2024 MLB season news and notes

[Bellhorn04]

So South Korea gets a couple games between the Dodgers and Padres. Pretty good matchup.

 

Mexico gets two games between the Astros and the...Rockies?

 

What kind of nasty-ass trick is that to play on our neighbors to the south?

[notin]

So South Korea gets a couple games between the Dodgers and Padres. Pretty good matchup.

 

Mexico gets two games between the Astros and the...Rockies?

 

What kind of nasty-ass trick is that to play on our neighbors to the south?

 

 

Just two teams from historical Mexico…

[Bellhorn04]

Just two teams from historical Mexico…

 

No idea what that means.

[moonslav59]

No idea what that means.

 

Texas and Colorado were once Mexico. The USA ripped them off and took it from them.

[Bellhorn04]

Texas and Colorado were once Mexico. The USA ripped them off and took it from them.

 

I see. I still think it would have been better to send a team other than the sad sack Rockies.

[moonslav59]

I see. I still think it would have been better to send a team other than the sad sack Rockies.

 

Well, AZ, TEX, LAD, LAA, SFG and OAK all would fit the criteria, too.

[dgalehouse]

For better or worse, MLB has made numerous rules changes over the years. Yet, as far as I know, there has never been much interest in coming up with a standard playing area. Other major sports have regulations as to the dimensions of the field, rink, court, etc. But not baseball. That is a pretty big thing and certainly is a factor in the outcomes of a lot of games. Why is that ?

[mvp 78]

For better or worse, MLB has made numerous rules changes over the years. Yet, as far as I know, there has never been much interest in coming up with a standard playing area. Other major sports have regulations as to the dimensions of the field, rink, court, etc. But not baseball. That is a pretty big thing and certainly is a factor in the outcomes of a lot of games. Why is that ?

 

I'm not sure how they'd retrofit older stadiums to specific dimensions.

[moonslav59]

I'm not sure how they'd retrofit older stadiums to specific dimensions.

 

It would be an extreme cost to some stadiums, and I'm not so sure why it should be a goal.

 

I think it's kind of cool having different dimensions.

[Bellhorn04]

It would be an extreme cost to some stadiums, and I'm not so sure why it should be a goal.

 

I think it's kind of cool having different dimensions.

 

Yeah, it's just one of the things that sets it apart from the other major team sports and keeps it delightfully weird.

[mvp 78]

Also, there was a time when the NHL didn't have standard sized rinks. The Boston Garden's rink was smaller than regulation when it was demolished.

[moonslav59]

Yeah, it's just one of the things that sets it apart from the other major team sports and keeps it delightfully weird.

 

In Sox history, the park dimensions is probably more pronounced, as Fenway and Yankee Stadiums are about as far to the extreme opposite of each other.

 

How often have we heard, that would not have been a homer in Fenway park/Yankee Stadium?

 

It does seem like some clubs build their team to suit their park, but they still play half their games away, so I'm not sure how much that strategy works.

 

BTW, the NHL had some significant differences in size of the ice area, which really changes how the game is played.

[Bellhorn04]

In baseball you not only have different park dimensions, but the flight of the ball is highly subject to different atmospheric conditions and even the structure of the park, which is supposedly why Ted Williams could hit one 502 feet to right but nobody can do it any more.

[notin]

For better or worse, MLB has made numerous rules changes over the years. Yet, as far as I know, there has never been much interest in coming up with a standard playing area. Other major sports have regulations as to the dimensions of the field, rink, court, etc. But not baseball. That is a pretty big thing and certainly is a factor in the outcomes of a lot of games. Why is that ?

 

There are some rules, and not just the infield.

 

Ballparks bill after 1958 are subject to rule 2.01, which has minimum dimensions for new ballparks as well as remodeled ones. And Fenway does not comply, as the nearest fence has to be 325 feet from home plate down the lines…

[notin]

In baseball you not only have different park dimensions, but the flight of the ball is highly subject to different atmospheric conditions and even the structure of the park, which is supposedly why Ted Williams could hit one 502 feet to right but nobody can do it any more.

 

I don’t believe that to be true, but I would agree that some of these running backs posing as outfielders do have significantly greater batspeed than Williams and can - with more difficulty - hit one out 502 feet or greater to right field. I think, for example, Kyle Schwarber might be able to do it. Granted, Schwarber will strike out 1,000 times trying. But eventually…

[Bellhorn04]

There are some rules, and not just the infield.

 

Ballparks bill after 1958 are subject to rule 2.01, which has minimum dimensions for new ballparks as well as remodeled ones. And Fenway does not comply, as the nearest fence has to be 325 feet from home plate down the lines…

 

Yankee Stadium 3 is under 325 feet down both lines, no?

[Bellhorn04]

I don’t believe that to be true, but I would agree that some of these running backs posing as outfielders do have significantly greater batspeed than Williams and can - with more difficulty - hit one out 502 feet or greater to right field. I think, for example, Kyle Schwarber might be able to do it. Granted, Schwarber will strike out 1,000 times trying. But eventually…

 

Triston Casas is dubious. He hit one as good as he can hit it to right, he says, and the distance was 425 feet or something?

 

The theory is that before they built up the area behind home plate the ball carried much better.

[notin]

Yankee Stadium 3 is under 325 feet down both lines, no?

 

Apparently.

 

I think this means all Yankee home wins need to be forfeited to the visiting (i.e. non-rule-breaking) team.

 

I’ll email Manfred…

[mvp 78]

In baseball you not only have different park dimensions, but the flight of the ball is highly subject to different atmospheric conditions and even the structure of the park, which is supposedly why Ted Williams could hit one 502 feet to right but nobody can do it any more.

 

Also, the seat has been moved and the story is ********.

[mvp 78]

What about the ball that Williams hit? Today, a red seat marks the spot where Williams’s home run struck Joseph A. Boucher in the head, puncturing his straw hat. After the game, Boucher asked reporters, “How far away must one sit to be safe in this park?”14 When asked why he did not defend himself, he replied, “I couldn’t see the ball. Nobody could. The sun was right in our eyes. All we could do was duck.”15 It was his first time sitting with 7,897 of his closest friends in Fenway Park’s bleachers.16 (He could not get a ticket for the grandstand.) After being struck in the very center of his hat’s crown, Mr. Boucher went to the first-aid room, and it was there that he was “treated by Dr. Ralph McCarthy and two pretty nurses”17 before returning to his seat to watch the rest of the game. He did not recover the baseball. It was, however, suggested that he donate his hat to the Baseball Hall of Fame with the following inscription:

 

“Hat worn by J.A. Boucher of Albany, June 9, 1946, when Ted Williams of Red Sox bounced his longest Boston home run off owner’s head. Note aperture.”18

[notin]

Also, the seat has been moved and the story is ********.

 

It wouldn’t surprise me.

 

Teams like to add some lore to their tape measure home runs, like the story about Adam Dunn homering into Kentucky.

 

(However, no one is accusing the Reds of moving Kentucky for the sake of the legend.)

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Also, the seat has been moved and the story is ********.

 

I don't think there was a seat there in 1946 -- just long metal benches, like the ones at high school games -- no backs, no armrests, no red chairs.

[mvp 78]

I don't think there was a seat there in 1946 -- just long metal benches, like the ones at high school games -- no backs, no armrests, no red chairs.

 

It was bean bag chairs back then. All the metal was used for the war.

[notin]

It was bean bag chairs back then. All the metal was used for the war.

 

Yeah we needed lots of metal chairs in the European Theater…

[Bellhorn04]

Yeah we needed lots of metal chairs in the European Theater…

 

Shrapnel.

[notin]

Shrapnel.

 

Saves time and money. Just cut out making the bomb and go right to the metal fragments…

[mvp 78]

Yeah we needed lots of metal chairs in the European Theater…

 

The US knew about Russia's 16 month problem with the seats of Leningrad. Needed to make sure the Western Front didn't have the same issue.

[notin]

The US knew about Russia's 16 month problem with the seats of Leningrad. Needed to make sure the Western Front didn't have the same issue.

 

Well, if you’re on the front lines, you need to be comfortable…

[mvp 78]

Well, if you’re on the front lines, you need to be comfortable…

 

I almost exclusively wear Vans, so I support the troops by maintaining an uncomfortable state at home.

[notin]

I almost exclusively wear Vans, so I support the troops by maintaining an uncomfortable state at home.

 

Nice to know your share the same sense of fashion as my teenage daughter...