What kind of MLB game would you prefer to see?

[Orioles18]

Pitching Duel = Balanced Game >>> Slugfest

Oh, and I'm 25.

This ^

and I'm 25 too.

Well, I'm not 35 anymore (since I turned 36 a few hours ago) and I voted for pitchers duel.

I'd much rather watch a well pitched game that goes 1-0, 2-1 than a 9-11 slugfest. I like games where if feels like every pitch, every at bat matters.

And... happy bithday.

[OrangeJerseys]

Pitcher's duel. Every game starts as one.

[Moose Milligan]

I'm not sure how Trea will spin this...or if he'll come back to his thread.

[Spoonless]

I'm not sure how Trea will spin this...or if he'll come back to his thread.

Clearly the argument will be that we're not "casual fans," invalidating our contributions to the poll.

Generally, I don't mind any kind of close game (slugfests included), but prefer games to be <= 10ish total runs.

[notfast]

While I love a good pitchers duel, I love a back and forth slugfest. Not a 14-2 game, but the 12-10 game where theres a few lead changes.

[jets4ever]

Balanced game.

Too much offense can get boring. And, while pitching duels can be great, a little offense sprinkled in never hurts.

[Moose Milligan]

Clearly the argument will be that we're not "casual fans," invalidating our contributions to the poll.

Generally, I don't mind any kind of close game (slugfests included), but prefer games to be <= 10ish total runs.

I am completely not shocked that El Trea hasn't come back to this thread. Had the votes swung this way in his favor, he'd be in here ranting and raving and starting facebook groups.

Anyway, good article: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/commentary/news/story?page=johnson/100610

[Tank]

Balanced > Pitching Duel > Slugfest

I'm not a fan of 11-10 games. Give me a 4-3 game over anything.

This echoes my thoughts.

[Scrat1]

Pitching Duel = Balanced Game >>> Slugfest

Oh, and I'm 25.

Same for me.

Slugfests can be fun, but just as often as not, I hate watching them because all I can think about is how gassed the bullpen is going to be for the next week.

[Spoonless]

I don't see how "slugfests" are more entertaining to the casual fan. Aren't the games already too long as it is? I don't see why the "casual fan" would want to sit through 30-minute half-innings, not to mention the dozen or so combined pitching changes. Chances are that a close game with a couple lead changes and a low-to-moderate number of runs and a decent number of hits is going to be the "most exciting" type of game. Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but that's what makes the most sense to me.

I'll freely admit that the casual fan probably doesn't enjoy a pitching duel as much as the type of game I described, but a 4.5-hour game with 17 combined runs isn't the anwer either.

[Spoonless]

Let's look at MLB average runs per game over the last 35 years:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/bat.shtml

10: 4.47      03: 4.73      96: 5.04      89: 4.13      82: 4.3009: 4.61      02: 4.62      95: 4.85      88: 4.14      81: 4.0008: 4.65      01: 4.78      94: 4.92      87: 4.72      80: 4.2907: 4.80      00: 5.14      93: 4.60      86: 4.41      79: 4.4606: 4.86      99: 5.08      92: 4.12      85: 4.33      78: 4.1005: 4.59      98: 4.79      91: 4.31      84: 4.26      77: 4.4704: 4.81      97: 4.77      90: 4.26      83: 4.31      76: 3.99

So the average runs per game has regressed to just above 80's/early-90's levels. I don't see a problem.

Oh, and let's not forget the role that the Orioles' absolutely putrid offense is playing in this year's numbers.

[orayole]

I like a 6-5 game. I would guess that's considered balanced.

What I really like though is when the O's win 11-0. Great offense and great pitching.... by my team.

[Moose Milligan]

Ohhhhh, JTreaaaaa...where are you? Come back to your poll that you started that didn't get the results you wanted....

[Spoonless]

It's sad, because I'm actually interested in counterpoints, but not interested enough that I want to research them in order to argue with myself.

Looking at the link I posted before, here are some other tidbits from it:

The average hits per game this year is 8.81. At it's peak in the 90's, hits per game was 9.33, so we're down approximately half of a hit per game from when offense was peaking.

The number of 2B/G is higher now than at any point in the 80's, 90's and up until 2004 (when it was the same as this year). 3B/G has been consistently around .18-.20/G through the past 15 years, and slightly higher in the 80's. The number of HR/G is under 1.00 for the first time since '93.

[DrungoHazewood]

I like all types of games just so long as my team wins. Actually, I prefer a week where my team wins a 1-0 game, a 12-0 game, and a 5-4 game. Too much of either and you get complacent, or you have a stroke.

And in the long term it's crucial that baseball continues to evolve and change. In the 1890s offense rules, you'd commonly see double-digit scores. In the 1900s offense collapsed. In the 1910s offense was still low. In the 1920s runs were way up, but mostly driven by tons of singles and doubles along with more homers than ever. The 30s saw a split where the AL scored a lot more than the NL. In the 40s runs were way down during the war, then from the late 40s through the 50s you saw tons of walks and a fair number of homers. In the 60s offense tanked, in the 70s and 80s you had a more balanced game, in the 90s through today you see historic numbers of homers.

If we settled on one level of offense then strategies would focus in on a few things that worked and the game would stagnate. For the good of baseball I want the 2010s to either be 4 runs a game or 6. Maybe 4 in the NL and 6 in the AL.