MLB 8/22

SF/Bosox Over 8

I have to put this out there.

I've been a baseball fan since 1960. I have no idea what analytics is supposed to do for the game. IMO hitters today are the most ignorant and confused players in all of sports. The numbers speak for themself. In the last 5 or 6 years there have been more K's than hits. Baseball has been around for over 150 years now, and that stat never happened until 5 or 6 years ago. I'm a big Tiger fan, and I watched the game yesterday. Dingler with a 2-2 count and 2 outs 2 on in the top of the 9th struck out on a curveball low and away outside of the strike zone. I would say anyone who knows baseball knew that the curve was coming. Why? Because Dingler (like Torkleson and Baez) have struck out on the pitch so so so many times, it's ridiculous. The other day in Pittsburgh, Torkleson takes a fastball not once but twice down the middle of the plate, before striking out on a curve away. It's not just the Tigers. I see it all over baseball. These guys are so worried about launch angle, why? They trying to send the ball to the moon? And exit velocity. There's no exit velocity when you strike out. Baseball is very simple. Watch the ball (which a lot of hitters are swinging so hard they pull their head off the pitch), level swing, and drive the ball. I keep seeing a lot of high fly balls and pop ups. Am I the only one who's noticed this? Aren't GM's and managers seeing this? It just makes watching baseball, well very hard to do. By the way, round ball and round bat, the best way to hit the ball is with a level swing. Also when you hit a line drive, it has a much better chance of being a hit than a high fly ball. One last thing. The basics of hitting (like what I said earlier) worked for Cobb, Ruth, Gehrig, Foxx, Musiel, Hornsby, Williams, DiMaggio, Boggs, Brett, Gwynn, Ichiro, and so many other HOF players.

I'll read anyones opinion.

Good Luck

Great post  no arguments here,

Whats your opinion on why teams dont play small ball and bunt anymore. Especially extra innings getting that 2nd base runner to 3rd with one out

Maybe bunting has gotten more difficult for hitters as well.  Call tried doing that exact thing for the Dodgers in extras last night kept going foul until he just struck out but that was the right call (no pun intended).

@pa2918

 Nobody works on it. I don't watch any minor league games, but I would bet nobody bunts in those games. It's just become a lost art. I also think money has a lot to do with it. Who are the highest paid hitters? Usually guys who hit home runs and knock in 90 or more runs. So everyone wants to hit a home run. That's not what baseball is all about. Where are the table setters? I don't know if you check player stats, but only 10 players are hitting over .300. That's based on have enough qualifying AB's for a batting title. 

Here's how baseball has changed since Babe Ruth started hitting home runs. The 1921 Detroit Tigers had 6 of their starting 8 players hit over .300. Catcher Bassler .307. 1B Blue .308. 3rd Base Jones .303. OF Veach .338 Cobb .389 Heilmann .394. The 2 guys who didn't hit .300 were, 2b Young .299 and SS Bush .281. Ty Cobb said the best way to hit the ball is try to hit it up the middle. That's perfect contact. He also said, hit it were they aren't. Also that line up only hit 53 homers. Baseball isn't played like that anymore. It's all about HR's. 

@detroitdavid

 Thank you for this post. The last few years I have never felt so much in wanting to pull my hair out than recently and this post sums up exactly why. Idk if their contract has a bonus for home runs versus hits and average because you hardly see hitters with a .300 average and 10-15 years ago you were seeing guys regularly. There’s a page on instagram (can’t name it) where they show lineups back in the day and it’s so fun to watch because you see lineups with teams who had 5 players with a .300 average or above. Now it seems we have more hitters close to the Mendoza line but have 30 home runs. To make matters worse, these lineups make some pitchers who in my opinion shouldn’t even be in the majors look like cy young winners because of what they swing at. 

I mean if you’re team is winning then I guess you don’t care but as a overall baseball fun it is infuriating how lazy and ignorant these players are when it comes to at bats.

Thread is spot on! It would infuriate me and confuse me (when shifting was legal) that a batter would not bunt or even fake an attempt or be asked to bunt while having less than .250 avg. And when they are there are called upon, there are very few who's "heart" is in it.

PS... a suicided squeeze is probably the most exciting play in baseball...JMO

Thanks everyone for your responses. There are so many other things I could bring up just on this subject. VOLCOMBRDR18 you mentioned the guys close to the Mendoza line. Earlier this year, my team the Tigers had 6 guys playing every day with a BA less than their weight. One other thing I would love to mention is the fact that guys are trying to pull outside pitches. You have a hole either between the first and 2nd baseman or shortstop and 3rd basemen you could drive a semi between them. Why these guys aren't going that way is beyond me. Tony Gwynn had a number on his shoes, 5.5 hole. He made a living getting base hit after base hit between the 3rd baseman and shortstop. If players woke up and started doing that, these shifts would go bye bye. Ground balls up the middle would become hits instead of outs. 

All the things I see or don't see on a daily basis just mind bogles me. 

Here's another scenario I've seen all to often. Man on 2nd and no outs. The batter should try hitting a ground ball to the 2nd baseman and move the runner to 3rd. Nope. He hits a grounder to SS, the runner takes off for 3rd (which he shouldn't) and gets thrown out. Doesn't try to get into a rundown so the batter can get to 2nd. Now you have a man on 1st with 1 out. Next hitter hits a flyball deep enough to have been a sac fly. 

Here's a perfect example of bad baseball. Leadoff hitter gets a single. Steals 2nd. Next to guys pop up. 1 to 3rd and 1 to short. Then a flyout and the guy on 2nd never saw 3rd base. People say the NBA is the worst sport to watch. Well baseball is giving them a run for their money.

@detroitdavid

 You are preaching what I've been seeing for several years now.....just look how lineups have changed.... There are no "table setters" like you said.  They put the power hitters all at the top of the lineup - speed means nothing, no small ball, virtually no base stealing.

For us from the older generation - or at least I'll speak for myself - It has become absolutely brutal to watch.

Spot on about it being all about the home run.  It's home-run or nothing.  The strike out numbers are an absolute disgrace - and what gets me is it is completely accepted !!!

It got so bad that I rarely watch baseball - I don't know the last time a watched a full game.  I'll wager occasionally by following others on here, but as a guy who had season tickets for the Braves in old Fulton County Stadium for years, I just can't take it!!

I walked away from my tickets after the strike in '95 (or '96?) and never looked back.

As for why its gotten this bad, it's how the kids are taught - or not taught.  Watch some of the Little League World Series to see - even at that level it's just a terrible watch - at least for someone who grew up on baseball in the '60s and '70s.

@BristolNole

 You must be around my age (74). It's very hard to bet baseball. To be totally honest, totals are really tough. A team can score 8 runs today, then get 8 total runs the next 5 games against pitcher who suck. 

As a Tiger fan, I've gone around in circles with other fans on Torkleson. He's hitting .224. 24 doubles and 20 homers are ok, but 56 walks and 154 K's just doesn't cut it. Dingler their All-Star catcher. Has 5 hits in his last 60 AB's (roughly). 31 walks and 112 K's. You mentioned stolen bases. The team has 36 and McGonigle has 12. 1/3 of the teams total. They are dead last in the majors in SB's. 

16 teams out of 30 have more K's than hits. 20 teams have an ERA over 4.00. There are only 17 complete games this year. When we were kids you had 4 main starters and usually your 2 best had 17 or more CG. In 1971 the O's had 4 20 games winners and 70 complete games by those 4. 

I used to deal at the Stardust and years ago 2001 and 2002 if my memory is correct, we had a autograph show going on there. Warren Spahn (who you know about as a Braves fan) was signing autographs. He ended up playing on my game. I dealt to him from 1 pm until 7 pm. We talked baseball. Super nice guy. He won 363 games and completed 382. 63 shutouts. Those are HOF numbers. Today if a pitcher makes it to 200 innings and has an ERA around 3.50 he had a great year. Zero CG and Shutouts. The game has changed for the worst. Now if you can't throw a fastball in the upper 90's scouts won't give you a 2nd look. Nobody pitches. 

1 more thing which I find funny. Remember when umpires were complaining about the length of games? So they put in a pitch clock. Now you have replays, and hitters and catchers can have the the computer show if a pitch was a strike or ball. What's next to slow the game down? You know if those umps who complained would've called a strike a strike, the games would have gone faster. They were the ones calling everything over the belt a ball. That was on them.