Do you like the style of baseball that is currently being played?

[Greg Pappas]

Shifts. Openers instead of starters. Stolen base becoming less and less a part of the game. Catchers having no idea how to call a game. Replays. These are just some of the ways the game has changed. There is a lot of talk about the NL switching to the DH in a few years. How do you feel about it all? Do you like the style of baseball that is currently being played? What, if anything, would you like to see changed?

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, Greg Pappas said:

Shifts. Openers instead of starters. Stolen base becoming less and less a part of the game. Catchers having no idea how to call a game. Replays. These are just some of the ways the game has changed. There is a lot of talk about the NL switching to the DH in a few years. How do you feel about it all? Do you like the style of baseball that is currently being played? What, if anything, would you like to see changed?

Sure.

Stagnation equals death.

I'd like the balk rule eliminated and of course the litany of changes to how pitching staffs are handled.

 

[VaBird1]

I like that people are trying new things, but I don’t like watching station to station baseball.  I find strike outs boring.

[Tx Oriole]

1 minute ago, Greg Pappas said:

Shifts. Openers instead of starters. Stolen base becoming less and less a part of the game. Catchers having no idea how to call a game. Replays. These are just some of the ways the game has changed. There is a lot of talk about the NL switching to the DH in a few years. How do you feel about it all? Do you like the style of baseball that is currently being played? What, if anything, would you like to see changed?

Not really like that style. I hope I never see the NL use the DH. As far as I am concerned the AL should drop that silly ass DH rule. 

 

[luismatos4prez]

I love shifts. Love them. If you can't hit the ball to all fields or drop a bunt, you deserve to be out. If the shift "gets in your head" you deserve to be out.

I think offenses will adjust to being less Chris Davis/Joey Gallo and more contact hitters that can hit to all fields. Which is also great.

[Frobby]

I’d love to find a way to cut strikeouts back to 5-6 per 9 innings.    I just don’t know how you’d do it without doing something radical like moving the mound back a couple feet.   

[Can_of_corn]

Just now, Frobby said:

I’d love to find a way to cut strikeouts back to 5-6 per 9 innings.    I just don’t know how you’d do it without doing something radical like moving the mound back a couple feet.   

Move all the fences back.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

Move all the fences back.

I don’t think cutting down homers would necessarily cut down strikeouts very much.   I think pitchers have just gotten too fast, and with all the relievers, there’s never a let-up.

[oriole]

For the most part I'm happy with it as far as actual play goes. I like shifts and it's part of what makes it a game of strategy. The replays have grown on me. I don't want a machine calling balls or strikes but the limits on how it's used keeps the game honest. I'm probably in the minority but I actually can't stand the home plate collision rules. It adds to the excitement when a runner is coming in for a close play. 

 

One thing that is huge for me and I've been becoming more distant to the sport because of it is payroll sizes. I think it is absolute bullshit that the O's are stuck in a division where the Yankees and Red Sox will always be outspending everyone else and because of that they will always be in contention. Then there is the fact that we have millionaire athletes in a complete orbital class over the rest of the society. Why does anyone deserve 20 million a year when the extent of their contribution to the community is entertainment? It doesn't sit well with me, though I watch and pay attention because I love the game. 

[George Zuverink]

Just now, oriole said:

"... I'm probably in the minority but I actually can't stand the home plate collusion rules."

I think someone has been watching too much Fox News or MSNBC. Or maybe home plate collusion is when the catcher wants to show up his pitcher by telling the batter what the pitcher is going to throw?

[Aristotelian]

I love shifts. I love pitchers playing the field and then going back to the mound. Openers are great. Anything to seek an advantage within the rules.

I miss the stolen base, but they have only declined because HRs have increased, and I like HRs.

[Oriol3s]

6 minutes ago, oriole said:

Then there is the fact that we have millionaire athletes in a complete orbital class over the rest of the society. Why does anyone deserve 20 million a year when the extent of their contribution to the community is entertainment? It doesn't sit well with me, though I watch and pay attention because I love the game. 

Hey, I get it.  Just because they can pitch or hit a baseball better than 99.9% of the planet, why do they deserve SO MUCH more than others who also have unique talents in other fields?  However, what do you propose?  That the BILLIONAIRE owners get to pocket that money?  They're no more deserving of that money than the players.  It would be nice if there was an easy solution.

Also, for every selfish jerk of an athlete, there are guys like Adam Jones, who pour tons of their income back into the community and youth programs, building areas that are neglected or underfunded by everyone else.

[joelala]

I too miss stolen bases and hit and run plays and the little intricacies of the game that seem to have been replaced by the homerun (and conversely, the strikout.) But I think as we see teams adapt to be more contact oriented to combat the shift, hit and run will come back into play.  Hopefully.

[LocoChris]

Shifts are fine. The rest, no. 

[George Zuverink]

Just now, oriole said:

"For the most part I'm happy with it as far as actual play goes...One thing that is huge for me and I've been becoming more distant to the sport because of it is payroll sizes." 

My feelings are similar, but I'd add free agency to the things that flip me into  "get off my lawn" mode.  My lifelong feelings about the Orioles would have been quite different if they would have traded Brooks to the Dodgers in 1966.

I understand that, in fairness to the players, the options are limited.