General Baseball Chit-Chat Thread

[Ding Dong Johnson]

The starting with a runner on 2nd base idea is terrible.

 

If they ABSOLUTELY HAVE to change something in extra innings, just let the manager choose where to start the batting order at the top of each inning in extras.

OR JUST LEAVE IT THE horsefeathers ALONE

[CaliforniaRaisin]

Honestly, if they're still tied, minor league games should just end after 10 innings.

[OleMissCub]

if the player with the highest WAR in their respective league won the MVP award, who would have the most in their career? curious if fangraphs or 538 ever produced an article about this topic. for example, bonds would lose out on at least two mvp awards ('92 and '93 awards to greg maddux and jose rijo, respectively).

 

Post 1900, for the people with 3 or more, it would be:

 

Babe Ruth - 10

Willie Mays - 9

Walter Johnson - 7

Rogers Hornsby - 7

Ted Williams - 6

Mickey Mantle - 5

Pete Alexander - 5

A- Rod - 5

Mike Trout - 5

Honus Wagner - 4

Stan Musial - 4

Roger Clemens - 4

Albert Pujols - 4

Cy Young - 3

Christy Mathewson - 3

Bob Gibson - 3

Carl Yaz - 3

Cal Ripken - 3

Greg Maddux - 3

 

If you did it irrespective of league and just went with overall MLB lead:

 

Ruth - 7

Mays - 7

Johnson - 6

Hornsby - 4

Mantle - 4

Williams - 4

Bonds - 4

Wagner - 3

Gibson - 3

Ripken - 3

Clemens - 3

Maddux - 3

Trout - 3

 

Maybe I don't understand the top list, but how does Bonds lead MLB in WAR 4 times (per the second list), and not crack the top list? Shouldn't he have *at least* 4 in the top list?

 

That was just a typo leaving him off the first list. He should have 6.

[jersey cubs fan]

The starting with a runner on 2nd base idea is terrible.

 

If they ABSOLUTELY HAVE to change something in extra innings, just let the manager choose where to start the batting order at the top of each inning in extras.

No.

I'd rather end in ties after 11 than do any of this baseketball nonsense.

[Andy]

Honestly, if they're still tied, minor league games should just end after 10 innings.

Far better than this cockamamie solution.

[Derwood]

Penalty kicks

[MWV]

The starting with a runner on 2nd base idea is terrible.

They might as well start with one out and the bases loaded. I have to imagine almost every inning would begin with IBB, sac bunt, IBB.

[OleMissCub]

No way in hell this a legal pitch, right??

 

[SouthSideRyan]

Jordan Walden(and I think somebody else) did that jump off the mound with their back foot, and nobody ever really explained why that was ok.

[ConstableRabbit]

Penalty kicks

Penalty dongs

[David]

It's one of those things that we'll probably get used to and not care about, like the DH or interleague games or whatever.

 

But for right now it sounds stupid.

 

This.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's one of those things that we'll probably get used to and not care about, like the DH or interleague games or whatever.

 

But for right now it sounds stupid.

 

This.

No. Neither of those things is inherently different from the basic game of baseball where you have 3 outs per inning to advance a runner from home to home. It is much different. And dumb. And it will only slow the pace of play, because nothing slows things down like guys in running position in extras.

[David]

It's one of those things that we'll probably get used to and not care about, like the DH or interleague games or whatever.

 

But for right now it sounds stupid.

 

This.

No. Neither of those things is inherently different from the basic game of baseball where you have 3 outs per 9 innings to advance a runner from home to home. It is much different. And dumb. And it will only slow the pace of play, because nothing slows things down like guys in running position in extras.

 

I'm fine with it but would rather it start happening in the 12th inning or something. They can play it out for 3 extra innings and then try to speed it up. It's not about pace, obviously. But stupid long extra inning games are stupid and can tax pitching staffs to the point that it could linger on for days. I will not shed any tears if they are severely diminished.

 

Having some guy bat randomly for one guy in the lineup was much much different from how it was and probably felt insanely weird when it started.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

It's one of those things that we'll probably get used to and not care about, like the DH or interleague games or whatever.

 

But for right now it sounds stupid.

 

This.

No. Neither of those things is inherently different from the basic game of baseball where you have 3 outs per inning to advance a runner from home to home. It is much different. And dumb. And it will only slow the pace of play, because nothing slows things down like guys in running position in extras.

 

Playing both the field and batting used to be inherent to the game of baseball.

[treebird]

 

This.

No. Neither of those things is inherently different from the basic game of baseball where you have 3 outs per 9 innings to advance a runner from home to home. It is much different. And dumb. And it will only slow the pace of play, because nothing slows things down like guys in running position in extras.

 

I'm fine with it but would rather it start happening in the 12th inning or something. They can play it out for 3 extra innings and then try to speed it up. It's not about pace, obviously. But stupid long extra inning games are stupid and can tax pitching staffs to the point that it could linger on for days. I will not shed any tears if they are severely diminished.

 

extremely long extra inning games are great and have basically no impact on the average length of a game or baseball being so long and slow that it doesn’t generate new fans. also if teams are that concerned about their pitching staffs they can send out position players to pitch which is also great.

[David]

No. Neither of those things is inherently different from the basic game of baseball where you have 3 outs per 9 innings to advance a runner from home to home. It is much different. And dumb. And it will only slow the pace of play, because nothing slows things down like guys in running position in extras.

 

I'm fine with it but would rather it start happening in the 12th inning or something. They can play it out for 3 extra innings and then try to speed it up. It's not about pace, obviously. But stupid long extra inning games are stupid and can tax pitching staffs to the point that it could linger on for days. I will not shed any tears if they are severely diminished.

 

extremely long extra inning games are great and have basically no impact on the average length of a game or baseball being so long and slow that it doesn’t generate new fans. also if teams are that concerned about their pitching staffs they can send out position players to pitch which is also great.

 

you have your opinion, i have mine. position players pitching is funny but i also will not shed a tear if it becomes more rare.

 

never argued that it helps pace of play or keep fan interest.

 

edit - to be clear, i don't think extra long extra inning games are a big problem...i just would not be bothered if they tried to shorten them this way (but again, i'd much rather it start after 3 normal extra innings). especially those dumb ass 38 degree april games that nobody can scratch a run across in. players are miserable and fans are miserable.

[Sammy Sofa]

Just do something like letting them be able to start an extra inning at some point with a "reset" offensive/defensive lineup.

[Bluescale]

Screw different attempts to speed up the game. They should try to make it more exciting. I say booby trap the field. If the fielder steps on the wrong spot, he falls into a large water tank and has to wrestle a giant squid. If he wins, it's an out. If he loses, he's dead and that position is vacated for the remainder of the game. Also maybe spike the water coolers with a fast acting hallucinogen, and force the hitters to drink before each AB. Oh, and each inning the umpires should be replaced with poorly restrained, increasingly terrifying animals.

 

Or not...I don't know...

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

Screw different attempts to speed up the game. They should try to make it more exciting. I say booby trap the field. If the fielder steps on the wrong spot, he falls into a large water tank and has to wrestle a giant squid. If he wins, it's an out. If he loses, he's dead and that position is vacated for the remainder of the game. Also maybe spike the water coolers with a fast acting hallucinogen, and force the hitters to drink before each AB. Oh, and each inning the umpires should be replaced with poorly restrained, increasingly terrifying animals.

 

Or not...I don't know...

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[Transmogrified Tiger]

Just to put some numbers to it, NL Central teams averaged 26 extra innings(innings, not games) last year, with 7 of those innings coming in the 12th or later. Both of those numbers are rounded up. It's simply not a 'problem' worth changing the dynamics of the game to fix.

[PackLandVA]

If the runner on second scores, is it an “earned run”, and if so, who is it charged to? Could make a difference in a player’s contract.

[CubColtPacer]

The starting with a runner on 2nd base idea is terrible.

They might as well start with one out and the bases loaded. I have to imagine almost every inning would begin with IBB, sac bunt, IBB.

 

I doubt that would be the strategy, at least for the top of the inning. If you know you are going to get your own runner on second base, why increase the other teams run expectancy?

 

Now if the visiting team doesn't score, I could see that potentially playing out in the bottom of the inning, depending on what area of the batting order the team was in.

[jersey cubs fan]

Brandon...

 

[Sammys Boombox]

I got to be involved in upgrading the controls for the roof at Safeco Field this last week. Got to run the roof myself at one point. Was probably the coolest work experience I will ever have.

[Bull]

I feel like we've had this entire conversation before, including Sammy's Boombox at Safeco. Am I imagining things?