9/26 NYY (Montgomery) @ BOS (ERod)

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Starting with lowering the mound, I can't think of any changes in MLB that has favored the pitcher. Edited September 28, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Two other 'mean' pitchers that come to mind are Don Drysdale and Sal Maglie. The way the rules are set up today, if pitchers get too'mean', they get removed by the chUMPS.

Gibson couldn't do today what he did in the 60's and 70's, because of the rules.

 

Btw, because Sal had a propensity to throw high and inside, he was nicknamed 'the barber.'

[mvp 78]

Starting with lowering the mound, I can't think of any changes in MLB that favored the pitcher.

 

What about the dead ball they tried using this season? Runs per game and homers per game are down this season.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

What about the dead ball they tried using this season? Runs per game and homers per game are down this season.

 

If the ball is truly 'dead,' then, yes, that would favor the pitcher. I have seen some majestic HR's this season that makes me think the ball isn't that dead.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Speaking of great pitchers, for much of Whitey Ford's career Stengel wouldn't allow him to pitch at Fenway.

[Bellhorn04]

Lonborg suffered a severe leg injury while skiing after the '67 season. He was never the same after that.

 

In one of those docs on the '67 Red Sox, Yaz talks about how tough Lonborg was. Yaz said Lonborg would come up to him and ask him if there was anyone he wanted beaned LOL

 

And Lonborg knew there might be reprisal against him personally for beaning someone.

[Bellhorn04]

What about the dead ball they tried using this season? Runs per game and homers per game are down this season.

 

It appears the ball isn't actually any deader. But the seams are higher I believe - which is probably part of the reason MLB cracked down on sticky stuff - the higher seams were sort of an appeasement to the pitchers.

 

That's my conspiracy theory, anyway.

[moonslav59]

I saw some article on how to increase HRs: just move home plate up a few feet and push back the whole diamond.

 

This would also have the effect of increasing foul territory and more foul outs, but it seems like a better idea than tinkering with the ball.

 

I'm not sure how they would mandate the changes. Would hitter's parks need to do it, too?

 

Maybe give clubs a range or 1-3 or 4 feet? Make bigger parks a range of 3-5 feet?

[mvp 78]

It appears the ball isn't actually any deader. But the seams are higher I believe - which is probably part of the reason MLB cracked down on sticky stuff - the higher seams were sort of an appeasement to the pitchers.

 

That's my conspiracy theory, anyway.

 

Should have kept the sticky stuff.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It appears the ball isn't actually any deader. But the seams are higher I believe - which is probably part of the reason MLB cracked down on sticky stuff - the higher seams were sort of an appeasement to the pitchers.

 

That's my conspiracy theory, anyway.

 

Has NESN or anyone shown the baseball used in 2020 and the one being used this season for a comparison? Or has the league forbidden that?

[Bellhorn04]

I saw some article on how to increase HRs: just move home plate up a few feet and push back the whole diamond.

 

This would also have the effect of increasing foul territory and more foul outs, but it seems like a better idea than tinkering with the ball.

 

Who wants to increase HRs?

 

It seems to me one of the biggest complaints now is about too many guys swinging for the fences.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It's ironic that the '75 World Series ended an era when one year contracts were the norm and players had to perform to get a raise.

And was the popularity of that WS the momentum that changed everything?

Edited September 28, 2021 by SPLENDIDSPLINTER

[moonslav59]

Who wants to increase HRs?

 

 

Not me, but apparently the MLB execs do.

[Bellhorn04]

It's ironic that the '75 World Series ended an era when one year contracts were the norm and players had to perform to get a raise.

And was the popularity of that WS the momentum that changed everything?

 

I don't know, but free agency pretty much started the next year, didn't it?

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

Not me, but apparently the MLB execs do.

 

Well, they're doing their best to ruin the 'grand old game' as it is, so let them continue.

[dgalehouse]

If you are okay with a hitter being throw at or beaned , you should not complain about a hard slide by Machado. It goes both ways.

[Bellhorn04]

If you are okay with a hitter being throw at or beaned , you should not complain about a hard slide by Machado. It goes both ways.

 

I'm okay with pitchers throwing inside, or beaning a guy in the backside. No one should be okay with throwing at a hitter's head.

[dgalehouse]

I'm okay with pitchers throwing inside, or beaning a guy in the backside. No one should be okay with throwing at a hitter's head.

 

I thought beaning referred to throwing at or near the head.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

I'm okay with pitchers throwing inside, or beaning a guy in the backside. No one should be okay with throwing at a hitter's head.

 

I agree 100%. However, even hitting the batter in the backside, if the chUMP deems it was intentional, a warning is given to both pitchers, which pretty much removes the inside pitch from both's repertoire.

[Bellhorn04]

I thought beaning referred to throwing at or near the head.

 

Yes, you're 100% correct on that. You did say throwing at or beaned, so I thought you meant any part of the body.

[dgalehouse]

Yes, you're 100% correct on that. You did say throwing at or beaned, so I thought you meant any part of the body.

 

I think sometimes it just depends on whose ox is being gored. We certainly don't like when it is Pedroia's ox.

[moonslav59]

Throwing up and in is important, too, but never to hit the head on purpose. The danger is that nobody is always that accurate.

 

Pedro hit is fair share, and I'm sure he did on purpose, at times, but I don't think he ever aimed for the head.

 

I think he may have aimed 2 inches from the head a few times, and that was a big part of his success.

[jad]

It is not ok to do anything that causes or risks causing severe or career ending injury. Period. (Remember that a-hole Drysdale saying as an announcer after someone got hit in the head: "It's only a mild or severe head injury" ...). Even Eck was appalled when Richards went to the guy's head earlier this season. Liking that sort of thing does not mean you are tough or Old School--it means you're a freaking sociopath whose idea of sports is a perverse love for say, Tony C's career cut short, or cheap shots in football or hockey. Or perhaps you think Pete Rose's cheap shot on Fosse (which pretty much ended his career) just showed what a tough guy he was.

[Bellhorn04]

I think sometimes it just depends on whose ox is being gored. We certainly don't like when it is Pedroia's ox.

 

Personally I hate seeing any player get injured on the field.

 

With the possible exception of a pulled hammy for a Yankee, I suppose...

[Bellhorn04]

It is not ok to do anything that causes or risks causing severe or career ending injury. Period. (Remember that a-hole Drysdale saying as an announcer after someone got hit in the head: "It's only a mild or severe head injury" ...). Even Eck was appalled when Richards went to the guy's head earlier this season. Liking that sort of thing does not mean you are tough or Old School--it means you're a freaking sociopath whose idea of sports is a perverse love for say, Tony C's career cut short, or cheap shots in football or hockey. Or perhaps you think Pete Rose's cheap shot on Fosse (which pretty much ended his career) just showed what a tough guy he was.

 

Rose was a complete jackass and prick doing that in an All Star Game.

[moonslav59]

It is not ok to do anything that causes or risks causing severe or career ending injury. Period. (Remember that a-hole Drysdale saying as an announcer after someone got hit in the head: "It's only a mild or severe head injury" ...). Even Eck was appalled when Richards went to the guy's head earlier this season. Liking that sort of thing does not mean you are tough or Old School--it means you're a freaking sociopath whose idea of sports is a perverse love for say, Tony C's career cut short, or cheap shots in football or hockey. Or perhaps you think Pete Rose's cheap shot on Fosse (which pretty much ended his career) just showed what a tough guy he was.

 

Richards does not have the accuracy to know for sure whether he was aiming for the head or the butt.

[SPLENDIDSPLINTER]

It is not ok to do anything that causes or risks causing severe or career ending injury. Period. (Remember that a-hole Drysdale saying as an announcer after someone got hit in the head: "It's only a mild or severe head injury" ...). Even Eck was appalled when Richards went to the guy's head earlier this season. Liking that sort of thing does not mean you are tough or Old School--it means you're a freaking sociopath whose idea of sports is a perverse love for say, Tony C's career cut short, or cheap shots in football or hockey. Or perhaps you think Pete Rose's cheap shot on Fosse (which pretty much ended his career) just showed what a tough guy he was.

 

The main criticism bestowed on Rose for his running over Fosse was that he did it in a meaningless All-Star game. If that had happened, let's say, in a WS game, should Rose have been criticized? I'm pretty much convinced that the way Rose played the game he would run over his own mother to score, even if it was a spring training game.

[moonslav59]

Rose was a complete jackass and prick doing that in an All Star Game.

 

That's one reason I always hated him.

 

I know Hate is a strong word, but he earned it.

[Bellhorn04]

Richards does not have the accuracy to know for sure whether he was aiming for the head or the butt.

 

Cold.

[Bellhorn04]

The main criticism bestowed on Rose for his running over Fosse was that he did it in a meaningless All-Star game. If that had happened, let's say, in a WS game, should Rose have been criticized?

 

No, in a WS game back then it would be a fair play.