Kevin Baker's book is here!

Kevin Baker's book is here!
"... an exemplary sports book..." Kirkus Reviews

Tuesday, August 8, 2017

"[T]hrough Sunday, major league hitters have homered, walked or struck out — results referred to as the “three true outcomes” because they are the purest distillation of pitcher vs. hitter, independent of defense — in 33.4 percent of overall plate appearances, the highest rate in history and a full percentage point ahead of last year. To flip the equation around: Never in history has the sport seen so few balls put in play."

This should be required reading for every owner, GM, team flunky and fan.  

11 comments:

Leinstery said...

They should fine an entire team if they strike out more than 10 times a game. Hal would recoup about half of the salary he pays if this was allowed.

Also, here's a little something the wash the taste of shit batters out of your mouth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc17vGBlpkc
At some point in there Strawberry hits a grand slam in a game against Texas (I think) and John starts making grassy knoll comments. Is John a JFK conspiracy theorist, or does he enjoy dark humor? Was he possibly in on the JFK assassination?

KD said...

Lower the mound, reduce mound visits by the catcher, and allow only one pitching change per inning (barring injury). These would all have a positive impact on the game. More balls in play and shorter games without an odious clock.

KD said...

and to prevent fake injuries, an automatic 7 day DL stint for any pitcher claiming injury.

any more problems you need solved?

I'm Bill White said...

Isn't a home run in play before it's out of play? Math sucks.

Anonymous said...

I GOTTA GO WITH KD'S SUGGESTION OF RESTRICTING THE CATCHERS VISITS TO THE MOUND...

SANCHEZ RUNS OUT TO THE MOUND COUNTLESS TIMES A GAME..... AND THAT DOESN'T TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE OTHER TEAM'S CATCHER.

Anonymous said...

I think KD has some great ideas (listed above); this might also prod Girardi to retire, because he wouldn't be able to do all his matchy-matchies he loves so much - - which would be completely worth ANY adverse side-effects. LB (No J)

HoraceClarke66 said...

They have to teach guys how to do situational hitting again, period

If there's a shift every at-bat, they have to teach players to hit to the opposite field and even bunt. That used to be part of what it meant to be a well-rounded hitter. Teaching them to try to hit "over" the shift is only killing our young players.

Anonymous said...

HOSS, YOU'RE 100% CORRECT.

DIDN'T I HEAR GIRARDI HAD A MEETING WITH ALL THE HITTERS LAST WEEK ABOUT "SITUATIONAL HITTING"???

THEY DIDN'T LISTEN..... OR THEY DIDN'T WANT TO LISTEN, BECAUSE THIS TEAM HAS BEEN BRUTAL WITH GUYS ON BASE..... I MEAN, I DON'T EVEN SEE AN ATTEMPT, NOT EVEN ONE, TO SACRIFICE OR TO MAKE CONTACT TO MOVE A RUNNER OVER, IN ORDER TO PLATE ONE DAMN RUN.

THIS, IN OUR OPINION, IS NOT HOW YOU PLAY WINNING BASEBALL.

.......AND "THE BOOK" SAYS WE ARE RIGHT.

THEN WHY ISN'T JOEY BINDERS PLAYING BY IT????

ranger_lp said...

With this home run mentality going on, you don't have the adage of "Hit them where they ain't" any longer. We don't have modern day Rod Carews, instead we have players that want visibility on ESPN's top ten video countdown. The game has become predictably boring and you rarely see any surprises from the batting side any longer.

JM said...

Let's not ignore the good side of all of this. Everyone else sucks as badly as we do! Yay!

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