More of Manfred's Bullshit

[South Side Hit Men]

 

1 hour ago, YourWhatHurts said:

So I ignore Look at Ray Ray's posts but I saw the top post when I looked at the page not logged in.

I want to say this about it: the second paragraph poses the question of whether a bunch of changes made "ruined baseball."  This "ruined" part depends on who you are and what your definition of "ruined" would be.  But those are changes which inarguably altered the game and also took away advantages that pitchers and defenders had over hitters.  Four other big ones have to do with changing bats and balls so that balls are hit harder and fly farther, bringing in OF fences, and diminishing foul territory.  These are 4 extra changes which continue to alter the game and favor hitters.  

Then in the very next paragraph he talks about the game getting longer due to the managerial, pitching staff, and FO reaction to the changes he just referenced: increased pitcher specialization, trying to pitch with max effort more often, finding the need to work out of the strikezone more often to end an AB because contact may be too dangerous for the defense, and a willingness on the mound to accept a granted BB instead of a HR.  And then the hitters react to this also by trying to hit HRs more because it is so much easier to hit HRs now than in years past, because of all of these changes.

So I guess he believes those changes ruined baseball for him but he doesn't understand that?  I'm not sure.

 

46 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said:

I think something needs to be done about the guys that fiddle with their ass for like 20 seconds before throwing the pitch, and the other guys who have to take a zillion practice swings, step out, rub their bat down, etc.  But I don't like the idea of adding balls or strikes, and there still needs to be time for players to take a breath or think.  I think a more appropriate penalty might be that after X number of instances, a manager loses a challenge, or something like that. 

Then you have that issue with Sergio Romo where his leg falls off between pitches or whatever happens to him on the mound.  He diddles around for a while.  Ultimately there's a point where you have to call that an injury and you need to take him out if he can't safely throw a pitch.

Yes, it sounds like I should ignore his contradictory posts and dishonest arguments,

I liked your two posts on March 12 laying this out, though I didn't agree with all of your remedies (for example, taking out prime seating to expand foul territory).

Without an enforcement mechanism (ball after 20 seconds for pitchers not pitching or a strike if the batter is not in the box without time called by an umpire), suggestions will not work. There is enough time to think and play the game within 20 seconds per pitch versus stalling 30-60 seconds to ramp up for a max velocity pitch, like Sergio Romo.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In terms of Ray Ray, you already deleted half of your bullshit arguments and fake graphs and distorted data copied posts. I compared the time frame commercials were increased by 35 seconds, before MLB reverted back to 2:05 per frame before MLB reverted back to 2:05 breaks starting in 2019.

1980: 2:38 Average Game Time; 2:00 Average Commercial Time per half inning; 5.2 Average Pitchers Per Game (2.6 X 2 teams); Runs Per Game 8.58

2018: 3:04 Average Game Time; 2:35 Average Commercial Time per half inning; 8.7 Average Pitchers Per Game (4.36 X 2 teams). Runs Per Game 8.90

Of the 26 minutes in increased game time, 10.5 minutes were based on increased commercial time in between innings (35 seconds X 18), and another 7.0 minutes (3.5 X 2 minutes) were based on increased commercial time for pitching changes, or 2/3 of the explained increase in game time.

My post is copied below to set the record straight. Also mentioned the reason postseason baseball and national telecasts are becoming more unwatchable, the fact that MLB did not decrease commercial time during these games, which adds 15 minutes to these broadcasts (50 seconds X 18).

You cherry picked a La Russa steroid era year (2000) to compare runs to, backtracked from your absurd 4 hour game average time, and came up with 1985 as your average game played time to suit your failing arguments.

Perhaps your dishonest arguments, fake graphs, cherry picked data and overall BS works in Oak Park, but I can guarantee most folks are not impressed.

I bid you good day, sir.

13 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/misc.shtml

Pre television (1954): (2:07-2:26)

Television Era - Pre-Reinsdorf-Einhorn / Tony La Russa (1955-1979): 2:30 games (range from 2:26 - 2:34)

Reinsdorf-Einhorn / Tony La Russa Era (1980-2018): 3:00 games Commercials per game increased to 2:30 (30 seconds X 18 = 9 minutes); Pitching Changes increased to 8.7 per game (8.6 from 4.6 = 8 extra minutes).

They fixed the commercial length for regular season games, they need to do the same for national games (Postseason games have 50 more seconds per frame, or 15 minutes more commercials per game). Charge more per ad or go for scrolling ads like football (soccer) to make up the difference.

The two on field changes they should implement enforcing the pitch clock and implement the automated strike zone.

 

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

2 hours ago, YourWhatHurts said:

So I ignore Look at Ray Ray's posts but I saw the top post when I looked at the page not logged in.

I want to say this about it: the second paragraph poses the question of whether a bunch of changes made "ruined baseball."  This "ruined" part depends on who you are and what your definition of "ruined" would be.  But those are changes which inarguably altered the game and also took away advantages that pitchers and defenders had over hitters.  Four other big ones have to do with changing bats and balls so that balls are hit harder and fly farther, bringing in OF fences, and diminishing foul territory.  These are 4 extra changes which continue to alter the game and favor hitters.  

Then in the very next paragraph he talks about the game getting longer due to the managerial, pitching staff, and FO reaction to the changes he just referenced: increased pitcher specialization, trying to pitch with max effort more often, finding the need to work out of the strikezone more often to end an AB because contact may be too dangerous for the defense, and a willingness on the mound to accept a granted BB instead of a HR.  And then the hitters react to this also by trying to hit HRs more because it is so much easier to hit HRs now than in years past, because of all of these changes.

So I guess he believes those changes ruined baseball for him but he doesn't understand that?  I'm not sure.

Go back to ignoring my posts, because reading your posts always hurts my head.

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

1 hour ago, South Side Hit Men said:

 

 

Yes, it sounds like I should ignore his contradictory posts and dishonest arguments,

I liked your two posts on March 12 laying this out, though I didn't agree with all of your remedies (for example, taking out prime seating to expand foul territory).

Without an enforcement mechanism (ball after 20 seconds for pitchers not pitching or a strike if the batter is not in the box without time called by an umpire), suggestions will not work. There is enough time to think and play the game within 20 seconds per pitch versus stalling 30-60 seconds to ramp up for a max velocity pitch, like Sergio Romo.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In terms of Ray Ray, you already deleted half of your bullshit arguments and fake graphs and distorted data copied posts. I compared the time frame commercials were increased by 35 seconds, before MLB reverted back to 2:05 per frame before MLB reverted back to 2:05 breaks starting in 2019.

1980: 2:38 Average Game Time; 2:00 Average Commercial Time per half inning; 5.2 Average Pitchers Per Game (2.6 X 2 teams); Runs Per Game 8.58

2018: 3:04 Average Game Time; 2:35 Average Commercial Time per half inning; 8.7 Average Pitchers Per Game (4.36 X 2 teams). Runs Per Game 8.90

Of the 26 minutes in increased game time, 10.5 minutes were based on increased commercial time in between innings (35 seconds X 18), and another 7.0 minutes (3.5 X 2 minutes) were based on increased commercial time for pitching changes, or 2/3 of the explained increase in game time.

My post is copied below to set the record straight. Also mentioned the reason postseason baseball and national telecasts are becoming more unwatchable, the fact that MLB did not decrease commercial time during these games, which adds 15 minutes to these broadcasts (50 seconds X 18).

You cherry picked a La Russa steroid era year (2000) to compare runs to, backtracked from your absurd 4 hour game average time, and came up with 1985 as your average game played time to suit your failing arguments.

Perhaps your dishonest arguments, fake graphs, cherry picked data and overall BS works in Oak Park, but I can guarantee most folks are not impressed.

I bid you good day, sir.

 

I literally didn't delete anything.

Nothing I said was distorted or cherry picked. I pulled all the data for all the years and posted the trend. I'll just go back to pretending your posts don't exist; things work much better that way.

I said I don't want to be watching 4 hour games; I never said they were already 4 hours. Reading should be easy for a guy who writes novels every single post he makes.

[Harold's Leg Lift]

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, MLB will begin using Statcast data to crack down on the use of foreign substances by pitchers.

Wow.  They're finally going to use the data for something useful.  This could be interesting.

[Kalapse]

3 minutes ago, Harold's Leg Lift said:

According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, MLB will begin using Statcast data to crack down on the use of foreign substances by pitchers.

Wow.  They're finally going to use the data for something useful.  This could be interesting.

The Trevor Bauer initiative

[oneofthemikes]

Anybody else a little glad that we didn't get Bauer now?

[Balta1701]

24 minutes ago, oneofthemikes said:

Anybody else a little glad that we didn't get Bauer now?

Are you implying something about pitchers on the white Sox using foreign substances?

[Stinky Stanky]

On 3/17/2021 at 11:26 PM, greg775 said:

I love the fact four infielders must be in the infield and not on the outfield grass at all times. I despise the shift so much it has almost ruined baseball for me. Players won't bunt to beat the shift. I despise when a lefty slams the ball in the hole between first and second and the outfielder throws him out.

I despise when a player rocks what should be a single up the middle but there's an infielder right over second base. Anything please to get rid of shifts.

I also hate when a player does the Paul Konerko unflipping the velcro on the batting glove after every pitch. Call me insane and in need of help but I can't take it. Yet I of course loved Konerko.

I'm not crazy about Manfred's ruining the playoffs but please please get rid of shifts and please start calling the belt high fastball a strike. I can't take it.

Go stand where you have less chance of catching the ball.  Sounds like a plan. ?

[greg775]

1 hour ago, Stinky Stanky said:

Go stand where you have less chance of catching the ball.  Sounds like a plan. ?

I'm just against lift and pull and this would be a way to combat it. ... I know a lot of things in sports and politics both don't make a lot of sense to me but it drives me insane that 'most' hitters wont bunt or just tap a grounder the other way to beat the shift. To me it's elementary. You get on base anyway you can and if you are a lefty hitter and there's one guy on the left side of the infield standing on shortstop, you bunt to the left side and reach base with a single. Instead most hitters either hit the home run to right or ground out to rightfield or strike out. It's one of the things ruining baseball for me personally.

Edited March 24, 2021 by greg775

[Kyyle23]

28 minutes ago, greg775 said:

I'm just against lift and pull and this would be a way to combat it. ... I know a lot of things in sports and politics both don't make a lot of sense to me but it drives me insane that 'most' hitters wont bunt or just tap a grounder the other way to beat the shift. To me it's elementary. You get on base anyway you can and if you are a lefty hitter and there's one guy on the left side of the infield standing on shortstop, you bunt to the left side and reach base with a single. Instead most hitters either hit the home run to right or ground out to rightfield or strike out. It's one of the things ruining baseball for me personally.

So, you say that we should remove the shift, but only because hitters will not try and beat the shift therefore making the shift an effective defense.  Is that right?

[Vulture]

4 hours ago, Balta1701 said:

Are you implying something about pitchers on the white Sox using foreign substances?

I took it at as him implying foreign substances explain Bauer doubling his spin rates overnight

[Balta1701]

6 minutes ago, Vulture said:

I took it at as him implying foreign substances explain Bauer doubling his spin rates overnight

Bauer has been loudly complaining about other teams using the stuff, that's why he was brought up. 

[raBBit]

32 minutes ago, Balta1701 said:

Bauer has been loudly complaining about other teams using the stuff, that's why he was brought up. 

Bauer complained and complained about the Astros foreign substance use (b/f their garbage can cheating scandal went public). Nobody listened to Bauer. Nobody did anything about it. As a result, Bauer has seemingly done the same as Cole and others. At least his spin rates support it and he has tacitly admitted to it. I don't know how to find it, but he has tweets and video clips where he is basically saying he's using something because the league is allowing it. 

To be clear, it is not necessarily pine tar. It is a foreign substance. Supposedly the Astros were using something clear.

 

[Vulture]

1 hour ago, Balta1701 said:

Bauer has been loudly complaining about other teams using the stuff, that's why he was brought up. 

Yeah and he openly threatened to start using it himself if the league did nothing about it. Shortly after his spin rates increased unnaturally and he went from pretty good to one of the best overnight

[greg775]

7 hours ago, Kyyle23 said:

So, you say that we should remove the shift, but only because hitters will not try and beat the shift therefore making the shift an effective defense.  Is that right?

The shift is effective because hitters won't try to beat it. Probably not macho. Can't flip down a bunt to the left side when there's one guy stationed at the traditional SS position. It's either not macho or against the unwritten rules to beat the shift with a bunt. Or maybe even the organization's manager and advanced stat people don't wanna see that bunt. I realize most managers/stat analysts for teams prefer the all (HR) or nothing (K) method of hitting. Once in a while somebody like Moustakas will beat the shift with a bunt, but he's about it.

Of course the shift is an effective defense. Players are always hitting right into the extra defender. I'm just saying for me personally it's ruining baseball. A lefty power hitter plops a bunt or half swing in the direction of third base, far enuf away from the pitcher, guess what ... it's a hit every time.

Problems "for me" in the game of baseball: a.) the shift. b.) umps still won't call a belt high fastball a strike. c.) players stepping out of the box to do the Konerko velcro flip of the batting glove. d.) Not letting starters work 6 2/3 innings minimum. e.) playing the lefty/righty reliever matchup game as early as the fifth inning. f.) games that last over 3 hours. You might tell me I just don't like baseball and go away.

I do like baseball. I don't like the things mentioned. Anything baseball can do to speed up the game, give the umps less power and not anger me by having one infielder on the left side with lefty hitters making no attempt to get a hit that way (flip flop it for righty hitters), would please me. I realize I could be in the deep minority, just saying what I don't like about baseball today. I'm sure 90 percent of fans disagree with me.

Edited March 25, 2021 by greg775

[South Side Hit Men]

17 minutes ago, greg775 said:

The shift is effective because hitters won't try to beat it. Probably not macho. Can't flip down a bunt to the left side when there's one guy stationed at the traditional SS position. It's either not macho or against the unwritten rules to beat the shift with a bunt. Or maybe even the organization's manager and advanced stat people don't wanna see that bunt. I realize most managers/stat analysts for teams prefer the all (HR) or nothing (K) method of hitting. Once in a while somebody like Moustakas will beat the shift with a bunt, but he's about it.

It doesn't have anything to do with Machismo, unless meatballs like Kenny or Ozzie are involved. Most ML hitters, the best hitters on Earth, no longer have the ability to bunt consistently, because fundamentals are not highlights on Sportscenter and that's not why were promoted to the show. The best athletes are raking throughout the lower levels, and are never asked to bunt.

Also, hitters do not have the ability to consistently launch a batted ball (non bunts) safely to specific areas on the field. Pitchers are pitching you a certain way to force you to hit into the shift. If batters had the ability to consistently hit balls "where they ain't", shift or no shift, they would be hitting .500-.600 +. This isn't 16 inch softball.

The best batting average hitter ever caped out at .366 (Ty Cobb). The best of all time, who spent their entire career working hard at their crafts like Cobb, Williams, Gwynn, etc., were better than their peers, but could not beat the law of averages beyond a couple standard deviations beyond the best hitters in the game.

[greg775]

16 hours ago, South Side Hit Men said:

It doesn't have anything to do with Machismo, unless meatballs like Kenny or Ozzie are involved. Most ML hitters, the best hitters on Earth, no longer have the ability to bunt consistently, because fundamentals are not highlights on Sportscenter and that's not why were promoted to the show. The best athletes are raking throughout the lower levels, and are never asked to bunt.

Also, hitters do not have the ability to consistently launch a batted ball (non bunts) safely to specific areas on the field. Pitchers are pitching you a certain way to force you to hit into the shift. If batters had the ability to consistently hit balls "where they ain't", shift or no shift, they would be hitting .500-.600 +. This isn't 16 inch softball.

The best batting average hitter ever caped out at .366 (Ty Cobb). The best of all time, who spent their entire career working hard at their crafts like Cobb, Williams, Gwynn, etc., were better than their peers, but could not beat the law of averages beyond a couple standard deviations beyond the best hitters in the game.

You make good points. I figure as much time as these guys have on their hands in the offseason they could learn to beat the shift in the offseason with half swings and bunts. But it isn't meant to be. Some people are OK with everything that naturally happens to the great game of baseball. I guess the shifts don't bother the vast majority of fans, 80 percent or more, but I don't like them. So far the things I hate about baseball haven't made me want to give up my fandom or anything.

[Heads22]

when's the last time anyone watched sportscenter?

[Vulture]

Pretty sure it is within human capability to hit a baseball the other way.

[oldsox]

On 3/25/2021 at 8:37 PM, Heads22 said:

when's the last time anyone watched sportscenter?

Do you have any ratings info?  

[YourWhatHurts]

You just had to know the home run derby to replace extra innings bullshit was coming and now it's in the the pioneer league.

There is only 1 person in all of sports I wish to see croak more than reinsdorf and it's manfred.  Someone really needs to get on this.

[YourWhatHurts]

It should be obvious that these are all "bargaining" proposals.  I wonder if there is a sports book taking bets on a stoppage after the cba expires.  I don't even bet but that's some easy money.  I can not even begin to comprehend what a massively thick binder of total utter bullshit the league is going to present to the players in these "negotiations" of "good faith".

Edited April 27, 2021 by YourWhatHurts

[Look at Ray Ray Run]

8 minutes ago, YourWhatHurts said:

You just had to know the home run derby to replace extra innings bullshit was coming and now it's in the the pioneer league.

There is only 1 person in all of sports I wish to see croak more than reinsdorf and it's manfred.  Someone really needs to get on this.

The pioneer league is an independent league trying to draw some fans with a gimmick.

[flavum]

We’ll take the wins, but I still can’t stand 7-inning doubleheaders and the man on 2nd in extras. Hope it ends after this season. 

Looking iffy in Cincinnati on Tuesday, but might be a quick doubleheader on Wednesday with Sonny Gray in one of them coming off a good start vs Dodgers. 
 

 

[Tnetennba]

37 minutes ago, flavum said:

We’ll take the wins, but I still can’t stand 7-inning doubleheaders and the man on 2nd in extras. Hope it ends after this season. 

Looking iffy in Cincinnati on Tuesday, but might be a quick doubleheader on Wednesday with Sonny Gray in one of them coming off a good start vs Dodgers. 
 

 

Man on 2nd is a travesty and needs to end immediately.  I liked the idea of 7 inning double headers, but the games seem to go by too fast.  I too hope we return to full 9 inning games next season.