Base stealing | Syracusefan.com

Base stealing

SWC75

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This article came up on the Atlantic:

For those who don't subscribe, (and it took the author forever to describe the new rules away), in the minors this year two new rules are being tried to get base stealing back into the game. At the lower Class A level, pitchers are limited to three throws to first base. It that doesn't result in an out, it's a balk. In the upper Class A level, (yes, there are two class A levels), a pitcher must leave the rubber to throw to a base or it's a balk.

I don't like either rule. I'd do three things:

- Steals became a big deal when black players came into the major leagues: white baseball had stopped running when they started to hit home runs. Black ball kept running. it was a revelation when Jackie Robinson, Minnie Minoso, Sam Jethroe, Willie Mays, etc. came into the game and showed that the home run was not the only reciting thing in the sport. Suddenly you could make a name for yourself by stealing bases, especially if you became a 30-30 man like Mays. Those who couldn't tried to break records for steals, as Maurey Wills did when he broke Ty Cobb's record. it became a glamour statistic. When they juiced the ball, (and the batters) in the 90's, merely stealing bases became less glamorous and so the stat was devalued again. I think it could be revitalized if the 'steal' was re-defined. A steal should be what it is now plus every time a runner takes a base on an out, (unless the force was on or it was a fielder's choice), plus every time a baserunner took one more base than a player who got a hit, (going first to third or scoring from second on a single or from first on a double), plus any error in which a player took more than one base, (unless they were granted it by rule). Then I'd subtract every time they got thrown out or picked off on the bases, or maybe divide the steals by the outs made. This redefinition, (which could be done retroactively for games for which we have a play-by play - see Baseball Reference.com) would re-create interest in stealing bases and in baserunning in general and make baseball more like the pin-ball machine sport it was always meant to be.

- All a pitcher to throw to any base he wants with his foot on the rubber. Just call it a ball on the batter, since it's out of the strike zone.

- Get rid of the balk rule. it's rarely but inconsistently applied anyway. if a baserunner can deceive the pitcher by bluff a steal or by not taking a lead until he turns his back, why can't a pitcher deceive the runner by throwing to any base? it would make running the bases a fascinating cat-and-mouse game.
 
Interesting. A few more thoughts:
I generally like it when MLB tweaks the rules. Replay is literally a game changer. I'm amazed at the number of overturned calls and it's not due to subpar umpiring either. In most cases the bang-bang plays aren't humanly perceptible. And when I think of the poor Tiger pitcher a few years back who lost a perfect game because of an outrageously bad call at fist, I'm glad Replay is in effect.

I think the biggest deterrence to stealing are these trained-since-adolescence catchers with howitzers for arms. Their release time, speed and accuracy are phenomenal.

I also favor the 3 batter rule for pitchers. The game can tend to drag and pitching changes are minutes of dead time. Although have you seen the batting avg difference of LHP vs. left hand hitter when compared to LHP vs. right hand hitter (this of course holds true for RHPs)? Now you know why they changed pitchers out so robotically.

In the 20s and 30s games averaged 2 hours. When I was a kid games in the 60s and 70s the came in at about 2:30. Baseball game length: A visual analysis Now they're over 3 hours and consequently, a nation of video snackers are growing impatient and MLB is reacting.

The worst culprit of wasted time is probably the one MLB can least combat: foul balls. In one game SF's Brandon Belt had a 21 pitch 11min 45 sec marathon at bat. And I think there was even a longer one this year.

And I don't know if professional baseball players need to warm-up between every half inning. Maybe a few tosses for the pitcher, but come on - did you forget how to catch?
I say all this while having a reverence for the game and the hope it can be "moved apace" as the seasons progress. 2 hours and 30 minutes should be the goal.
 
Interesting. A few more thoughts:
I generally like it when MLB tweaks the rules. Replay is literally a game changer. I'm amazed at the number of overturned calls and it's not due to subpar umpiring either. In most cases the bang-bang plays aren't humanly perceptible. And when I think of the poor Tiger pitcher a few years back who lost a perfect game because of an outrageously bad call at fist, I'm glad Replay is in effect.

I think the biggest deterrence to stealing are these trained-since-adolescence catchers with howitzers for arms. Their release time, speed and accuracy are phenomenal.

I also favor the 3 batter rule for pitchers. The game can tend to drag and pitching changes are minutes of dead time. Although have you seen the batting avg difference of LHP vs. left hand hitter when compared to LHP vs. right hand hitter (this of course holds true for RHPs)? Now you know why they changed pitchers out so robotically.

In the 20s and 30s games averaged 2 hours. When I was a kid games in the 60s and 70s the came in at about 2:30. Baseball game length: A visual analysis Now they're over 3 hours and consequently, a nation of video snackers are growing impatient and MLB is reacting.

The worst culprit of wasted time is probably the one MLB can least combat: foul balls. In one game SF's Brandon Belt had a 21 pitch 11min 45 sec marathon at bat. And I think there was even a longer one this year.

And I don't know if professional baseball players need to warm-up between every half inning. Maybe a few tosses for the pitcher, but come on - did you forget how to catch?
I say all this while having a reverence for the game and the hope it can be "moved apace" as the seasons progress. 2 hours and 30 minutes should be the goal.

This game took 3 hours and 50 minutes:

May 1, 1920: An extreme exercise in futility: Braves, Dodgers play 26 innings to no decision – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org)

That's 8 minutes and 51 seconds an inning. Not per half inning. Per Inning.

No commercials was a factor. Also pitchers pitched to contact. Only 14 of the 156 outs were by strikeout. (I've just watched a You-Tube clip of the 7th game of the 1960 World Series, a game in which there were NO strikeouts).

Rather than three batter rule, I'd say that a manager can change pitchers once in an inning unless there is an injury. Sometimes they seem to change pitchers just to look like they are doing something to the owner.

I wonder if we should let a foul ball be a third strike. or maybe a batter should be out if he has three swinging or called strikes or three foul balls. Or maybe foul balls should be...balls.

Us blockheads have to think outside of the box.
 
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