. I think one of two things happened:  1) drug use has gone up in your house during the months of this pandemic...OR.  2) you collaborated with AOC on this plan.. OR BOTH

5)  Push fences back 20 feet wherever possible .  Power allys should never be less than 380 and CF 420.  Make HR harder and value contact more.

I'm in for that.

And please find a way to eliminate the serial ball 4 slingers from the game. Excess 3-2 counts followed by ball 4 is the time killer. And attention killer. Running a close second is 99.9 % of all runs seemingly being scored thru HR's.

@adbono posted:

Geez! Calling that plan radical is being kind. I think one of two things happened:  1) drug use has gone up in your house during the months of this pandemic...OR.  2) you collaborated with AOC on this plan.. OR BOTH

If the NFL was still playing by its rules from the 70's the games would be 16-13 snoozers with 17 punts and 2/3 the teams would lose there QB's and WR by the 4th game of the year. 

They change their rules every year almost with the idea of keeping it moving and entertaining.  They have killed MLB on that front.

Have to be clear headed to recognize that and not up in the haze like most MLB lifers are.  Getting associated with AOC is troublesome but changing a sport vs changing the country seem like non -sequiturs to me.

The NFL realized people like to see more touchdowns and changed the rules to get more of them. Same goes for HR. At least MLB thinks so.

@TerribleBPthrower posted:

The NFL realized people like to see more touchdowns and changed the rules to get more of them. Same goes for HR. At least MLB thinks so.

It is more than just TD's.  Passing dominates the game.  Speed, athleticism, acrobatics, great throws and catches.  No huddles & spread offenses.  The 3 yards and a cloud of dust with 18 guys within 10 yards of the snap are long gone except 4th & 1 or goal line.

Baseball has taken speed out of the game and reverted to a cloud of dust.  BB, K, Popout KK HR etc.  Homeruns are great but not at the expense of the ball in play more.

The basic analytics of the HR is you have to bat .500 to score one run in an inning.  2 for 4 if they are doubles.  It rises to .600 for singles as you need 3 for 5 if you won't steal bases or even 4 for 6 if you are totally station to station.  If you get 10 hits over 9 innings you can get shut out or score only 1 or 2 runs.  If you hit 3 homers and manage to bang one after a walk or hit you probably score 4 or 5 regularly.  Baseball edges ever closer to beer league softball.

That equation has to change to fix the game.  More strikes to hit less HR and more room on the field return value to hitting the ball and speed.  HR derby is sort of entertaining once a year but not 2,400 times.

Baseball is timeless, but I do believe over the last 10 to 20 years or so it has become hard to watch on the MLB level. Walk-StrikeOuts-Homerun approach is the reason for this. Changing it is simple. Move fences back and raise the mounds. Without every guy being able to hit 30 some homeruns, contact and base stealing will make its way back into the game.

Do you think we are going to see a full season in 2021?

I listened to a podcast and they speculated it could maybe be a 90-100 game season if the season starts without spectators and maybe even with spectators (to make up for the lost money by saving payroll salary).

I think they will be BAU by the start of the season. Some states/teams will have fans and some won’t.

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

Baseball is timeless, but I do believe over the last 10 to 20 years or so it has become hard to watch on the MLB level. Walk-StrikeOuts-Homerun approach is the reason for this. Changing it is simple. Move fences back and raise the mounds. Without every guy being able to hit 30 some homeruns, contact and base stealing will make its way back into the game.

The cost of moving back fences in many parks would be high. In a handful, impossible. Google an overhead of Fenway and Wrigley.

Next season will run from April through October. Baseball’s schedule wasn’t altered by this year. Not playing when they can would violate their tv contract.

Like MLB, you see a lot of K and HR in the Little League World Series also. I just hope that the NL doesn't ditch the DH. I know you keep a veteran on the roster and a number of P can't handle the bat, but I like the strategy...double switches, pinch hit, etc. The shifts are a good part of the game too; hitters should adjust. Should the mound change??

Does baseball have a time problem or a dead time problem?

Pitchers get 5 warmups in between innings. 5. They get two and a half minutes to make 5 warmups happen. Do that 16 times a game.

Two and a half minutes you lost my interest. Now I'm in the kitchen, on my phone, reading something, etc. I'm not going to wait two and a half minutes to come back and watch three strikeouts and the same mundane commentary about 70s pitchers and former team greats.

People will address everything except for the obvious. Will it cost them a penny in commercial dollars? Yes. Will it make the game at least somewhat interesting? Yes.

Too much nothing. Too much down time, too many strikeouts, not enough balls put in play, not enough baserunners, not enough action. It's a dead game to watch with some homers sprinkled in.

They brought the numbers guys in to tell you an out is an out whether it comes in the form of a K or a lineout, so you might as well swing for a HR anyway because how you make the out doesn't matter. This might be the right approach, but as a viewer it is pretty much unwatchable to me.

@ReluctantO'sFan posted:

Baseball is timeless, but I do believe over the last 10 to 20 years or so it has become hard to watch on the MLB level. Walk-StrikeOuts-Homerun approach is the reason for this. Changing it is simple. Move fences back and raise the mounds. Without every guy being able to hit 30 some homeruns, contact and base stealing will make its way back into the game.

This is the right approach.  Also un-juice the baseball.

Changing the number of balls and strikes, walks into doubles, and all that would turn it into Calvin Ball.

@Ripken Fan posted:

Like MLB, you see a lot of K and HR in the Little League World Series also. I just hope that the NL doesn't ditch the DH. I know you keep a veteran on the roster and a number of P can't handle the bat, but I like the strategy...double switches, pinch hit, etc. The shifts are a good part of the game too; hitters should adjust. Should the mound change??

No DH for the NL next year 2021. Back for good in 2022.

If you only see the signal and the result pitch it takes about 20-25 minutes to watch a MLB baseball game.

If you only see from count to tackle a NFL football game takes about the same time.

The difference is the average fan knows enough about football to debate whether the team should have run or passed on the last play or the next play between plays (even if they don’t really know what they’re talking about).

The average baseball fan doesn’t know enough about pitch selection to discuss it between pitches.

The once a week a friend comes over to watch the (baseball) game we discuss pitch selection. The game doesn’t seem so long as long as it ends in three hours.

Maybe MLB needs to incorporate a travel ball like rule. No inning starts after two hours and forty-five minutes.