[OutsiderFan]

I believe the numbers have been used to promote groupthink in baseball. And I also wonder if the ball composition was changed we would see less emphasis on HRs as well. 

There was a time the college game was becoming all about hitting HRs, long before the obsession hit MLB. The NCAA mandated changes to bats to make hitting HRs more difficult and the game became more about pitching, defense and speed than power. 

MLB can alter the ball to reduce HR production as it has to increase it. Were that to happen, it would not be smart to use a strategy that trades strikeouts for HRs because there would be too many empty plate appearances to justify the strategy. And if more balls are hit that can be caught, a premium would be placed on speed and defense.

Creating plays at the bases, especially home plate, is a lot more interesting than waiting to see home runs hit, and watching each team strike out a dozen times a game chasing HRs is boring. And the sport is positively broken when the Rays - in an elimination game - feel comfortable playing no defender to the left of Second Base and the batter facing that defense doesn’t hit the ball to the side of the field there is nobody who can stop him from getting on base.

[OutsiderFan]

I believe the numbers have been used to promote groupthink in baseball. And I also wonder if the ball composition was changed we would see less emphasis on HRs as well. 

There was a time the college game was becoming all about hitting HRs, long before the obsession hit MLB. The NCAA mandated changes to bats to make hitting HRs more difficult and the game became more about pitching, defense and speed than power. 

MLB can alter the ball to reduce HR production as it has to increase it. Were that to happen, it would not be smart to use a strategy that trades strikeouts for HRs because there would be too many empty plate appearances to justify the strategy. And if more balls are hit that can be caught, a premium would be placed on speed and defense.

Creating plays at the bases, especially home plate, is a lot more interesting than waiting to see home runs hit, and watching each team strike out a dozen times a game chasing HRs is boring. And the sport is positively broken when the Rays - in an elimination game - feel comfortable playing no defender to the left of Second Base and the batter facing that defense doesn’t hit the ball to the side of the field there is nobody who can stop him from getting on base.