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Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Fri Jul 03, 2020 3:51 am
by GreenWeenie
You're comparing the demands of Little Leaguers and high school pitchers with the demands that major league pitchers have? You've watched too many Pirates pitchers, I guess.







Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:39 am
by Ecbucs
Adam Frazier comments on DH in Adam Berry's story on Keller on ML.com:



Frazier led the Pirates with 152 games played last year despite being limited by early-season injuries, so he won’t be asking out of the lineup much in a shortened season.



“Nobody dislikes being a DH, I can tell you that. It’s really just a refresher for your legs, that kind of deal,” Frazier said. “With the 60-game sprint, I’m sure some guys are going to need a day for their legs here and there. I’ll be ready to play. If he wants to tell me to DH, I’ve got no problem with that. Just being in the lineup, it doesn’t matter if it’s second, left, right, DH, I don’t really care.”





I haven't heard many players say they don't like the DH, if only old fuddy duddies like me don't like it, it is never going away.

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:29 am
by IABucFan
644243544252210 wrote: Adam Frazier comments on DH in Adam Berry's story on Keller on ML.com:



Frazier led the Pirates with 152 games played last year despite being limited by early-season injuries, so he won’t be asking out of the lineup much in a shortened season.



“Nobody dislikes being a DH, I can tell you that. It’s really just a refresher for your legs, that kind of deal,” Frazier said. “With the 60-game sprint, I’m sure some guys are going to need a day for their legs here and there. I’ll be ready to play. If he wants to tell me to DH, I’ve got no problem with that. Just being in the lineup, it doesn’t matter if it’s second, left, right, DH, I don’t really care.”





I haven't heard many players say they don't like the DH, if only old fuddy duddies like me don't like it, it is never going away.




I’m not that old...I hate it.

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 10:10 am
by GreenWeenie
Age is a state of mind. ;)

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 11:04 am
by Bobster21
567071667060130 wrote: Adam Frazier comments on DH in Adam Berry's story on Keller on ML.com:



Frazier led the Pirates with 152 games played last year despite being limited by early-season injuries, so he won’t be asking out of the lineup much in a shortened season.



“Nobody dislikes being a DH, I can tell you that. It’s really just a refresher for your legs, that kind of deal,” Frazier said. “With the 60-game sprint, I’m sure some guys are going to need a day for their legs here and there. I’ll be ready to play. If he wants to tell me to DH, I’ve got no problem with that. Just being in the lineup, it doesn’t matter if it’s second, left, right, DH, I don’t really care.”





I haven't heard many players say they don't like the DH, if only old fuddy duddies like me don't like it, it is never going away.


The issue was never about whether players would enjoy batting without the pressures of playing defense while expending no energy between ABs. And of course it's popular with every position player who feels he might not have started the game but now sees his name in the lineup because an extra guy gets to bat. So I understand Frazier liking it. But it's still a radical change to the game itself. Players might also enjoy the idea of drastically reducing extra innings with the bogus man at 2B absurdity. The problem for the players is that if you make too many radical changes to a game that fans love, interest in their profession could wane and they could find themselves in a job that produces less revenue for their pay. It's like if a store made a new policy that was easier for the employees but unpopular with their customers. Any business, even MLB, requires mass acceptance of the product. And sometimes what's easier for the employees isn't best for the business.

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 1:41 pm
by Ecbucs
072A27363120377774450 wrote: Adam Frazier comments on DH in Adam Berry's story on Keller on ML.com:



Frazier led the Pirates with 152 games played last year despite being limited by early-season injuries, so he won’t be asking out of the lineup much in a shortened season.



“Nobody dislikes being a DH, I can tell you that. It’s really just a refresher for your legs, that kind of deal,” Frazier said. “With the 60-game sprint, I’m sure some guys are going to need a day for their legs here and there. I’ll be ready to play. If he wants to tell me to DH, I’ve got no problem with that. Just being in the lineup, it doesn’t matter if it’s second, left, right, DH, I don’t really care.”





I haven't heard many players say they don't like the DH, if only old fuddy duddies like me don't like it, it is never going away.


The issue was never about whether players would enjoy batting without the pressures of playing defense while expending no energy between ABs. And of course it's popular with every position player who feels he might not have started the game but now sees his name in the lineup because an extra guy gets to bat. So I understand Frazier liking it. But it's still a radical change to the game itself. Players might also enjoy the idea of drastically reducing extra innings with the bogus man at 2B absurdity. The problem for the players is that if you make too many radical changes to a game that fans love, interest in their profession could wane and they could find themselves in a job that produces less revenue for their pay. It's like if a store made a new policy that was easier for the employees but unpopular with their customers. Any business, even MLB, requires mass acceptance of the product. And sometimes what's easier for the employees isn't best for the business. 


The dh is accepted, perhaps even mass accepted. I don't know if fans are surveyed on dh but my guess is that fans of AL teams like the dh. For any of them under 50, their teams have always played with the dh. NL fans probably like NL baseball better without the DH but those that are upset about adding a dh in the NL is likely a percentage that is growing smaller every year.



I hope the new rule regarding pitchers facing three batters fails and I certainly don't want to start extra innings with a runner on base. I like the idea of calling balls and strikes electronically. I don't like the dh but think it is inevitable that NL will adopt and probably will just keep this year's change.

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 3:15 pm
by ArnoldRothstein
I don't think that there are many AL or NL fans anymore. You have your team and hate it's rivals, but otherwise rooting interest seems to follow players around.



I like the idea of calling balls and strikes electronically.


Unless something has happened recently, they don't have a very good way to establish the top and bottom of the strike zone. It seems like it will end up calculation based on a player's height. Guys will end up gaming it by going on long hikes carrying heavy packs just before the measurement.

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Tue Jul 07, 2020 5:58 pm
by Ecbucs
0C3F232221291F2239253E392824234D0 wrote: I don't think that there are many AL or NL fans anymore. You have your team and hate it's rivals, but otherwise rooting interest seems to follow players around.



I like the idea of calling balls and strikes electronically.


Unless something has happened recently, they don't have a very good way to establish the top and bottom of the strike zone. It seems like it will end up  calculation based on a player's height. Guys will end up gaming it by going on long hikes carrying heavy packs just before the measurement.




This article seems to think it worked okay in Atlantic League last summer;



In reality, the box is a 3-D Doppler radar dish that analyzes each pitch thrown. Using a three-dimensional strike zone, [highlight]TrackMan is able to calibrate each batters' size and stance, adjusting the strike zone accordingly. So, the system works so that it doesn't allow a 6-foot-7 player to have the same strike zone as a 5-foot-7 player.[/highlight]



https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/robo ... s-to-come/

Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 12:48 am
by ArnoldRothstein
TrackMan is able to calibrate each batters' size and stance, adjusting the strike zone accordingly. So, the system works so that it doesn't allow a 6-foot-7 player to have the same strike zone as a 5-foot-7 player.


Two things: one is that anything based on height (or shoulders to knees) can be gamed. If a batter can shrink his zone by an inch, it's exactly the same thing as a catcher stealing a strike through pitch framing, and it will happen.



The second thing is important to me: if a calculation is just based on height, it's going to change who is successful. Ron Cey was listed at 5'10", but none of it was below the knee. Steve Garvey was the same, but he had no neck. John Kruk was 5'10, didn't look like an athlete at all. Willie Mays was 5'10", and looked exactly like an athlete. These guys all got different strike zones, and if the same zone were imposed on all of them, I think some would wash out. My bet is that "calibration" will favor players who are smack in the middle, so that guys like Kruk and Cey and Kingman and Wynn will become rarer and rarer, and the game will take another step toward dullness.







Should Rob Manfred Be Replaced

Posted: Wed Jul 08, 2020 3:28 am
by Ecbucs
74475B5A5951675A415D4641505C5B350 wrote: TrackMan is able to calibrate each batters' size and stance, adjusting the strike zone accordingly. So, the system works so that it doesn't allow a 6-foot-7 player to have the same strike zone as a 5-foot-7 player.


Two things: one is that anything based on height (or shoulders to knees) can be gamed.  If a batter can shrink his zone by an inch, it's exactly the same thing as a catcher stealing a strike through pitch framing, and it will happen.



The second thing is important to me: if a calculation is just based on height, it's going to change who is successful.  Ron Cey was listed at 5'10", but none of it was below the knee.  Steve Garvey was the same, but he had no neck. John Kruk was 5'10, didn't look like an athlete at all.  Willie Mays was 5'10", and looked exactly like an athlete.  These guys all got different strike zones, and if the same zone were imposed on all of them, I think some would wash out.  My bet is that "calibration" will favor players who are smack in the middle, so that guys like Kruk and Cey and Kingman and Wynn will become rarer and rarer, and the game will take another step toward dullness.










yeah, I don't know if it will work for certain but they do say it accounts for batters stance. Don't know if it can adjust on each pitch though if batter changes his stance slightly. Of course the big argument for it is it may be more consistent and accurate that human umps (which if strike zones they show on tv are close the umps miss a lot of pitches). So the issue to me is will there be less bad calls with technology than with human umps.