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

[SteveA]

I don't mind any of the stuff the original post mentions.   

But I do not like the game has become a game of mostly homers, strikeouts, and walks.   There are fewer balls in play, which is where most exciting things happen (close plays on the bases, great defensive plays, etc).    It is a less enjoyable game to watch as a fan.

Yes, shifts are PART of the reason that is the case.   But I believe batters will eventually be able to adjust to shifts.   Players who can hit to all fields will become valued more and those skills will be taught in the minors.

But three-true-outcome baseball is simply not as exciting a game, in my opinion.

[ORIOLE33]

I don’t like the shifts. 

[oriole]

31 minutes ago, George Zuverink said:

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?

Haha whoops!

[oriole]

28 minutes ago, Oriol3s said:

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.

Yea, I absolutely get that a lot of players do some stuff and get their picture taken and it's helpful and inspiring. That's nice. It doesn't move the needle enough to make me personally approve of their salaries. Maybe stadiums should be funded by the billionaire owners? Maybe the baseballs should be made in the USA by well paid employees? Maybe a bunch of money could be funneled into grants for local colleges or jobs at the stadium for college student. I'm in a rush and just spit balling here but I can think of a lot of different ways to spend money than on the players. Of course the players should get paid well, they have an incredibly difficult job. 20 million a year? That's crazy. 

[SteveA]

3 minutes ago, oriole said:

Yea, I absolutely get that a lot of players do some stuff and get their picture taken and it's helpful and inspiring. That's nice. It doesn't move the needle enough to make me personally approve of their salaries. Maybe stadiums should be funded by the billionaire owners? Maybe the baseballs should be made in the USA by well paid employees? Maybe a bunch of money could be funneled into grants for local colleges or jobs at the stadium for college student. I'm in a rush and just spit balling here but I can think of a lot of different ways to spend money than on the players. Of course the players should get paid well, they have an incredibly difficult job. 20 million a year? That's crazy. 

Do you have the same ill feelings at how much Tom Cruise or Meryl Streep or Jack Nicholson gets to make a movie?    Or how much Beyonce or Bruce Springsteen can command for a concert tour?

I hear people complain about athlete's salaries all the time, and I hear far less complaints about people who get paid huge amounts of money in other areas in the entertainment field.   I have always wondered why that's the case?

 

[El Gordo]

2 hours ago, 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.   

[El Gordo]

Make DH optional for inter league play.

[mdbdotcom]

17 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

Make DH optional for inter league play.

Allow both teams to add another player to the active roster during interleague play.

[El Gordo]

7 minutes ago, mdbdotcom said:

Allow both teams to add another player to the active roster during interleague play.

That doesn't deal with the problem. AL pitchers shouldn't have to risk injury batting and running the bases.

[mdbdotcom]

Just now, El Gordo said:

That doesn't deal with the problem. AL pitchers shouldn't have to risk injury batting and running the bases.

It deals with a different problem. 

[El Gordo]

Just now, mdbdotcom said:

It deals with a different problem. 

What's that?

[NedFromYork]

Like replay, hope for electronic strikezone soon.  I would outlaw shifts, require two defenders between first and second and two between second and third.

[Dark Helmet]

Hate shifts, but batters aren't doing anything to adjust to them. If the batters start adjusting more, they will go away. 

[mdbdotcom]

14 minutes ago, El Gordo said:

What's that?

25-man rosters built for different rules.

[spiritof66]

My favorite baseball plays involve baserunning and fielding. I don't much care for watching home runs, strike outs, walks foul balls, and repeated throws to first to hold runners.  I think baseball should experiment with some of the following:

• Moving the pitching rubber back a couple of feet.
• Requiring a minimum thickness for bat handles (a subject on which Bill James has harped for years).
• Making the ball less lively.
• Limiting the number of throws to first per batter.
• Calling a batter out on, say, the fifth or sixth foul ball with strike two.
• Making the distance to outfield fences greater (probably impractical).

I'd also like to see the time between innings shortened. And the way in which reviews of umpire calls are conducted needs to be expedited.