Baseball shifts are as bad as Free Speech?

freerepublic.com ^ | 6/23/2018 | a little elbow grease

[a little elbow grease]

"Unsportsmanlike. It’s the baseball version of icing the kicker"

___________________________

Do you ever write an understandable thought?

What do you think is "unsportsmanlike"?

What do you think is "baseball's version of icing the kicker"?

[usconservative]

I don't know if it'd be the end of the game but they'd certainly lose me. I like nothing more than a really good pitchers duel. There's something to be said for the really great pitchers "of the day."

It's not often you see a pitcher go a complete game anymore, even when they're pitching exceptionally well.

I'll never forget the Cubs pulling Kyle Hendricks during the 2016 World Series with the Cleveland Indians. Hendricks was pitching the best of the entire Cubs pitching staff (IMO) and could've went a complete game and won it in the world series. Instead Maddon pulled him. Uggh!

Once again, big data and computer algorithm's are choosing pitchers based on batters and batting scenario's rather than good old fashioned coaching knowledge and intuition. Damn' shame.

OMG, I sound OLD.

[a little elbow grease]

"Eliminate the batting lineup."

Wow.......... that is a thought! It would at least be entertaining.

[dfwgator]

What’s next, force pitchers to always throw fastballs because some hitters can’t hit a curve ball?

[nutmeg]

bookmark

[a little elbow grease]

"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."

____________

I like it.

[usconservative]

If baseball bans defensive shifts, I'll stop watching it—ermanently—because the sport will have ceased to be "baseball" in any meaningful way. I've never heard of a more ridiculous thing in my entire life.

Couldn't agree more! It's the equivalent of the NFL telling every team's defense that they must line up a certain way on every play. Abject stupidity.

[BlueLancer]

"Eliminate the batting lineup."

Heck, let's make it really interesting: eliminate the team line-up ...

Need a designated hitter? Go out into the stands and pull somebody down ...

...or make it a lottery: "Would the holder of the ticket to seat Green-31-B please come down to the field ... you are the new second baseman ..."

[a little elbow grease]

"Yes!

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.'

_________________

May I add that this sounds pretty cool, but ...............

Seeing that you are allowing the manager to put up anyone he wants to "the next time around" ........ couldn't that tactic, over the length of a season, allow one of his best players to accrue fantastic stats???

[a little elbow grease]

..... better than in the shower.

[a little elbow grease]

"In the context of this discussion, it's no less ludicrous than a proposal to regulate the alignment of players on the field."

______________

In that context, your idea is a better idea. At least much more entertaining.

[a little elbow grease]

"Never throw behind the runner"

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LOL

Tell that to Roberto Clemente. He did it all the time ........ especially when someone would hit a single to right.

It got to the point that the hitters would slow down coming to first base and hardly make the turn.

[a little elbow grease]

Yes ..... we would call it a “swinging bunt”.

[a little elbow grease]

"Third base should be on the left side, SS too and he is required to stay on the left side of 2B unless he is going after a ball in play, he cant set up on the right side of 2nd before the pitch.

____________________________

You should be a Democrat/Commie/Socialist. "Everyone in their place."

[a little elbow grease]

"Most pitchers “back in the day” were not throwing a consistent 95mph fastball, which had to be backed-up with a curve, slider and change-up."

____________

It doesn't need to be that way.

[a little elbow grease]

"What’s next, force pitchers to always throw fastballs because some hitters can’t hit a curve ball?"

____________

God I hope not.

[Mariner]

“It doesn’t need to be that way. “

It does if you don’t want to watch a boring 21-18 or 17-15 game every night.

That would get old very, very quickly.

Personally, I wouldn’t be able to sit through even one of them.

Today’s hitters are at a level never seen before. Big, strong, perfect eyesight, swinging a 30oz bat. Every team has the equivalent of 2-3 Babe Ruth’s when it comes to hitting. Hell, the Yankees have at least 5.

And it’s the specialty pitches that get them out, and do the most damage to the pitcher.

Madison Bumgarner, probably the strongest and most resilient pitcher of our era says he can throw fast balls all day long. But 40 curve balls and change-ups will force him to sit.

[Mariner]

Enough argumentation.

Pop a beer and watch a game tonight. Enjoy the greatest sport ever created by man, likely with the help of God his own self. If he ever watches the trivialities of man, he watches baseball:)

May your team fare well.

[Alberta's Child]

That has been talked about for about five years. It would be the end of the game.

That's where it's heading, whether it ever becomes "official" or not.

[Alberta's Child]

Seeing that you are allowing the manager to put up anyone he wants to "the next time around" ........ couldn't that tactic, over the length of a season, allow one of his best players to accrue fantastic stats???

Yes, it could -- but mainly for RBIs. That proposal isn't necessarily isn't going to make batters hit any more home runs or hit for a much higher batting average. It just means the manager will look for opportunities to send up his best hitters with runners in scoring position instead of leading off an inning.

It might also DIMINISH some personal offensive statistics over the course of a season, since managers might cost some guys plate appearances by waiting to send up their best hitters until an ideal situation. A hitter who bats near the top of the order and is used to getting 4-5 plate appearances in a game right now might lose some of those plate appearances if he's not in the same spot of the order every time through the lineup.

The other thing it does is give a batter an opportunity to hit twice in one inning without waiting through the whole lineup. If I am the ninth hitter in the order the first time I'm up and I don't reach base, I can theoretically go right back up to the plate as the first hitter the next time through the lineup. They'd probably need a rule to prevent such a strange scenario.

There would be a lot of peculiarities like this that would have to be addressed through the rules, but it's not quite as outlandish as it seemed when I first heard it.