MLB Thread 2019

[Supermoon]

Real classy of the Mariners to let him play his last two games in front of a home crowd like that.

[The AD]

Mariners off to a 2-0 start! I think it's going to be a rocky season, but I'm excited to see this team play.

[ex-powderbroker]

ichiro is the man and the m’s are all class. great start to the season (and nice find, supermoon)!

[Woodsy]

This article is about a Dodgers hitting coach, but does a good job of talking about some of the not so new and very new approaches to hitting

https://www.latimes.com/sports/dodge...322-story.html
Summary Ted WIlliams & video

[Benny Profane]

Outlawing the shift is the stupidest rule. How does that speed games up? The shift will end as soon as hitters learn to hit the ball the other way.

Somehow, even with the shift, there are more runs than ever.

Yeah, well, the shift has been around for well over a decade, and multi multi millionaire hitters still haven't figured out how to hit a bouncer into that massive hole they are gifted.

[Jacques Strap]

the shift

The Shift is fucking rad and a perfect example of the best thing about baseball. Where as the football rulebook is written in the spirit of "You must do this" and "You must do that", the baseball rules are more "Well... there's nothing in here that says you can't do that, so I guess it's ok". That's how you get innovative things like The Opener, and The Shift, and Stealing Second Base.

If you want to speed up the game, crack down on the ease of swapping out relievers just to leverage the lefty/righty-righty/lefty matchups (which they did this year).

[ex-powderbroker]

i don’t know, the lefty comes in and gets the dude out, maybe suppressing a linger rally.

the bigger question is why everyone thinks there’s a problem with the game. if they want it to be shorter they should stop airing so many commercials between half innings. problem solved. that’s why the games used to be so much shorter.

[The AD]

Yeah, well, the shift has been around for well over a decade, and multi multi millionaire hitters still haven't figured out how to hit a bouncer into that massive hole they are gifted.

Seriously. Maybe more players should heed Wee Willie Keeler's advice "hit 'em where they ain't."

[Supermoon]

Seriously. Maybe more players should heed Wee Willie Keeler's advice "hit 'em where they ain't."

I get Bryce Harper and the like not trying to change their game to take a single, but if you are a replacement level hitter why wouldn’t you take it?

[Woodsy]

Benny's complaint this season
4 man outfield
https://www.mlb.com/news/

[Benny Profane]

Nope. My complaint is the absurd money. It really has dulled any enthusiasm I could muster. A few seasons ago my cable company and the Yankees got into a spat about....money, and, for the first time in my life, I could not watch my team for an entire season. I sorta said, at that time, fuck them, fuck them all, but came back last year, sort of. Now these absurd contracts and ticket prices going up. It just sours the taste. So tired of pro sports.

[iceman]

I hear you and the money is absurd but I'm on the side that people keep buying tickets and I'd rather see the players get the money than the owners. The games are free on my TV, I go to a couple/few a year, that's not a budget breaker for me, so play ball.

[SkiBall]

I am not a big fan of the shift, but it can be viewed as double/triple coverage in BB or FB where it opens up other advantages if a team can exploit them. I know not exactly the same, but work with me.
Any batter at major level should be able to hit to all fields. However, I don't agree that a hitter should try to do something with a pitch that is not conducive to what they try to do with it. Adjustments can be made to help a little, but ultimately it outs the onus on the pitcher to throw where it is needed (inside) on the shift. If he keeps it inside, put a good bat on it however you can. But if pitcher leaves it out a little and you don't try to exploit that in favor of your default, then you are either a poor ass hitter or the top of the game depending on your results.
tldr: If you can't keep the defense honest, then you get what you get.

[Benny Profane]

I hear you and the money is absurd but I'm on the side that people keep buying tickets and I'd rather see the players get the money than the owners. The games are free on my TV, I go to a couple/few a year, that's not a budget breaker for me, so play ball.

Yeah, but, all the players aren't getting the money, just the stahs. Has to create tension in the clubhouse. It's a fucking team sport.

[ex-powderbroker]

starting salary in mlb is 550k, average is 4.1M.

i thought the commercials were the biggest factor in game length but it turns out that the breaks in innings are the same since the early 80s and the play is almost entirely slowed down by the primadonnas calling time, even the length between pitches is pretty steady.

[Jacques Strap]

the absurd money

The absurd money athletes get is absolutely nothing compared to the absurd money actors get. And actors get it without the physical consequences (which are numerous for athletes).

[Benny Profane]

I don't know. Trout now makes more than pretty much any Hollywood star. And it's guaranteed.

[SkiBall]

Sox n Rox playing in the D 8/27-28. Just got tix for both.

[SkiCougar]

Nope. My complaint is the absurd money. It really has dulled any enthusiasm I could muster. A few seasons ago my cable company and the Yankees got into a spat about....money, and, for the first time in my life, I could not watch my team for an entire season. I sorta said, at that time, fuck them, fuck them all, but came back last year, sort of. Now these absurd contracts and ticket prices going up. It just sours the taste. So tired of pro sports.

you gotta treat them like entertainers if you go to see a game live, dropping several hundred dollars on a bunch of guys that will play for your most hated rival next year if the price is right is not sports that most people play or grew up playing and keep the team attire to a minimum, the teams are making enough already.

saved myself thousands of dollars watching games from my climate controlled home and reasonably priced home concessions, someone else can pay to make those guys rich, i'm done doing it.

[neckdeep]

omfg. Contreras just hit a line drive off Porcello's head that damn near bounced out of the park. Broootal. Porcello shrugs it off.

[teleee]

omfg. Contreras just hit a line drive off Porcello's head that damn near bounced out of the park. Broootal. Porcello shrugs it off.

Im surprised they left him in. It looked brutal!

[Supermoon]

Jesus. Brutal. Just turned it on, and he's still in. Guess he needs to get his pitches in. Lol.

[ex-powderbroker]

Almost opening day and seeing the Fake Expos at the Big O again tonight. Pretty stoked!

[ex-powderbroker]

mike moustakas just dropped a bunt to third to defeat the shift. it’s not that hard!

[Jacques Strap]

more than pretty much any Hollywood star

I dunno, when you calculate it on a $/hr basis....

Beats the fuck outta me, but I suspect Downey Jr. makes more than Trout. And after 25 years in Hollywood, Roberts knees, shoulder, and elbows will still be fine. Liver, well....

And that doesn't even compare to the devastating toll that the NFL exacts from its employees.