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Baseball coming back?


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No spitting? No sunflower seeds? How is that possible??

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Also no high fiving and no community water cooler, yea sounds like a blast!

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I’ve got doubts about it being much of a season this year. 

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3 minutes ago, Yul Lose said:

I’ve got doubts about it being much of a season this year. 

It'll be interesting if anything else!:P

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Last I heard, they were talking about an 82- game season to start in July, with 14 teams to play in the post-season.

If they expand the post-season any more, we’ll be hanging Christmas decorations by game 7 of the Series. Geesh!

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Unlike other team sports, baseball practices social distancing at all positions except home plate, until batters hit the ball. Just need better pitchers to strike out all the batters, or better batters that only hit home runs. Not as much contact as basketball, football, hockey, or soccer. The fans can spread out, I think the Baltimore Orioles fans have been practicing social distancing for years, considering they suck so bad no one shows up to the games.

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Oh yea they also said the home plate umpire will need to get back from the catcher at a distance that's socially acceptable, or whatever you call it, how the heck is that gonna work? They can't call balls and strikes from where they are now!

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I’ve been watching the Korean baseball on tv. The umpires wear face masks and they have cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands behind the plate lol. 

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15 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

And cheerleaders dancing in front of empty stands.

That’s right! I forgot to mention that!

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1 hour ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Oh yea they also said the home plate umpire will need to get back from the catcher at a distance that's socially acceptable, or whatever you call it, how the heck is that gonna work? They can't call balls and strikes from where they are now!

Rye, it pains me to even put this thought out there, but here goes...

For all of those individuals who want to change the game for the sake of efficiency, and take the human element out of it for the sake of progress, welcome to the ‘virtual strike zone’. I’m guessing that it will be similar to the one they use on the Elite Socialist Propaganda Network during their Sunday game of the week. With all of this social distancing stuff, and this ‘new normal’ they’re all talking about, I fear that this might become a reality someday in the near future. I hope I’m wrong. I really do hope that they just leave the game alone; it ain’t broke and there’s no need to fix it.

Sorry, I just don’t respond well to change. Even if it’s something that could, but may not even happen. 
What do you think?

 

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9 hours ago, Wild Will Bartell said:

Rye, it pains me to even put this thought out there, but here goes...

For all of those individuals who want to change the game for the sake of efficiency, and take the human element out of it for the sake of progress, welcome to the ‘virtual strike zone’. I’m guessing that it will be similar to the one they use on the Elite Socialist Propaganda Network during their Sunday game of the week. With all of this social distancing stuff, and this ‘new normal’ they’re all talking about, I fear that this might become a reality someday in the near future. I hope I’m wrong. I really do hope that they just leave the game alone; it ain’t broke and there’s no need to fix it.

Sorry, I just don’t respond well to change. Even if it’s something that could, but may not even happen. 
What do you think?

 

I hope these "changes" are just for this year! I'm with ya on the whole change thing!;)

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9 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

And cheerleaders dancing in front of empty stands.

No cheerleaders in baseball! 

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2 minutes ago, Assassin said:

How about Mascots?

Oh no!!! No more Slider the Indians Mascot?

 

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17 hours ago, Wild Will Bartell said:

Last I heard, they were talking about an 82- game season to start in July, with 14 teams to play in the post-season.

If they expand the post-season any more, we’ll be hanging Christmas decorations by game 7 of the Series. Geesh!

 

Truth.  As an avid baseball fan, I think the post season is a big joke.

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14 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Oh yea they also said the home plate umpire will need to get back from the catcher at a distance that's socially acceptable, or whatever you call it, how the heck is that gonna work? They can't call balls and strikes from where they are now!

 

Balk!

 

Funny enough, video evidence when judged from multiple angles proves major league umpires are MORE accurate than the computer used to show the ball/strike call on TV -- which is what people want to replace them with.  

 

By rule, the ball/strike is judged at the front edge of the plate.  Because a bat swings past the front edge of the plate, a swinging bat will disrupt the computer.  So they set it to measure ball or strike TWO FEET in front of the plate.  

 

Holy smokes, a curve ball, breaking ball, slider, knuckleball, or any other "junk ball" with movement can go a LOOOOOONG way in two feet, and umpires are judging it at the correct location.  So on TV when the computer shows the umpire was wrong, there is a LARGE chance he was right and the computer was wrong.  Cameras from multiple angles in slow motion have proven the numbers -- umpires are better than computers.  Fallible with the occasional bad call, yes, but the number of bad calls is remote compared to what people think it is -- less than 1%.  

 

Funny enough, those same computers are how MLB judge the quality of their umpires -- they get an annual evaluation just like most of us working people do, and they have already demonstrated repeatedly they are more accurate than the system used to judge them.  So I'm with the umpire's union on this argument (shhhh....please don't tell anyone I sided with a union).  

Video evidence also shows that whenever a manager argues with an umpire, the umpire is right the vast majority of the time.  Fallible, yes, but the chances of them being wrong and a manager right are tiny.  I also find the average player, coach, or manager up through the high school level DO NOT KNOW THE RULES like they think they do.  Most arguments at those lower levels are not a disagreement over what happened, but rather over what the rule book says you are supposed to do about it.  Most people get the basics, but they DO NOT get the intricacies of the rules -- this is even true of coaches who played at a big level like MLB or MiLB.  If they don't get it, the average fan doesn't either.

 

I saw a parent from my son's Little League team ejected because they were heckling the umpire about an infield fly call.  I had gone to the bathroom and missed it, but the entire team's parents crowded me when I returned to explain what happened.  Runners on first and second, one out.  The batter hit a ball "straight up the elevator shaft" that landed in fair territory, and should have been caught by an infielder with "normal effort."  It was very clearly an infield fly, and the batter was out despite the fact the infielder failed to make the catch; he only failed to make the catch because he was 11, not because it was a difficult play.  The umpire was right.  The look of disdain on their faces was palatable, and a parent was removed from the game.  

 

I also saw a coach ejected for arguing a hit batsman call.  The umpire called it a strike -- AND HE WAS RIGHT.  The player was SWINGING to hit the ball, not avoiding an inside pitch, and contacted the ball with his hands while holding the swinging bat.  Therefore, it is a SWING and his hands are part of the bat.  The ball went foul.  It's a foul ball, and therefore a strike.  NO FIRST BASE AWARDED.  The umpire was right.  But the coach argued until he got ejected.  And he set a very poor example for his players.  

 

Runner on first.  Batter hits the ball into play, and it's a classic double-play grounder towards the second baseman (short stop correctly moved in to cover 2nd base).  HOWEVER, being youngsters who are not as savvy on the game as older players, the second baseman fielded the ball and threw it to 1st.  The batter-runner was out.  The first baseman then threw to the short stop on 2nd to get the second out.  The throw beat the runner, but the short stop DID NOT make a tag.  The runner was SAFE!!!! 

 

By going to 1st base first and getting the out, the play at second is no longer a force out because that runner has the option of trying to run back to 1st.  That's why when we watch MLB on TV, we always see them throw to 2nd, and then 1st -- both plays are force outs.  But these Little Leaguers did it backwards and made it harder to get the second out, which they failed to do.  

 

Parents and coaches were yelling at the umpire about how the ball beat the runner.  It got a little ugly, but he kept his cool, explained it to the coach (who argued WAAAAY too much -- I would have given him the heave-ho), and got the game going again.  The umpire knew the rules, and the parents / coaches didn't.  

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14 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Burliegh Grimes!

 

17 people were permitted to use it after it was outlawed in 1920 -- 100 years ago, old man -- because these pitchers had built their careers on it.  He retired in 1934!!!!!!

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Since there currently is no baseball, how about a little reminiscing.

 

Yankees history: Babe Ruth's best performances from 1920 ...

 

https://www.sluggermuseum.com/explore-the-museum/big-bat-and-big-glove

 

The Ultimate Local's Guide to Places to Visit in Louisville ...

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1 hour ago, Cyrus Cassidy #45437 said:

 

17 people were permitted to use it after it was outlawed in 1920 -- 100 years ago, old man -- because these pitchers had built their careers on it.  He retired in 1934!!!!!!

And spitball or not was elected to the HOF!

 

Then there are the guys who may have used the spitball when it was illegal.  )))

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29 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

And spitball or not was elected to the HOF!

 

Then there are the guys who may have used the spitball when it was illegal.  )))

The guys that used it were fined or kicked out of the game after it was illegal. Gaylord Perry with the Indians was constantly being searched for a substance that he used on the ball. He was ejected in 1982 in his 21st season for "doctoring" baseballs.

Me and the Spitter was a book by him, I read it a long time ago and of course he denies MOST of it!

 

That said they can't use it now so it's a moot point!:blink:

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18 hours ago, Assassin said:

Unlike other team sports, baseball practices social distancing at all positions except home plate, until batters hit the ball. . . . .

 

You forgot about the 1st baseman holding the runner at first.

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Yeah, in the dugout social distancing is really on display....NOT.

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1 hour ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

 

You forgot about the 1st baseman holding the runner at first.

Maybe they'll be allowed a 6 ft leadoff! :lol:

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2 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Maybe they'll be allowed a 6 ft leadoff! :lol:

 

I'll buy that!  So long as the throw back to 1st and the tag only has to come within 6 feet.  Runner OUT!

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