I don't know if you can't talk Sports here

[kozmiq 70]

The Pitch Clock

I hate it

 

[MDC 8,098]

Why? I haven’t watched any preseason baseball but I heard they’ve finished a few games in under 2:30. Sounds good to me!

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

The no shift is what I hate. Learn to hit. When basketball players get paid millions and can’t make free throws, we complain but god forbid the pull power hitter be able to put down a bunt that easily beats the shift

[posty 2,849]

7 minutes ago, kozmiq said:

The Pitch Clock

I hate it

 

I haven't watched any games, but I won't like it...

MLB is just trying to bow down to the people that have zero attention span...  If I am at a game, I love getting there about 90 minutes before the game starts to watch BP and everything else associated with it...  It is also great to just sit back in the stands and watch a game with no limits...  MLB is ruining that...

Plus tickets aren't going to be worth paying what they are, if a game is over in under two-and-a-half hours...

[posty 2,849]

1 minute ago, WhiteWonder said:

The no shift is what I hate. Learn to hit. When basketball players get paid millions and can’t make free throws, we complain but god forbid the pull power hitter be able to put down a bunt that easily beats the shift

Yeah them banning the shift is another stupid rule that Manfred and MLB decided to go with...  As I said, MLB is ruining the game of baseball...

[League Champion 1,926]

I like the pitch clock, hate the shift. 

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

7 minutes ago, posty said:

I haven't watched any games, but I won't like it...

MLB is just trying to bow down to the people that have zero attention span...  If I am at a game, I love getting there about 90 minutes before the game starts to watch BP and everything else associated with it...  It is also great to just sit back in the stands and watch a game with no limits...  MLB is ruining that...

Plus tickets aren't going to be worth paying what they are, if a game is over in under two-and-a-half hours...

The problem baseball faces is the stark difference between being there and watching on TV. I love going to games and don’t care how long they take when I’m in the stadium. However, the pace makes watching from home sometimes unbearable. 
MLB likely cares more about home viewership, as it probably should, and feels like shorter more concise games will have a greater benefit for home viewership than any detriment to the at stadium experience. 
 

Im sure I’ll still enjoy being at a game even if there is a dictated pace to it, even though I agree that sitting back on a nice summer evening at a ballpark is great.

[Engorgeous George 2,332]

They could have solved the pitch clock thing by taking away batting gloves and prohibiting adjustment of one's junk during an at bat.  They would have had nothing to fiddle with.  

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

Learn to pitch faster. 

[crackattack 520]

Pitch clock should be about 10 seconds longer, but I hate the shift rule. 

[crackattack 520]

A hitter has 12 seconds to get a sign from the third base coach and get set in the box. That seems awfully quick to me for any kind of strategy. Like hit and runs, squeeze plays, etc etc. 

[supermike80 2,148]

35 minutes ago, League Champion said:

I like the pitch clock, hate the shift. 

Like both rules....Hated the shift

[cmh6476 1,154]

Ditto thread title question

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

30 minutes ago, crackattack said:

A hitter has 12 seconds to get a sign from the third base coach and get set in the box. That seems awfully quick to me for any kind of strategy. Like hit and runs, squeeze plays, etc etc. 

Yeah, there’s been a lot of that going on. 

[crackattack 520]

11 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

Yeah, there’s been a lot of that going on. 

I know cleveland uses things like that a lot. When your team isn't loaded with slow sluggers, teams use other options. This all but removes it. I guess we'll see.

[BufordT 444]

I like the pitch clock.  Heard it works well where they use it in the minors. I think pitchers & hitters will realize it doesn't affect their games one bit.

The shift I'm not too passionate about. Shift/No shift don't care.

I'm a big proponent of the computerized strike zone. Hopefully next year.

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

I like the clock.  Move the game along.  I've gotten sick of waiting 5 minutes for one at bat.

Getting rid of the shift is something I don't care for.  You're a focking professional, hit the ball to the opposite side of the field.  Be better.

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

16 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

I like the clock.  Move the game along.  I've gotten sick of waiting 5 minutes for one at bat.

Getting rid of the shift is something I don't care for.  You're a focking professional, hit the ball to the opposite side of the field.  Be better.

We clearly agree on the shift.

with regard to the pitch clock... I consider myself a big sports fan but without looking it up, I forget... didn't MLB do something last year or a few years ago to try and speed things up in regards to how many times a batter could step out and back in, etc?  Is that true and I wonder if it had any noticeable impact on game times.

I know they had made the changes to bringing in relievers and having to either finish out an inning or face a minimum amount of hitters to stop some of the "chess playing". 

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

1 minute ago, WhiteWonder said:

We clearly agree on the shift.

with regard to the pitch clock... I consider myself a big sports fan but without looking it up, I forget... didn't MLB do something last year or a few years ago to try and speed things up in regards to how many times a batter could step out and back in, etc?  Is that true and I wonder if it had any noticeable impact on game times.

I know they had made the changes to bringing in relievers and having to either finish out an inning or face a minimum amount of hitters to stop some of the "chess playing". 

All I know is that I saw some play with the new clock and I really enjoyed the pace of play.  There was no screwing around.  I always got frustrated with the back and forth between the pitcher and batter, stepping out of the box, adjusting gloves 3 times, pitcher throwing to 1st base 4 times.  FOCK!  I'm annoyed just talking about it.

[posty 2,849]

23 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

I like the clock.  Move the game along.  I've gotten sick of waiting 5 minutes for one at bat.

So how many times was there a five minute at-bat in the major's last year?  0.001%?

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

The shift sucks.  Ruined the game. So glad it’s gone. Defense matters again. 

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

This is an extreme example but I've seen it happen far too often in baseball over the years and it makes for a very boring product.

 

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

1 minute ago, posty said:

So how many times was there a five minute at-bat in the major's last year?  0.001%?

I don't know but games have taken longer and longer over the years.  I'm curious to see how much shorter games will be on average with the new clock.

[crackattack 520]

Just now, posty said:

So how many times was there a five minute at-bat in the major's last year?  0.001%?

The average MLB game last year was 3hrs and 6 min. The horror!! Rushed at bats might save 30 min. I like speeding it up some, but I enjoy going to games for the atmosphere. Ballpark food, the sun, people watching, drinking, walking around. A 3 hr game isn't that long.

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

It was all Nomars fault. He should have been drilled the first time he started that crap. 

[posty 2,849]

3 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

This is an extreme example but I've seen it happen far too often in baseball over the years and it makes for a very boring product.

 

No issue with Jansen here...

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

1 minute ago, crackattack said:

The average MLB game last year was 3hrs and 6 min. The horror!! Rushed at bats might save 30 min. I like speeding it up some, but I enjoy going to games for the atmosphere. Ballpark food, the sun, people watching, drinking, walking around. A 3 hr game isn't that long.

To me it’s the pace of the game. If they want longer commercial breaks so be it. But when the action starts no more bullshit. 

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

2 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

The shift sucks.  Ruined the game. So glad it’s gone. Defense matters again. 

yeah we already disagreed in the other thread... you say defense matters again, I say it always mattered. Deploying the shift WAS the defense. It would be like saying the NFL is going to ban certain defensive formations because they stifle the offense too much. 

So now, being a good hitter doesn't matter. Guys like Joey Gallo can get away with being one trick ponies and a truly good hitters value goes down in relation. 

[crackattack 520]

3 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

This is an extreme example but I've seen it happen far too often in baseball over the years and it makes for a very boring product.

 

Baez might be the slowest pitcher in baseball. He might be the reason for the pitch clock

[posty 2,849]

2 minutes ago, crackattack said:

The average MLB game last year was 3hrs and 6 min. The horror!! Rushed at bats might save 30 min. I like speeding it up some, but I enjoy going to games for the atmosphere. Ballpark food, the sun, people watching, drinking, walking around. A 3 hr game isn't that long.

/thread

I would not want to pay the ticket prices, food prices, parking prices of a game that might only last a little over two hours...  That is complete BS...

As I have said, the MLB group and commissioner are ruining the game...  Remove the rules from the past five or so years and let it get back to what it was like...  If you don't like the pace, watch something else...

[posty 2,849]

1 minute ago, crackattack said:

Baez might be the slowest pitcher in baseball. He might be the reason for the pitch clock

Since Papelbon isn't playing now, pretty much one of the reasons...

[crackattack 520]

5 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

To me it’s the pace of the game. If they want longer commercial breaks so be it. But when the action starts no more bullshit. 

I agree. Maybe they should penalize slow play like golf does. Fine the shiat out of them. 

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

I don't really care about the length of game, it's the pace of play I care about.  If the pace of play is decent and entertaining then a 3 hour game is great.

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

3 minutes ago, WhiteWonder said:

yeah we already disagreed in the other thread... you say defense matters again, I say it always mattered. Deploying the shift WAS the defense. It would be like saying the NFL is going to ban certain defensive formations because they stifle the offense too much. 

So now, being a good hitter doesn't matter. Guys like Joey Gallo can get away with being one trick ponies and a truly good hitters value goes down in relation. 

You guys just like saying “learn to hit”.  Learn To field. The shift is an abomination of how the game was meant to be played. Hitters did fine pre shift, so I don’t know what you’re babbling about. MLB BA have gone down in recent years, and the shift has contributed. 

[Hawkeye21 2,457]

2 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

You guys just like saying “learn to hit”.  Learn To field. The shift is an abomination of how the game was meant to be played. Hitters did fine pre shift, so I don’t know what you’re babbling about. MLB BA have gone down in recent years, and the shift has contributed. 

To me it's just the defense taking advantage of a batter's flaw.  Everyone has tendencies and the opposition will try to take advantage of it.  That's just how I see it.

Honestly.  It won't bother me at all if they get rid of it.  I just think of it as whining from the guys who can't hit to the opposite field.

[posty 2,849]

Just now, Hawkeye21 said:

To me it's just the defense taking advantage of a batter's flaw.  Everyone has tendencies and the opposition will try to take advantage of it.  That's just how I see it.

This is exactly correct...  No surprise that HT dislikes it...  The Yankees probably doesn't have one hitter that can go the opposite way that isn't swinging for the fences...

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

1 minute ago, Hawkeye21 said:

To me it's just the defense taking advantage of a batter's flaw.  Everyone has tendencies and the opposition will try to take advantage of it.  That's just how I see it.

Honestly.  It won't bother me at all if they get rid of it.  I just think of it as whining from the guys who can't hit to the opposite field.

Yeah. I’ll say it again. Tony Gwynn would laugh at you guys if you told him to hit a 90 plus fastball on the inside half the other way with any consistency. If the shift is about an individual hitters weakness, why do they use it on damn near every play? 

[Hardcore troubadour 16,042]

Ok, time to put this to rest. In 2011 the shift was deployed about 2800 times. Last year it was used 70, 000 times. They use it on everyone.  So stop with the “learn to hit”. garbage. Get off your lawn 

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

2 minutes ago, Hardcore troubadour said:

You guys just like saying “learn to hit”.  Learn To field. The shift is an abomination of how the game was meant to be played. Hitters did fine pre shift, so I don’t know what you’re babbling about. MLB BA have gone down in recent years, and the shift has contributed. 

I'm just having a rational discussion / debate with you. 

After the shift is deployed, fielders still have to field. They still have to make the accurate throw. I will admit that assuming the shift works correctly and the batter at the plate can't hit away from it, the fielders jobs are now easier because they have less ground to cover. 

Removing the shift takes away any need for a professional hitter to hit the ball to all fields. Simple high school level baseball stuff. Some of these hitters rest on their laurels as power/pull hitters and they get paid big money to just focus on that. The shift makes them look bad. Boo-hoo. 

You say hitters did fine pre shift. Who is saying they didn't? That's kind of the whole argument. ... The shift has contributed to batting averages going down. Totally agree. Analytics showed that many hitters are incapable of going opposite field. Defenses adjusted and hitters didn't. Basically MLB is saying hitters don't need to adjust because we want more offense in our boring game 

[WhiteWonder 3,000]

6 minutes ago, Hawkeye21 said:

To me it's just the defense taking advantage of a batter's flaw.  Everyone has tendencies and the opposition will try to take advantage of it.  That's just how I see it.

Honestly.  It won't bother me at all if they get rid of it.  I just think of it as whining from the guys who can't hit to the opposite field.

I agree. The fact they are removing it is not going to make me dislike baseball or stop watching, I just think its silly and it's babying the hitters.