MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

MTM · Sep 9, 2022

Rangers Josh Jung hits a homer in his first MLB at bat.

134th player overall to do it and sixth this season. Scanning the list, it seems to happen a couple times each year.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lis...a_home_run_in_their_first_major_league_at_bat

Deskgrunt50 · Sep 9, 2022

Bubbler said: ↑

(Read this in the late David McCullough's voice ... or Liev Schreiber, I don't give a fuck ...)

"When change comes to baseball, that change is inevitably met with the hue and cry of the chattering class of the offended. It's a baseball tradition as big, perhaps bigger, than Take Me Out To The Ballgame or the midnight hue of Yankee blue.

"From the Gilded Age, the time when batters could no longer call their pitches, to the banning of the spitball, to lifting the color line, to expansion, to the 162-game schedule, to lowering the mound, to divisional baseball, to the designated hitter, to the expanded playoffs and the Wild Card, to interleague play, to steroid testing and meaningful penalties for offenders, to a pitch clock and the banning of the shift, baseball has never been able to snuff that percentage of its fan base which intractably holds on to the notion that the sport should never, ever fucking change. Much less? Make changes which may turn out for the better.

"The venting of spleen, the bitching and moaning, the boiled piss and vinegar? It has long fermented. The private papers of Bartholomew von Dodger, scion of the House of Dodger, a Gilded Age family that made it's fortune supplying cocaine to Coca-Cola, and the possible origination of the Dodgers nickname, had this all not been made up for a sports message board, offer insight into the minds of a certain sub-set of baseball fans, now and forever, from 1886 ..."

(Read in Peter Coyote's voice ...)
"Hurlers tossing whatever pitches they want? This gives me the morbs! Deception on an anarchic level! Batters will be mafficking in the streets when they find they can no longer pound Pud Galvin's whizzer-ball when they no longer know it's coming! Eegads! Next we'll have Papists running this grand old land! I suggestionize that we send those who conceived of this rule change back to Ireland, where this drunken folly no doubt had it's baleful origin."

(Back to McCullough ...)
"Since this is fake Ken Burns special made up for a message board, we inevitably turn to Doris Kearns Goodwin ..."

(Doris Kearns Goodwin)
"It all went to hell in a handbasket when my city had its rightful, blessed by divinity, birthright to have three teams. Stripped from us, like the tunics of Perpetua and Felicitus in Carthage! Thieves in the night! Gufs in the soul of baseball are missing! ..."

GIGANTIC RECORD SCRATCH

(Bubbler voice)
Yeah. It's me. You might know me from my supple ass and other delights. So you kind of get the point.

Every time baseball makes a change, people bitch, moan and say it's end of days. It never is. It almost certainly never will be.

Why is it that baseball is the only sport expected to stand still? Why is baseball's game theory considered to be sacrosanct above and beyond the entertainment factor it creates? Fuck that.

And, moreover, how many times have the vanguard of those who Must Protect Baseball (copyright) been dead-ass wrong? You could do a mini-series on how many times pedantic fuckers like Bob Costas have been wrong about changes that came to the game and what effect they'd have.

"Baseball was more pure with two/four (your generational mileage may vary) playoff teams!" Fuck that. I feel like I was ripped off in my youth. I don't hold any nostalgic candle to any of it.

No other sport is held to the same standard. You get one bad call in a NFL game and you have people wanting to install replay review over what they bought at concessions. The NBA literally made several defenses illegal for several generations to make the product better and then once game theory adjusted and it was no longer advantageous? They drop-kicked it into touch without a thought.

Baseball isn't sacred. It needs to be entertaining. I'm fine with what gets it there.

Big bases? OK, the image in my head is of some giganto Fischer-Price yellow plastic bases with an attached slip-and-slide or some shit. I really don't see the benefit and can do without bigger bases, but I'm also not ready go all "let's burn the motherfucker down" about it either.

The pitch clock? About fucking time. Dicking around in baseball will never, ever be legislated by the participants. In fact? All manner of complete and utter nonsensical bullshit will be invented to justify why they do it when, frankly, they just don't want to change a time-honored habit. My dudes, people who rented porn at stores probably didn't like changing to the net either, but they figured it out, OK?

Then the shift. Good riddance. I mean good fucking fucking fucking fucking fucking riddance.

BUT IT'S STRATEGY!

Yes, quite, and if I were a manager? I'd shift the ever living fuck out of everyone if allowed to do so. They aren't the problem.

But I'm not a manager. I'm a fan. My interest isn't game theory. It's whether what I'm watching is remotely enjoyable to watch. The shift makes baseball boring as fuck.

So ban it. It's no different than the NFL liberalizing pass defense in 1978, or, the aforementioned illegal defense decision made by the NBA. If on-field strategy is making the product shit, then flush the shit.

Buh, buh, but, batters need to adjust!

For the guys out there, lemme run an experiment. Whatever hand you've jerked off with your whole life? Pretend your wife put a sort of chastity glove on it. Try it with your other hand. See how well you "adjust".

Sorry for the crude metaphor (not really), but batters have been trained to hit a certain way their whole lives. I can't believe there's people in our industry, who at least have some passing knowledge of how sports works and how difficult it is to play, suggest dumb-ass shit like, "Oh, they're lining up six fielders on one side to counter you. Fuck you! Hit the other way!" Too many people think it's as simple as betting on black instead of red. We know better. Fuck.

I'm all for these changes. My only regret is that Rob Manfred, the human embodiment of mood slime from Ghostbusters II, is the one who is carrying it through. You can't pick your agents for change, but I do not fear these changes. I embrace them.

Back to your regularly scheduled PBS program ...
Click to expand...

I regret that I have but one like to give to this post.

bigpern23 · Sep 9, 2022

Spartan Squad said: ↑

It was one of those things that happened so gradually, it was hardly noticeable until people started complaining. The move from using all sides of the field and a two-strike approach to just whack it as hard and far as you can without consideration for where the defense is playing you didn't happen over night but it feels like it did. I can't imagine telling a guy like Tony Gwynn to focus on launch angle and the three true outcomes.
Click to expand...

I saw a stat the other day that Gwynn struck out something like 88 times ... in the '9os.

bigpern23 · Sep 9, 2022

Deskgrunt50 said: ↑

I blame Jeter as much as anybody for this, but your point stands!
Click to expand...

Odd flex. Garciaparra has been the poster boy for the nervous hitter adjustments for the last 25ish years.

Regardless of who anyone blames, though, it's an absolute pleasure watching Aaron Judge (especially this season). He rarely leaves the box for more than a second or two and is basically always ready to hit.

JC · Sep 9, 2022

Michael_ Gee said: ↑

These are all well-taken points. As rebuttal, I will only point out that the most change-resistant people in our society are probably baseball players.
Click to expand...

And the people who cover them.

Deskgrunt50 · Sep 9, 2022

bigpern23 said: ↑

Odd flex. Garciaparra has been the poster boy for the nervous hitter adjustments for the last 25ish years.

Regardless of who anyone blames, though, it's an absolute pleasure watching Aaron Judge (especially this season). He rarely leaves the box for more than a second or two and is basically always ready to hit.
Click to expand...

Not a flex. Likely a product of my baseball-watching market. Saw a lot more Jeter.

Totally agree on Judge. In there ready to hit. Love it. Results ain’t so bad…

justgladtobehere · Sep 9, 2022

bigpern2.3 said: ↑

I saw a stat the other day that Gwynn struck out something like 88 times ... in the '9os.
Click to expand...

A low strikeout rate is not indicative of offensive production. Guys who work counts and get walks tend to strike out more. The list of career strikeout leaders is filled with productive hitters.

Wade Boggs is a better example of a batter with a low strikeout rate who was particularly productive.

Hermes · Sep 9, 2022

justgladtobehere said: ↑

A low strikeout rate is not indicative of offensive production.
Click to expand...

See: The Cleveland Guardians’ offense.

It’s a pleasant style to watch, but not particularly productive.

dixiehack · Sep 10, 2022

Bubbler said: ↑

(Read this in the late David McCullough's voice ... or Liev Schreiber, I don't give a fuck ...)

"When change comes to baseball, that change is inevitably met with the hue and cry of the chattering class of the offended. It's a baseball tradition as big, perhaps bigger, than Take Me Out To The Ballgame or the midnight hue of Yankee blue.

"From the Gilded Age, the time when batters could no longer call their pitches, to the banning of the spitball, to lifting the color line, to expansion, to the 162-game schedule, to lowering the mound, to divisional baseball, to the designated hitter, to the expanded playoffs and the Wild Card, to interleague play, to steroid testing and meaningful penalties for offenders, to a pitch clock and the banning of the shift, baseball has never been able to snuff that percentage of its fan base which intractably holds on to the notion that the sport should never, ever fucking change. Much less? Make changes which may turn out for the better.

"The venting of spleen, the bitching and moaning, the boiled piss and vinegar? It has long fermented. The private papers of Bartholomew von Dodger, scion of the House of Dodger, a Gilded Age family that made it's fortune supplying cocaine to Coca-Cola, and the possible origination of the Dodgers nickname, had this all not been made up for a sports message board, offer insight into the minds of a certain sub-set of baseball fans, now and forever, from 1886 ..."

(Read in Peter Coyote's voice ...)
"Hurlers tossing whatever pitches they want? This gives me the morbs! Deception on an anarchic level! Batters will be mafficking in the streets when they find they can no longer pound Pud Galvin's whizzer-ball when they no longer know it's coming! Eegads! Next we'll have Papists running this grand old land! I suggestionize that we send those who conceived of this rule change back to Ireland, where this drunken folly no doubt had it's baleful origin."

(Back to McCullough ...)
"Since this is fake Ken Burns special made up for a message board, we inevitably turn to Doris Kearns Goodwin ..."

(Doris Kearns Goodwin)
"It all went to hell in a handbasket when my city had its rightful, blessed by divinity, birthright to have three teams. Stripped from us, like the tunics of Perpetua and Felicitus in Carthage! Thieves in the night! Gufs in the soul of baseball are missing! ..."

GIGANTIC RECORD SCRATCH

(Bubbler voice)
Yeah. It's me. You might know me from my supple ass and other delights. So you kind of get the point.

Every time baseball makes a change, people bitch, moan and say it's end of days. It never is. It almost certainly never will be.

Why is it that baseball is the only sport expected to stand still? Why is baseball's game theory considered to be sacrosanct above and beyond the entertainment factor it creates? Fuck that.

And, moreover, how many times have the vanguard of those who Must Protect Baseball (copyright) been dead-ass wrong? You could do a mini-series on how many times pedantic fuckers like Bob Costas have been wrong about changes that came to the game and what effect they'd have.

"Baseball was more pure with two/four (your generational mileage may vary) playoff teams!" Fuck that. I feel like I was ripped off in my youth. I don't hold any nostalgic candle to any of it.

No other sport is held to the same standard. You get one bad call in a NFL game and you have people wanting to install replay review over what they bought at concessions. The NBA literally made several defenses illegal for several generations to make the product better and then once game theory adjusted and it was no longer advantageous? They drop-kicked it into touch without a thought.

Baseball isn't sacred. It needs to be entertaining. I'm fine with what gets it there.

Big bases? OK, the image in my head is of some giganto Fischer-Price yellow plastic bases with an attached slip-and-slide or some shit. I really don't see the benefit and can do without bigger bases, but I'm also not ready go all "let's burn the motherfucker down" about it either.

The pitch clock? About fucking time. Dicking around in baseball will never, ever be legislated by the participants. In fact? All manner of complete and utter nonsensical bullshit will be invented to justify why they do it when, frankly, they just don't want to change a time-honored habit. My dudes, people who rented porn at stores probably didn't like changing to the net either, but they figured it out, OK?

Then the shift. Good riddance. I mean good fucking fucking fucking fucking fucking riddance.

BUT IT'S STRATEGY!

Yes, quite, and if I were a manager? I'd shift the ever living fuck out of everyone if allowed to do so. They aren't the problem.

But I'm not a manager. I'm a fan. My interest isn't game theory. It's whether what I'm watching is remotely enjoyable to watch. The shift makes baseball boring as fuck.

So ban it. It's no different than the NFL liberalizing pass defense in 1978, or, the aforementioned illegal defense decision made by the NBA. If on-field strategy is making the product shit, then flush the shit.

Buh, buh, but, batters need to adjust!

For the guys out there, lemme run an experiment. Whatever hand you've jerked off with your whole life? Pretend your wife put a sort of chastity glove on it. Try it with your other hand. See how well you "adjust".

Sorry for the crude metaphor (not really), but batters have been trained to hit a certain way their whole lives. I can't believe there's people in our industry, who at least have some passing knowledge of how sports works and how difficult it is to play, suggest dumb-ass shit like, "Oh, they're lining up six fielders on one side to counter you. Fuck you! Hit the other way!" Too many people think it's as simple as betting on black instead of red. We know better. Fuck.

I'm all for these changes. My only regret is that Rob Manfred, the human embodiment of mood slime from Ghostbusters II, is the one who is carrying it through. You can't pick your agents for change, but I do not fear these changes. I embrace them.

Back to your regularly scheduled PBS program ...
Click to expand...

I feel like I just watched Ryan toss an eighth no-hitter.

micropolitan guy · Sep 10, 2022

Michael_ Gee said: ↑

These are all well-taken points. As rebuttal, I will only point out that the most change-resistant people in our society are probably baseball players.
Click to expand...

I totally agree. And they generally know the least about what is best for their sport.

Sea Bass · Sep 10, 2022

justgladtobehere said: ↑

A low strikeout rate is not indicative of offensive production. Guys who work counts and get walks tend to strike out more. The list of career strikeout leaders is filled with productive hitters.

Wade Boggs is a better example of a batter with a low strikeout rate who was particularly productive.
Click to expand...

Was Boggs appreciably more productive than Gwynn?

micropolitan guy · Sep 10, 2022

Sea Bass said: ↑

Was Boggs appreciably more productive than Gwynn?
Click to expand...

Gwynn had more homers (135-118) and more RBIs (1138-1014). OPS (.858 B, .847 G) and OPS+ (132G, 131B) virtually identical.

Looks as if Gwynn tried to hit more homers late in his career; 43 in his last three full seasons. Surprisingly, he had only five 200-hit seasons, he only played more than 140 games in a season twice after age 29. Boggs had seven, and played at least 143 games a year through age 35. His slugging % dropped off after he left Fenway, where he was a doubles machine.

Both had potentially career-best seasons shortened by the 94 strike.

I'd say they were historically very comparable.

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MLB 2022: The Long and Winding Thread

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