Newer Things in Baseball That I Love

[Centerfield]

Sure, I miss the good old days too. But today is a pretty terrific time to be a baseball fan. A couple of new (or newish) things I love, right off the top of my head:

CitiField
An entire TV station centered around the Mets. Win or lose, Mets highlights come first every night.
Drug testing. No more turning a blind eye toward the cheaters
Alternate Uniforms
StubHub
Pitch trackers on the scoreboard, on the TV screen, on your phone
That the beat writers are on twitter (sorry KC)
GKR
Message boards!

[Ceetar]

Instant replay and umpire accountability.

increasing athleticism so we see 100mph pitches more and more.

sabermetrics and an increased understanding of how the game works.

Statcast.

video highlights from around the league, instantly.

animated gifs.

[MFS62]

If anyone adds designated hitter to this thread, we will give you five minutes to delete your post.
That should be enough time to take your meds and THEN delete your post.

Later

[Guest d'Kong76]

Steroids

[Benjamin Grimm]

The main thing I like is how easy it is to get scores and updates.

I spent two weeks in Spain in May and June of 1999 and during that entire time, I had no news at all about how the Mets were doing. There was an Internet at the time, but it wasn't very portable back then. This year, when I was out of the country for two weeks, I was able to follow the Mets reasonably well.

The Internet has changed everything. I also remember when I moved out of New York in 1988, I could only follow the Mets through WFAN (and only because I wasn't too far from New York) and the national edition of The Daily News. I even tried a mail subscription to Newsday for a while, but the papers were coming over a week late, and they had little value to me at that point.

And I do like that there's an SNY. It's not as good as I'd like it to be, but I especially appreciate it in the winter for Mets Hot Stove. It's not a great show, but I watch it faithfully because baseball coverage in the winter is always appreciated.

[dgwphotography]

d'Kong76 wrote: Steroids

I always love sarcasm.

I love the MLB At Bat app. Being able to check scores, highlights, and even listen to the game anywhere is huge.
This isn't technically baseball, but I love that I can watch live TV on my laptop with the Optimum app. On nice summer nights, i can hang out on my deck outside, and watch the game.

[Ceetar]

d'Kong76 wrote: Steroids

I'd hardly call something that's been around for 30+ years 'newer'.

[Guest d'Kong76]

HDTV and super-slo-mo

[Guest themetfairy]

Howie and Josh on the radio

Fan Fests and other offseason get togethers (made more feasible thanks to social media).

Faith and Fear in Flusing

[Centerfield]

The Utley Rule. A baserunner who, in the ump's discretion, is being a dickhead, will be ruled out, and the DP will be awarded.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: The Internet has changed everything

Baseball now being 24/7/365 is cool

[Ceetar]

legit beer and quality food at stadiums.

R.A. Dickey

[Guest cooby classic]

The main thing I like is how easy it is to get scores and updates.

Oh yeah. I can remember when a rare game wasn't on TV, I'd have to wait for the next night's paper.

But on the other hand, there was a certain charm to that uncertainty. Sigh.

[Guest themetfairy]

Women's cut baseball shirts.

Not only do I feel much better not having to wear unflattering unisex clothing, but it's an acknowledgment that women are a more significant part of the fan base than in the past.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

The best from all over the world-- in a multitude of complexions, shapes, and styles-- playing Major League ball.

Baseball front offices becoming something more of a meritocracy, instead of a ex-jock/"Baseball guy" gold watch.

[TransMonk]

The DVR has revolutionized watching baseball for me. Being able to fit baseball into my schedule rather than the other way around means I got to watch nearly every game in 2015.

[Fman99]

High def broadcasts of every Met game, satellite radio carrying MLB audio everywhere I go, Citi Field.

And (on the topic in general) fantasy/rotisserie baseball sites that compute all the stats for you for free.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Oh, yes, definitely. MLB Extra Innings is one of the best things ever. There was a dead zone for me between (I think) 1997, when WOR stopped being a "superstation" and 2006, when I discovered Extra Innings. During that time I was limited to watching the Mets on their relatively few national broadcasts, or when they played the Braves or the Phillies. Things are much better now.

[Guest themetfairy]

I love the connectivity at the ballpark these days. If there's an unexplained stoppage of play, we can usually find out what's going on reasonably quickly.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Yes! I was at the game in Philadelphia when Cespedes got hit on the hand with a pitch. From my seat, I was able to look up news reports to find out the X-ray results. In the old days, I would have had to wait for the postgame show on the radio during the drive home from the ballpark.

[Guest themetfairy]

I love having the Shea Home Run Apple outside Citi Field - it's a great place to meet people before a game.

I love the Shea base markers in the Citi Field parking lot - even if they're not 100% accurate, I enjoy running the bases when I have the chance.

I love our family's brick in front of the stadium. And I loved the time when we were visiting our brick and the family who had the adjoining brick was visiting theirs - it was fun meeting brick neighbors.

I love the fact that The Powers That Be have finally condescended to provide porta potties at the Citi Field parking lots to make tailgating easier; not that many years ago I remember having to walk a significant distance to find an available public restroom to use before a game.

McFadden's is far from perfect, but I love the fact that it's there. Hopefully in time there will be other places where one could meet up and have a drink or a meal before or after games.

[seawolf17]

I like this whole new "Mets in the postseason" thing they did this year. They should keep doing that.

[Guest d'Kong76]

I amen that!!

[Guest cooby classic]

/satellite radio carrying MLB audio everywhere I go Yeah! batmagadanleadoff Dec 30 2015 09:57 PM Re: Newer Things in Baseball That I Love Centerfield wrote: The Utley Rule. A baserunner who, in the ump's discretion, is being a dickhead, will be ruled out, and the DP will be awarded. Did MLB make a new rule? Because I thought that the existing rule regarding "out of baseline" baserunners was perfect. I thought that the problem was that the umps simply didn't enforce it consistently. MFS62 Dec 30 2015 10:42 PM Re: Newer Things in Baseball That I Love Derek Jeter isn't playing baseball anymore. Later MFS62 Dec 30 2015 11:35 PM Re: Newer Things in Baseball That I Love The Mets on WFAN. Later

[batmagadanleadoff]

Centerfield wrote: The Utley Rule. A baserunner who, in the ump's discretion, is being a dickhead, will be ruled out, and the DP will be awarded.

Did MLB make a new rule? Because I thought that the existing rule regarding "out of baseline" baserunners was perfect. I thought that the problem was that the umps simply didn't enforce it consistently.

[MFS62]

Derek Jeter isn't playing baseball anymore.

Later

[MFS62]

The Mets on WFAN.

Later