Shifts could be endangered

[The Hawk]

2 hours ago, pcq said:

Saw you during The War On Christmas. 

???? Don't know what that means. But going back to Ted Williams. I remember him being interviewed by Jack Brickhouse one day and Brickhouse had a 78 RPM record on a turntable spinning without the sound on. Williams was able the read even the fine print on the label of the record. I'll never forget it. The eyesight of the man was amazing.

[shakes]

I'm a little torn on this. The game is getting boring to watch and they need to figure out ways to keep interest with younger generations. Not just on TV, but in person. 

I'm surprised too that everyone is saying hitters should adjust. If you limit shifting, can't pitchers adjust to pitch to hitters weaknesses?

Hitters have been working on their strengths their whole lives, you can't just up and change your approach when pitchers are now throwing harder(and nastier) and specializing more to pitch into the shift. The whole just bunt and hit the other way argument is frankly a weak one and screams "get off my lawn". Pitching/defense is at an advantage in this day.

I'm by no means against the shift as it's smart baseball, but it is boring. If not ban shifts, what can be done to make the game pace better and become a little more fun to watch? I like defensive play - but I want to see defenders make plays - not line up better for easier plays. Other sports leagues have made elements of defense illegal and made the game more exciting. What can baseball do?

[yesterday333]

A few more singles isn’t going to make the game more exciting to me. For years everyone said more HRs would make the game exciting again but we’ve had record HRs and still not “exciting.” The only way to make it more exciting is cutting down on the dead space... hitting a few more singles doesn’t draw interest just like hitting more HRs didn’t draw more interest. There is just too much time where nothing is happening.

[The Hawk]

3 hours ago, shakes said:

I'm a little torn on this. The game is getting boring to watch and they need to figure out ways to keep interest with younger generations. Not just on TV, but in person. 

I'm surprised too that everyone is saying hitters should adjust. If you limit shifting, can't pitchers adjust to pitch to hitters weaknesses?

Hitters have been working on their strengths their whole lives, you can't just up and change your approach when pitchers are now throwing harder(and nastier) and specializing more to pitch into the shift. The whole just bunt and hit the other way argument is frankly a weak one and screams "get off my lawn". Pitching/defense is at an advantage in this day.

I'm by no means against the shift as it's smart baseball, but it is boring. If not ban shifts, what can be done to make the game pace better and become a little more fun to watch? I like defensive play - but I want to see defenders make plays - not line up better for easier plays. Other sports leagues have made elements of defense illegal and made the game more exciting. What can baseball do?

I think that they have been catering to hitters big time since the late 60s. Now people want to eliminate  defense? Its bullcrap. Now they've messed with the ball and hitters are hitting 100-105mph rockets all over the place. Its going to be a matter of time before a pitcher gets killed out there. And as for the defenses employed, think for a second. Some of these teams are deploying 3rd basemen behind 2nd base, second basemen in medium right field, short-stops all over the place. Think of the different plays that all of these guys have to make from places and angles they have to now make plays from? Its got to be hard. Look at where 3rd basemen are situated against a power hitting right handed hitter. A lot of times, this guy must throw the ball 110-120 feet across the diamond on a ball hit to his right or across his body on a ball to his left. That is amazing to me what some of these guys are doing right now physically.

[ChiSox1917]

5 hours ago, shakes said:

I'm a little torn on this. The game is getting boring to watch and they need to figure out ways to keep interest with younger generations. Not just on TV, but in person. 

I'm surprised too that everyone is saying hitters should adjust. If you limit shifting, can't pitchers adjust to pitch to hitters weaknesses?

Hitters have been working on their strengths their whole lives, you can't just up and change your approach when pitchers are now throwing harder(and nastier) and specializing more to pitch into the shift. The whole just bunt and hit the other way argument is frankly a weak one and screams "get off my lawn". Pitching/defense is at an advantage in this day.

I'm by no means against the shift as it's smart baseball, but it is boring. If not ban shifts, what can be done to make the game pace better and become a little more fun to watch? I like defensive play - but I want to see defenders make plays - not line up better for easier plays. Other sports leagues have made elements of defense illegal and made the game more exciting. What can baseball do?

The nba has gotten incredibly boring with their changes to defense to the point the game is stopped every 20 seconds for a foul shot. 

[shakes]

1 hour ago, The Hawk said:

I think that they have been catering to hitters big time since the late 60s. Now people want to eliminate  defense? Its bullcrap. Now they've messed with the ball and hitters are hitting 100-105mph rockets all over the place. Its going to be a matter of time before a pitcher gets killed out there. And as for the defenses employed, think for a second. Some of these teams are deploying 3rd basemen behind 2nd base, second basemen in medium right field, short-stops all over the place. Think of the different plays that all of these guys have to make from places and angles they have to now make plays from? Its got to be hard. Look at where 3rd basemen are situated against a power hitting right handed hitter. A lot of times, this guy must throw the ball 110-120 feet across the diamond on a ball hit to his right or across his body on a ball to his left. That is amazing to me what some of these guys are doing right now physically.

I don't disagree with much of what you've said. The ball is harder, but there are many other contributing factors to that - pitchers are throwing harder, hitters are stronger and are optimizing their power and selling out to hit it harder.

Also, my question is what should the game do to increase pace and attention to a younger fanbase that is declining? I've been watching baseball my whole life and I no doubt am finding it harder to watch. I think they are trying ideas, if not pitching change limitations and eliminating shifts, what else?

3 minutes ago, ChiSox1917 said:

The nba has gotten incredibly boring with their changes to defense to the point the game is stopped every 20 seconds for a foul shot. 

That's one example and agree it can be over officiated, but the NBA has made a lot of changes that have been viewed positively. What should baseball be doing to make the game more interesting as it evolves?

[yesterday333]

10 minutes ago, shakes said:

I don't disagree with much of what you've said. The ball is harder, but there are many other contributing factors to that - pitchers are throwing harder, hitters are stronger and are optimizing their power and selling out to hit it harder.

Also, my question is what should the game do to increase pace and attention to a younger fanbase that is declining? I've been watching baseball my whole life and I no doubt am finding it harder to watch. I think they are trying ideas, if not pitching change limitations and eliminating shifts, what else?

That's one example and agree it can be over officiated, but the NBA has made a lot of changes that have been viewed positively. What should baseball be doing to make the game more interesting as it evolves?

I think less dead time... pitchers shouldn’t be taking forever and batters shouldn’t be stepping out and readjusting their gloves or swinging 5 more times. The dead time is what I think is driving away younger fans. I don’t know if that means a strict pitch clock or what the game is too slow. It’s not because they need more singles. Also let the players celebrate and have fun and show off their personalities. 

[pcq]

Most of the action in baseball is hitter v pitcher so yes move it along.

[ChiSox1917]

3 hours ago, shakes said:

I don't disagree with much of what you've said. The ball is harder, but there are many other contributing factors to that - pitchers are throwing harder, hitters are stronger and are optimizing their power and selling out to hit it harder.

Also, my question is what should the game do to increase pace and attention to a younger fanbase that is declining? I've been watching baseball my whole life and I no doubt am finding it harder to watch. I think they are trying ideas, if not pitching change limitations and eliminating shifts, what else?

That's one example and agree it can be over officiated, but the NBA has made a lot of changes that have been viewed positively. What should baseball be doing to make the game more interesting as it evolves?

Bring back roids

[shakes]

3 hours ago, yesterday333 said:

I think less dead time... pitchers shouldn’t be taking forever and batters shouldn’t be stepping out and readjusting their gloves or swinging 5 more times. The dead time is what I think is driving away younger fans. I don’t know if that means a strict pitch clock or what the game is too slow. It’s not because they need more singles. Also let the players celebrate and have fun and show off their personalities. 

I don't think reducing shifts is about adding singles. I think the game has swung more towards three true outcomes, in part, because of the shift. It's harder to advance runners station-to-station, and has made home runs and walks the most efficient way to score runs. Base stealing is a lost art, understand there are more reasons than the shift(injuries), but also in part because of the value placed on outs that could lead to multi-run homeruns and losing the big inning. 

I absolutely understand the analysis behind these trends, but I think that creates less drama throughout the course of the game. I think the athletes are better today, but can have less ways to flash their skills - and certainly practice less of these skills. There isn't room today for the Omar Vizquel's and Ozzie Smith's, or maybe even the Buehrle's. I'm not sure that is a good thing.

Maybe, it's just my attention span, but I find less riveting stretches today in the game and find myself watching more passively. I watch less and less non White Sox baseball because the strikeouts and homers aren't as fun to me at this scale. I love the nuance in baseball and just don't see as much today, even though I fully appreciate the reasons the game has moved to where it is today. 

Couldn't agree more though about letting them celebrate and be individuals. I truly love the personalities that are coming out on the Sox and around the league. 

[Jake]

Remember that one reaction to the shift besides individual players changing their approach to pull less is that different players succeed because the ones who spread the defense out have a marginal advantage over players who don't.