Are Analytics Ruining Baseball?

I'm 74 years old. I've been watching baseball and I played baseball (not professionally) since 1960. As a kid I was always told, head down, watch the ball, and take a level swing. Worked for me, but more importantly it worked for Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Williams, Musial, Yaz, Carew, Mays, Aaron, Clemente, Brett, Boggs, Gwynn, Ichiro, and all the great hitters. There's an old expression, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Well IMO analytics has broken baseball. 

Looking at the batting leaders, all the players who qualify for the batting title, total 7 hitting over .300. I know I had mentioned all this recently, but it's so hard to watch these guys making millions of dollars, and they can't hit. Strike outs outnumber hits. Over half the teams in baseball are striking out more than getting a hit. How are analytics helping? Launch angle? Are they trying to hit the ball to the moon? I see more and more pop ups and high fly balls. Exit velocity? Ball goes ZERO MILES AN HOUR when you swing and miss. 

I just wish players would go back to the basics of hitting. Start bunting for hits. Left handed hitters start laying down bunts towards 3rd base, and it's an automatic hit. The 3rd baseman is over at the shortstop position. That'll put an end to these shifts. You're trying to win a baseball game. Do whatever it takes. I'm just glad football, hockey, and basketball are right around the corner. I can't waste anymore money on baseball.

Good Luck and I'll be glad to hear your thoughts. I'm sure they'll be like mine. 

Yes…… managers need to go back to managing. My favorite is when they bring in a closer in a non save situation……. Guess what happens more often than not. The closer gets smoked. It’s time to get back to managing and away from analytics 

Closers being used in tie games and non save situations always results in disaster

Challenge is keeping these home plate umpire honest but when the umpire is constantly wrong, it makes you wonder if the fix is in. 

Why not just let AI calls all them pitches n no need for challenges and everyone happy?  Game will extend another hour though.  

Agree all the way around. The glory days of real baseball left as old school managers started passing away like Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson, Walt Alston, Danny Murtaugh, Alvin Dark, etc. Even baseball card collecting is8 out of control. Blame Topps and others for creating a great hobby into an unaffordable one.

@frankbullitt

 Baseball started getting bad when Curt Flood was traded to the Senators and claimed the reserve clause and antitrust exemption didn't allow players to negotiate with other teams. The Supreme Court ruled in his favor. That started Free Agency. In the 60's I knew every player who would be on the Tigers barring a trade. Now when winter hits you only know a group of players. How many players play with just one team for their whole career? How many small market teams have won a World Series? Royals recently, but usually it's the Yankees, Red Sox, and now the Dodgers. The sport IMO is sinking faster than the Titanic, and one day (especially if there's no baseball next summer), the fans are going to say F Em. Then baseball will have problems. 

NFL with AWS Next Gen Stats would like to have a word with you...  just saying

@detroitdavid

 I definitely agree with that, being a Royals fan the 2014 and 2015 teams played that type of ball and it worked great 

its destroying baseball in every area,can u imagine Bob Gibson,Nolan Ryan,Tom Seaver being pulled in the 6th inning with a 3-2 lead having thrown 85 pitches? there would be a fist fight on the mound.All this new bullpens focuced pitching is ruining the game and making betting on it the hardest and worst ever.My best baseball year I bet every start of 3 pitchers Roy Holliday,CC Sabithia and Clayton Kershaw that year between them they lost 10 games and I won $19k cause I knew those 3 would finish what they started and they did all season and into the playoffs as well.Now u cant bet that way anymore cause not 1 starter can be counted on to pitch 7 innings let alone a complete game.I won $ the last year on NFL,CFB,CBB,NHL,NBA,WNBA and even College WS and the World Cup(thanks LA and Brooklyn)but I have lost on baseball this year and its not even close to breaking even at this point,The sport has declinded so far from just 10 years ago and analytics is the #1 reason 

@jh49ers5times

 Like I said in my post, I'm 74 years old. Pitchers (top guys) finished over half their starts every year. In his last 2 seasons, Koufax completed 54 of 82 starts. 65.8% completion percentage. Bob Gibson completed 28 of 34 starts in 1968. He also broke his leg in 1 game and continued to pitch. The next year he completed 28 of 35 starts. One of my favorite stats for a pitcher is my late friend Warren Spahn. 665 Starts 383 Completed and 363 Wins. Those guys threw 250 innings minimum and a lot of the time over 300. Koufax threw over 300 innings in 3 of his last 4 years. He did that with an arthritic elbow. Today 200 innings is a great season. Or my favorite 6 innings and 3 or less runs is a quality start. Wait 3 earned runs in 6 innings is a 4.50 ERA. How about 7 innings and 2 runs or less. 

All of these players grew up in the every child gets a trophy era. If anyone can name one pitcher today that is Steve Carlton please let me know. Also if anyone can name a player today that is better and more loyal than Cal Ripken J.r. please let me know. Today in every sport men or women college or pro it is about the money grab. Raised by people that never spent anytime serving the USA. I see it everyday in the way they drive and it is all about me and my phone attitude.

Like I said earlier. Ever since Curt Flood won his case, baseball has slowly been on the down side for fans. Today was Spencer Torkleson's birthday. He celebrated by going 0-3 with 3 K's. On my Facebook account 3 years ago, there was a story about the Tigers. I said if they were smart, they should trade him while he has value. He had just come off his first 30 HR season. I took a lot of heat from people. They told me I don't know nothing about baseball. Now his stock has fallen, but guess what. All those people that got on me, are now agreeing with my analysis. Oh by the way. The year after he hit those 30 bombs. The next year they sent him to Toledo. 

Players jump from team to team. They go for the big bucks. Willie Mays was probably the best all around player when I was a kid. If he was playing today, how much could he ask for? 1 billion? He could hit for average, power, and steal bases, not to mention his greatness in CF. IMO he's a million times better than Soto. Another thing I see a lot. Man on 3rd, and these guys can't even hit a sac fly. Man on 2nd , no outs. Hit a ground ball to the 2nd baseman, move the runner up. Nope ground ball to short and the guy on 2nd either stays (like he should) or tries to go to 3rd and gets tagged out. Try getting in a rundown so the hitter can go to 2nd. No real baseball smarts. 

 Originally Posted by nfl_brosuf  Challenge is keeping these home plate umpire honest but when the umpire is constantly wrong, it makes you wonder if the fix is in.  Why not just let AI calls all them pitches n no need for challenges and everyone happy?  Game will extend another hour though.....   MY HERO .....   

I like this thread detroit. I am not as old but I am a student of history of all kinds as it is a great teacher. Fundamentals in all sports have declined while skillsets have increased. But it's a team sport as well. Now all things do not apply universally to the ain't broke don't fix it ideology. Generally I agree with it. God bless the mathematical and statistically driven analytics by Bill James et al. I do not ascribe to it but acknowledge some of its uses. I think MLB being the oldest sport of the major leagues has reasons because as you said Marvin Miller, Curt Flood, MPH, launch angle, rotational spin, and hit speed jazz up the game. Look at the changes in the sport in less than 10 years especially after Chinese flu. When you do that to keep up with times things change. Doesn't mean things do not have to change but not everything must. I believe in keeping traditional foundational pillars of entities. I think minor changes over time are necessary. MLB is doing this to keep the game appealing and viable as a business. No one wants to sacrifice bunt or throw eight innings. Launching the ball and throwing 105 MPH until you blow your ligaments is the new commodity. Franchises are run like corporations and the contracts for all the leagues are outrageous. Willie Mays is not a million times better than Juan Soto. Soto is terrific with old school aspects to his game for sure! But doesn't mean Juan Soto would make more than Mays if they played in the same era. 

@frankbullitt

I think many of us in agreement in this thread would manage games similarly win or lose . And yes like so many other industries the fun hobby of memorabilia ended a long time ago for me. I stopped looking at it like a hobby or "investment' as I aged and saw the amount of money involved. Additionally trading cards are a joke with the whole grading system (PSA, BGS) and fraud as people dole out thousands for "graded 5 cards." Another thing ruined by money, greed, and industries as usual. About as fraudulent as the Dodgers and Lakers owners whether it's McCourt, Buss, Kushner, or Walter. All financial moving and shaking on paper. It is a shame  

  Jim Palmer & Earl Weaver dang near would come to fisticuffs check out Palmers complete game stats. I don't believe it can be argued that starting pitching component of  has changed.I guess some would say evolved.

1 word - VEGAS 

they make it harder for you to win. and i highly doubt they will let AI call strikes/balls/fouls cuz then the umpire wont have any power to rig the game when the time comes

@MatthewJL46

 I understand what you're saying, but a lot of these changes are just bad. Because of analytics strikeouts outnumber hits. I think I mentioned it earlier in the post. In the last 5 or 6 years, hitters (all MLB teams combined)  have struck out more than they have hits. The Reds, Angels, and Yankees have struck out 200 more times than they have hits, and yet 19 teams have ERA's over 4. There are a lot of teams averaging 4+ walks per 9 innings. 

As you can see by my name, I'm a big Tiger fan. Yesterday (8/26) was Torkleson's birthday. He was 0-3 with 3 K's. It's just the amount of K's (162 in 132 games 449 AB's), but I watch him take good hittable pitches, and whiff at a breaking ball 3 to 6 inches off the plate and ankle high. 2 strikes on a lot of these guys, and everyone watching the game knows what's coming, but yet these clowns still swing and miss on the pitch. There just isn't any excuse for that. If players would study the game instead of studying analytics, maybe they'd hit better. 

I also can't stand the pitch clock. 85 pitches and you're out of the game. Hinch replacing hitters in the 3rd inning for a righty/lefty match up. Instant replay. The only good thing about the balls and strike challenge, is that it's making umpires use the real strike zone, and not their own.

No

Todays ball players after hitting homers and celebrating like Bill Mazeroski did running the bases after hitting a homer to win it in game 7 of the 1960 world Series. It's all about me and paying me and scampering around the bases like a fool yet we're down by 5 runs. Hope they get locked out next season. 

Agree 100%. The game is becoming unwatchable. Fundamentals have gone to shit, and manufacturing runs is dead. Real fun watching these guys strike out 175 times a year and swing for the fences.