[lex24]

Close but no

Yeah, I googled after and saw I was wrong. I do remember No 1.

I did see Kendall is second in all-time steals. Tough dude, very good contact hitter in his prime.

Always interesting to look at hitting stats from 70s and 80s. What jumps out is walks and strikeouts. Both much lower. Hitters actually put the ball in play. It was a much more exciting game.

Read an article in The Athletic about getting rid of the shift. Big concern about how boring today’s game is. From guys that know - such as Mattingly and Melvin. Three true outcomes. Ugh.

My changes would be to limit pitching staffs to 11 and 4 infielders on the skin. Former will never happen. Union etc. So perhaps limiting the AAA/ML shuttle. Pitching staffs in reality today are about 16 deep. With a constant up and down flow so there are always fresh relievers. Which you need when it constistently takes 4-5 pitchers to finish a game; and often 6-7) . I believe the rule now is when a guy is sent down, he must remain in AAA for 10 days. Change it to 21. At least.

One problem today is that even front of the rotation pitchers aren’t expected to go more than 6. Back end guys get the “third time through the order” hook. So 4-5. Thus, no one has to pace himself. They come out from pitch 1 looking to strike out everyone. “Missing bats” now being the key. (Gausman is a great example. He has terrific stuff. But he’s a 5-6 inning guy. Pitch count gobbles him up. Cause he can’t get guys out early in counts). Thus a never ending procession of power pitchers, throwing to guys that are using their “launch angles” to improve their fly ball ratio. And it’s not just the big boys doing that. It’s damn near everyone. So if you hit .220. walk a lot strikeout a lot and hit an HR every 30 or so Plate Appearances you are valued. Whereas you hit .280 with 5 HRs lower walk totals and don’t strike out much (which in today’s game is about 75 times a year for an everyday player) you aren’t. And since both the running game and situational hitting is oh so yesterday, singles don’t matter.

The upshot is that there are comparatively few balls put in play. Making the game far less exciting. The lack of balls in plays and the “sameness” of the game is a bigger problem than the sheer number of runs. A 3-2 game with a combined 10-12 strikeouts and 4-6 walks is more entertaining than a 3-2 game with a combined 20-25 strikeouts and 6-8 walks. And the former will generally be quicker as well.

There was another interesting article about pitchers using foreign substances on the ball. According to the article, it’s not just a few, it’s damn near all of them. Purporetly for “grip” but in reality to improve “spin rate”. The result is considerably more movement on fastballs and sharper breaks on sliders etc.

I think it’s Korea that uses a ball that is easier to grip and not quite as hard. Which cuts down on movement and of course, carry.

[lex24]

Close but no

Yeah, I googled after and saw I was wrong. I do remember No 1.

I did see Kendall is second in all-time steals. Tough dude, very good contact hitter in his prime.

Always interesting to look at hitting stats from 70s and 80s. What jumps out is walks and strikeouts. Both much lower. Hitters actually put the ball in play. It was a much more exciting game.

Read an article in The Athletic about getting rid of the shift. Big concern about how boring today’s game is. From guys that know - such as Mattingly and Melvin. Three true outcomes. Ugh.

My changes would be to limit pitching staffs to 11 and 4 infielders on the skin. Former will never happen. Union etc. So perhaps limiting the AAA/ML shuttle. Pitching staffs in reality today are about 16 deep. With a constant up and down flow so there are always fresh relievers. Which you need when it constistently takes 4-5 pitchers to finish a game; and often 6-7) . I believe the rule now is when a guy is sent down, he must remain in AAA for 10 days. Change it to 21. At least.

One problem today is that even front of the rotation pitchers aren’t expected to go more than 6. Back end guys get the “third time through the order” hook. So 4-5. Thus, no one has to pace himself. They come out from pitch 1 looking to strike out everyone. “Missing bats” now being the key. (Gausman is a great example. He has terrific stuff. But he’s a 5-6 inning guy. Pitch count gobbles him up. Cause he can’t get guys out early in counts). Thus a never ending procession of power pitchers, throwing to guys that are using their “launch angles” to improve their fly ball ratio. And it’s not just the big boys doing that. It’s damn near everyone. So if you hit .220. walk a lot strikeout a lot and hit an HR every 30 or so Plate Appearances you are valued. Whereas you hit .280 with 5 HRs lower walk totals and don’t strike out much (which in today’s game is about 75 times a year for an everyday player) you aren’t. And since both the running game and situational hitting is oh so yesterday, singles don’t matter.

The upshot is that there are comparatively few balls put in play. Making the game far less exciting. The lack of balls in plays and the “sameness” of the game is a bigger problem than the sheer number of runs. A 3-2 game with a combined 10-12 strikeouts and 4-6 walks is more entertaining than a 3-2 game with a combined 20-25 strikeouts and 6-8 walks. And the former will generally be quicker as well.

There was another interesting article about pitchers using foreign substances on the ball. According to the article, it’s not just a few, it’s damn near all of them. Purporetly for “grip” but in reality to improve “spin rate”. The result is considerably more movement on fastballs and sharper breaks on sliders etc.

I think it’s Korea that uses a ball that is easier to grip and not quite as hard. Which cuts down on movement and of course, carry.