Red Sox have fired GM Dave Dombrowski

[jacksonianmarch]

Never ever ever change the foul ball rules. This isn’t softball

[a700hitter]

Never ever ever change the foul ball rules. This isn’t softball

I agree. There are already too any strikeouts in the game.

[dgalehouse]

No offense to anybody , but ruling that three foul balls is a strikeout is one of the worst ideas to come along . Even a nimrod like Manfred would not propose something like that .

[illinoisredsox]

And a lot of others are like Pawtucket or Batavia or the Quad Cities where your entertainment options are either a minor league baseball game or a spitting contest...

 

Careful, I actually live in one of those. Not everyone is on love with big cities.

[oldtimer]

If MLB insisted on it , the umps would have no choice .

 

I hear you, but the fact is that hitters have to pick up the ball from the pitchers release point. These guys often throw at better than 95 mph and can have 3 or 4 pitches to bring up there. In addition, the batters often face the same pitcher twice or less in a game. They need time to settle themselves in their routine to have much chance of getting the bat on the ball.

[harmony]

And a lot of others are like Pawtucket or Batavia or the Quad Cities where your entertainment options are either a minor league baseball game or a spitting contest...

This long-time West Coast resident has a soft spot for the Quad Cities, which this year alone have hosted concerts by Paul McCartney, Steely Dan, James Taylor and Bonnie Raitt, among others. The Quad Cities boast the Quad Cities Symphony, Opera Quad Cities, Ballet Quad Cities and the annual Bix Beiderbecke Memorial Jazz Festival. Broadway Across America produces about a half dozen shows each year in the Quad Cities, which also offer several community playhouses.

 

Sports attractions include the John Deere Classic PGA stop, the Quad City Steamwheelers indoor football club, the Quad City Storm hockey club and next week's Quad Cities Marathon*. Three casinos call the Quad Cities home.

 

To top it off, the Quad Cities have my favorite minor league ballpark of all time:

 

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-minor-league-ballpark/

 

* I ran the Quad Cities Marathon in 2013 and last year ran the QCM 5K, both when I was back in the area for a high school reunion

[oldtimer]

Having read the bios on the candidates who might be available to replace DD as GM, I find Matt Arnold, an assistant GM of the Brewers to have the best match of skills to what we will need going forward. Is he available or interested. Time will tell.

[notin]

Careful, I actually live in one of those. Not everyone is on love with big cities.

 

Quad cities?

[Kimmi]

The jung post is too long to quote - and contains both a lot of good sense and a bit of "old man yells at cloud". But here goes:

 

- Baseball ratings are down. But so are the ratings for almost all other television. Note that the 2019 Super Bowl got a below median rating, and for the most part the 21st century Super Bowls have been in the bottom half of TV. Nobody watches ANYTHING in the concentration they used to. There is very little real interest than fan interest is down in that sort of way.

 

- Analytics have led to a more strategically correct sport, but I'm not sure it is a more entertaining one. Durable quality starting pitching has been a hallmark of the sport forever - and while it is okay that there are no more Old Hoss Radbourns around, I don't think the bullpen heavy world we live in is all that great. I liked seeing Pedro strike out 17 New York Yankees.

 

- The juiced ball has not led to a sport that is all that fun. Chicks dig the long ball and all, but some real variety among players is a good thing.

 

- The union got bamboozled by the owners in the last CBA negotiation. In their zeal to avoid a salary cap, they forgot to get minimal revenue guarantees - so they ended up with the worst of all worlds. And it's not a great world for the fans, where owners have zero incentive to try to improve. They will attempt to fix this in 2021. I fully expect a work stoppage, and it's frankly deserved.

 

- Pace of play is a problem, but the pitch clock is a bad idea and only increases the likelihood of pitchers getting hurt. Unfortunately the best way to increase pace of play is fewer damn commercials, and we know the likelihood of that happening. Also requiring pitchers to face 3 hitters at minimum would be a good thing.

 

- The biggest thing the commissioner and the industry has done wrong is frankly not getting rid of all the old people. The national announcers are disasterously bad. The MLB Network flagship broadcast consists almost entirely of old guys yearning for a time when men were men and everybody had .310 OBP and spoke English as their first language. Prominent national analysts (A-Rod, Joe Simpson, Rick Sutcliffe) are legitimately dumb. Many legacy baseball writers are incredibly ill informed about how teams operate in 2019. The sport does not celebrate itself - and often actively roots against itself. There are a variety of reasons that Mike Trout has not penetrated the public imagination like he should (some mentioned above), but a big one is that the baseball industry and baseball television industry does not celebrate it.

 

- The game is not in danger. But it is run and marketed by stale, old people - and the consequences are self fulfilling.

 

Solid post sk.

 

The idea of the role of the starting pitcher as we know it becoming almost obsolete just doesn't sit well with me. I, too, loved seeing guys like Pedro dominate the opposition for 7+ innings.

 

I particularly agree with your comments on pace of play.

[Kimmi]

Yeah, agreed. Messing around with foul ball rules is going too far.

 

I also agree.

[illinoisredsox]

Quad cities?

 

You guessed it. Grew up in the very small town of Oxford in southwestern CT (population was about 4500 back then). In 1984, I took a job as a civilian engineer with the Department of the Army in the Quad Cities and never left, retiring a year ago. Never wanted to live in a big city, though visiting them is okay.

[jad]

That’s because 1) it’s far cheaper to go to games and 2) there isn’t much else to do in most minor league cities. Seriously. Think of a city with a minor league baseball team. Now name one tourist attraction in that city...

 

Yeah, I know. I went to a Double-A game a couple of weeks ago, because really, after a day of sailing, tennis, golf, going to the museums, checking out the art museum, a couple of restaurants, an outdoor concert, lobster rolls, hanging out on the beach, I just couldn't find a damn thing to do.

[Bellhorn04]

Yeah, I know. I went to a Double-A game a couple of weeks ago, because really, after a day of sailing, tennis, golf, going to the museums, checking out the art museum, a couple of restaurants, an outdoor concert, lobster rolls, hanging out on the beach, I just couldn't find a damn thing to do.

 

Speaking of rolls, you are on one with the sardonic humor lately.

[notin]

Never ever ever change the foul ball rules. This isn’t softball

 

There not going to change the foul ball rules again. It's been done twice and the changes to the game have been drastic.

 

But.. the foul ball, and specifically the Wade Boggs approach of intentionally fouling off borderline pitches until you get something you want, is one of the biggest factors in pace of play. MLB should enforce the existing rules for a pitch clock, but everything else they are suggesting will be inconsequential. Especially the 3-batter minimum rule, which might knock an average off of about .0005 minutes per game.

 

I hjave repeatedly suggested this, but MLB really should abandon the pratice of allowing teams the entire 40 man roster in September. This is the only time of year the 3 batter rule might make a difference, since some teams will have 12 bullpen pitchers and can afford to make multiple pitching changes per inning. But maybe with Bruce Bochy retiring, this problem goes away, too. (It won't. But Bochy was far and away the worst abuser of this.)

 

Still the idea of expanded rosters for one month is stupid. What other sport does this?

[notin]

You guessed it. Grew up in the very small town of Oxford in southwestern CT (population was about 4500 back then). In 1984, I took a job as a civilian engineer with the Department of the Army in the Quad Cities and never left, retiring a year ago. Never wanted to live in a big city, though visiting them is okay.

 

I'm just outside of Chicago. I've been to the Quad Cities, and I could pass, and I'm not even a very exciting guy. But I actually think Iowa City (which I would never call a big city. It's really just a Big 10 School with multiple zip codes.) is one of the coolest cities I have ever been to, despite the fact that it is always under construction. I tell you, it's going to be great if they ever finish it...

[illinoisredsox]

There not going to change the foul ball rules again. It's been done twice and the changes to the game have been drastic.

 

But.. the foul ball, and specifically the Wade Boggs approach of intentionally fouling off borderline pitches until you get something you want, is one of the biggest factors in pace of play. MLB should enforce the existing rules for a pitch clock, but everything else they are suggesting will be inconsequential. Especially the 3-batter minimum rule, which might knock an average off of about .0005 minutes per game.

 

I hjave repeatedly suggested this, but MLB really should abandon the pratice of allowing teams the entire 40 man roster in September. This is the only time of year the 3 batter rule might make a difference, since some teams will have 12 bullpen pitchers and can afford to make multiple pitching changes per inning. But maybe with Bruce Bochy retiring, this problem goes away, too. (It won't. But Bochy was far and away the worst abuser of this.)

 

Still the idea of expanded rosters for one month is stupid. What other sport does this?

 

The 40 man September roster is done this year. Next year will bring a 26 man roster from Opening Day through August and a mandatory 28 man one in September. All teams must use 28 man rosters in September; right now you can call up any number from 0 to 15.

[notin]

Yeah, I know. I went to a Double-A game a couple of weeks ago, because really, after a day of sailing, tennis, golf, going to the museums, checking out the art museum, a couple of restaurants, an outdoor concert, lobster rolls, hanging out on the beach, I just couldn't find a damn thing to do.

 

I do miss Portland.

 

I don't miss Pawtucket.

[moonslav59]

The 40 man September roster is done this year. Next year will bring a 26 man roster from Opening Day through August and a mandatory 28 man one in September. All teams must use 28 man rosters in September; right now you can call up any number from 0 to 15.

 

I've always lobbied for the 26 man roster, but I hope it doesn't lead to one more pitching change per game.

 

I like the Sept limit of 28. That will avoid the 10 RP'er per game fiascoes.

[notin]

The 40 man September roster is done this year. Next year will bring a 26 man roster from Opening Day through August and a mandatory 28 man one in September. All teams must use 28 man rosters in September; right now you can call up any number from 0 to 15.

 

That's definitely an improvement. And probably why Bochy is retiring...

[notin]

I've always lobbied for the 26 man roster, but I hope it doesn't lead to one more pitching change per game.

 

I like the Sept limit of 28. That will avoid the 10 RP'er per game fiascoes.

 

THe problwm with expanding rosters to even 26 for the entire course of a season is baseball is a game of specialization nowadays, and some teams will have that specialty pinch runner. Oooh how exciting. Or some insanely specific specialty reliever. Or some very specific "pinch hitter to face RHP with bases loaded and two outs" guy. Or - and you might like this but I think it's small market baseball - more platoons!

 

25 players is enough. I'd like to see that last all season. The biggest change is teams would still use the Injured List in September...

[Slasher9]

"i added 30 new jobs!!!!" DJT

[jacksonianmarch]

Specific specialty relievers will be things of the past. Next year, a new pitcher must face 3 batters barring injury.

 

I think expanding to 26 with 13 pitchers and 13 position players would be important. With the way the game has gone, far more pitchers are occupying 25 man slots than position players with most teams employing 13 pitchers. Some teams will carry 14 for a short period of time, especially in the NL where you only have to put 8 position players into a lineup. What has happened is the specialization of the utility player. Having a guy occupying one of your 3 bench spots who can cover both infield and outfield makes his versatility far more important than his abilities. Adding an extra would allow teams to employ their best options for IF and OF on the bench rather than having a single guy capable of playing everywhere

[notin]

"i added 30 new jobs!!!!" DJT

 

But they will lose 76 jobs if they ever go to robot umps...

[oldtimer]

I've always lobbied for the 26 man roster, but I hope it doesn't lead to one more pitching change per game.

 

I like the Sept limit of 28. That will avoid the 10 RP'er per game fiascoes.

 

So will it mean 13 pitchers and 13 field players for the Sox?

[oldtimer]

But they will lose 76 jobs if they ever go to robot umps...

 

If they do use robo umps to call balls and strikes, they will be used to inform umps not displace them.

[a700hitter]

Limit the number of foul balls with two strikes, making the third such foul ball strike three.

 

Or not.

Batters start with a 1-1 count.

[OH FOY]

Maurico Dubon will be coming to Fenway tonight. Thanks DD. Hope he does good.

[notin]

Batters start with a 1-1 count.

 

And any batter struck by a pitch is out. That should speed things up...

[notin]

If they do use robo umps to call balls and strikes, they will be used to inform umps not displace them.

 

At least until the next umpires' strike...

[Bellhorn04]

And any batter struck by a pitch is out. That should speed things up...

 

Hell, let's just make 2 strikes a strikeout and 3 balls a walk!