Commissioner For A Day

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

I would put a red marker like a football hash mark, half on the grass, half on the dirt. One about 12-15 feet on the left field side of second, another on the right field side . . . any time a infielder "shifts" past the red marker for one batter, it counts as one shift. You only get 8 shifts per 9 innings which means there will be at least one inning where there can be no shifting being done.

I'm tired of watching only Strikeouts, Walks, HRs, Fly outs or Ground outs. I'd like to see a ground ball with eyes, a blooper fall in once in awhile, anything that resembles baseball.

Also, I'm anti-WAR, exit velocity, OPS . . . I don't need to read stupid numbers to tell me Mike Trout is a good baseball player. I see better than you add.

Any ideas or rules that you would implement?

[*bengalfan74*]

I wish they'd just do away with the shift all together ! Two guys to the right of 2nd, two guys to the left and they have to be within a step of the dirt. No 4 outfielders either.

[Circleville Guy]

How do you guys feel about the DH in the NL? I use to be totally against it but I’m much more open now. I’ve never understood all of the fuss about speeding up games. With all of the constant rule changes, baseball isn’t very secure in what it is. Kids just don’t play as much of any sport since the computer, phone and gaming boom.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

I hate the DH.

It takes too much strategy out of the game. In the AL it's "pitch until you either get tired or get figured out". Plus the crowd loves it when a pitcher gets a hit at home.

[*bengalfan74*]

(04-30-2019, 03:01 AM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: I hate the DH.

It takes too much strategy out of the game. In the AL it's "pitch until you either get tired or get figured out". Plus the crowd loves it when a pitcher gets a hit at home.

As do I

I hope the NL never sees it. Hell I hope they take it out of the AL. Like you say it takes to much strategy out of the game.

[fredtoast]

I hate watching pitchers try to bat.  When I am watching professional sports I want to see good matchups.  Who wants to see pitchers bat when 90% of the time they are completely helpless.  

I have no problem with the shifts.  It don't see how the same people who don't like the DH because it takers "strategy" out of the game turn around and complain about shifts.  Batters just need to hit the other way.  It is not rocket science.  What would you guys do if they outlawed blitzing in football or zone pass defense?

Got to do something to speed up the game.  Again, a pitch clock is a very simple answer.  I don't know why all the players are so opposed.  I think everyone is better off.  WAYYYYYY too much standing around and doing nothing for a professional sport.  People say walks and strikeouts are boring, but they are not as bad as guys just standing there doing nothing.

Every relief pitcher has to either face at least 2 batters or get the final out of an inning.  Again, too much time wasted making multiple pitching changes.

Finally cut a week off the beginning and the end of the season and go to a 150 game schedule.

[*bengalfan74*]

(04-30-2019, 10:45 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I hate watching pitchers try to bat.  When I am watching professional sports I want to see good matchups.  Who wants to see pitchers bat when 90% of the time they are completely helpless.  

I have no problem with the shifts.  It don't see how the same people who don't like the DH because it takers "strategy" out of the game turn around and complain about shifts.  Batters just need to hit the other way.  It is not rocket science.  What would you guys do if they outlawed blitzing in football or zone pass defense?

Got to do something to speed up the game.  Again, a pitch clock is a very simple answer.  I don't know why all the players are so opposed.  I think everyone is better off.  WAYYYYYY too much standing around and doing nothing for a professional sport.  People say walks and strikeouts are boring, but they are not as bad as guys just standing there doing nothing.

Every relief pitcher has to either face at least 2 batters or get the final out of an inning.  Again, too much time wasted making multiple pitching changes.

Finally cut a week off the beginning and the end of the season and go to a 150 game schedule.

I agree with this but have issue with most of the rest.

I'm old school and I know it but I don't have that much issue with speeding up the game. I could care less if a bunch of millennials want a two hour game because they can't set their cell phone down any longer.

Baseball is baseball because it's baseball. Fast and speedy games aren't what it's about, relax a bit and set the phone down, what's the rush ?

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(04-30-2019, 10:45 AM)fredtoast Wrote: I hate watching pitchers try to bat.  When I am watching professional sports I want to see good matchups.  

Ha! Busted!

If that were true at all you sure as shit wouldn't be a Bengals fan.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(04-30-2019, 11:09 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I agree with this but have issue with most of the rest.

I'm old school and I know it but I don't have that much issue with speeding up the game. I could care less if a bunch of millennials want a two hour game because they can't set their cell phone down any longer.

Baseball is baseball because it's baseball. Fast and speedy games aren't what it's about, relax a bit and set the phone down, what's the rush?

Baseball used to have no clock . . . now they have a pitch clock.
One thing I am very sick of and "Da Wink" is one of the worst at this.
1) Spend what seems about a minute getting in the box.
2) Ball one (Translation . . . no swing)
3) Step out of the box
4) Put bat under arm
5) Rip apart the velcro from your batting gloves
6) Re-attach it VERY tightly (again) on each glove
7) Spend what seems like a minute getting into the box
8) Ball two
9) Repeat #3 through #7

[fredtoast]

(04-30-2019, 11:09 AM)bengalfan74 Wrote: I'm old school and I know it but I don't have that much issue with speeding up the game. I could care less if a bunch of millennials want a two hour game because they can't set their cell phone down any longer.

Baseball is baseball because it's baseball. Fast and speedy games aren't what it's about, relax a bit and set the phone down, what's the rush ?

I am nothing close to a millennial.  

Baseball is NOT about watching a guy step out of the box five times and adjust every piece of equipment four times then having the pitcher shake off five signs until the batter has to step out again.  Do you really enjoy watching that?

I don't mind long games if it is because teams are getting a lot of hits and scoring runs, but the average baseball games has added a HALF HOUR of ABSOLUTLELY NOTHING.  The average game in the seventies was 2.5 hours, now it is up to 3 hours.

[guyofthetiger]

I grew up in the late 60's and 70's. Baseball was much better back then. First, no multimillion contracts to sit out players for a torn fingernail. The pitchers were pitching complete games. Nobody heard of this defensive shift crap. No interleague play except the world series. Where has the arguing a call with the umpire gone? There is much more. I'm glad I saw baseball when it was still a fun game instead of a money maker. I don't like the evolution of baseball and wish we could return to the good ole days.

[CJD]

1. I would institute DH in NL tomorrow.

Watching the pitcher bat is dumb and artificially inflates the already rampantly growing Strikeout numbers in the game right now. It creates the occasional interesting scenario where the pitcher's slot is coming up in the next inning and you have to decide if you want to use him for one more inning or if you want to pinch hit him and then have to change pitchers the following inning, but the negative consequences aren't insignificant. I remember a game several years ago where Aaron Harang actually got a hit and had to run the bases. He didn't even know what to do out there and you could tell he was winded from it all (he was a big dude) and it affected his ability to pitch the remainder of the game. And that's not even getting into the danger of your pitcher getting injured doing stuff that they aren't really good at (As their practice time is much better invested in their pitching than their hitting and base running), especially if they signed from an AL team to an NL team.

It also adds value to aging players who you don't want fielding every day. Or players like Jesse Winker who is very gifted at the plate but just can't seem to get this whole defense thing under control.

2. I'd also get rid of these damn juiced balls. Home runs are supposed to be an accomplishment. There shouldn't be 1.31 HR per game. It's just incentivizing guys to press, like you can see all of our players are doing right now. Baseball is about pitch counts and the mental battle between pitchers and hitters. Launch Angle is a dumb thing to focus your hitting coaching on.

3. Re-work service time to eliminate this whole 14 day nonsense. It's not a perfect solution, but I think every year should be rounded to the nearest year. That way a team would have to hold a player down for 83 games in order to steal a year of service time from them. Teams will still do it, but it'll actually come at a cost.

4. Establish a lottery system for the draft. Tanking is, quite frankly, out of control in MLB.

[Forever Spinning Vinyl]

(04-30-2019, 04:53 PM)Crazyjdawg Wrote:  I remember a game several years ago where Aaron Harang actually got a hit and had to run the bases. He didn't even know what to do out there and you could tell he was winded from it all (he was a big dude) and it affected his ability to pitch the remainder of the game. And that's not even getting into the danger of your pitcher getting injured doing stuff that they aren't really good at (As their practice time is much better invested in their pitching than their hitting and base running), especially if they signed from an AL team to an NL team.

It also adds value to aging players who you don't want fielding every day. Or players like Jesse Winker who is very gifted at the plate but just can't seem to get this whole defense thing under control.

1) Starting pitchers are supposed to run a lot. Nolan Ryan didn't throw hard as long as he did because of a strong arm. He did so because he had some of the strongest thighs of any starting pitcher ever. I hated the first few practices every year because I was a starting pitcher. Pitching coach to all of our starting pitchers "Gentlemen, we have an exercise called 'Go Put On Your Running Shoes' and go do it quickly." That's the first three days of practice for all of the starting pitchers. No gloves, no baseballs, no throwing unless you count throwing up. I played organized sports for 50 weeks a year in High School. The only two weeks of sports that didn't overlap was between wrestling season ending and baseball season starting up. I spent my two "off weeks" running three times a week to prepare my legs and lungs for what was about to come.
2) I like watching baseball players, not guys who can only hit or people like Billy Hamilton who can only run and play defense. Is that the next evolution? A football style roster of one set of players that only bat and another set of players that only play defense?

[fredtoast]

(04-30-2019, 05:17 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: 2) I like watching baseball players, not guys who can only hit or people like Billy Hamilton who can only run and play defense. Is that the next evolution? A football style roster of one set of players that only bat and another set of players that only play defense?

Next evolution?

What are you talking about?  I have been watching baseball since the 1970's and pitchers could never hit.  It is a waste of an at bat when they came up.

[CJD]

(04-30-2019, 05:17 PM)Forever Spinning Vinyl Wrote: 1) Starting pitchers are supposed to run a lot. Nolan Ryan didn't throw hard as long as he did because of a strong arm. He did so because he had some of the strongest thighs of any starting pitcher ever. I hated the first few practices every year because I was a starting pitcher. Pitching coach to all of our starting pitchers "Gentlemen, we have an exercise called 'Go Put On Your Running Shoes' and go do it quickly." That's the first three days of practice for all of the starting pitchers. No gloves, no baseballs, no throwing unless you count throwing up. I played organized sports for 50 weeks a year in High School. The only two weeks of sports that didn't overlap was between wrestling season ending and baseball season starting up. I spent my two "off weeks" running three times a week to prepare my legs and lungs for what was about to come.
2) I like watching baseball players, not guys who can only hit or people like Billy Hamilton who can only run and play defense. Is that the next evolution? A football style roster of one set of players that only bat and another set of players that only play defense?

It's interesting that you mention football because a pitcher hitting is the equivalent of forcing your QB to also play LB.

That's not what they're being paid for. That's not where they derive their value. It's a waste of time and a waste of an at bat.

And while you may not enjoy it, I'd love to have a player like Jesse Winker on my offense without having to suffer through his defense. An all around elite player would obviously be better, but there are so many players that have to "retire" to the AL before actually retiring because their defense is so bad but their offense is still worth paying for. Not sure why we would endorse a scenario where our players, who are drafted and paid and developed by our team, should lose value at a more rapid rate than have the league.