Diamond Dad

On Sunday the Red Sox announcers were marveling about deGrom's gem on Friday night and how they were not looking forward to facing "the ace of the league" on Wednesday. Nice when you have the other team psyched out before you even play1

Benjamin Grimm wrote: At least it's not one of those Mariano Rivera pools. Come on in . . . that water's AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!

Wow -- I get a new number!!! Woo Hoo!! (Now I just need to figure out how to upload a new avatar . . .)

For those of us who love the game as it is, making changes to speed up the pace of play is not a huge issue. But the reason it is being discussed at MLB headquarters is that they have market research suggesting that as a business (and it is sure as hell a business) there is an issue with attracting and retaining customers who buy tickets, jerseys, and beer and who watch the games on TV -- all of which affects the bottom line for the owners. The owners and commish think (rightly or not) that speeding up the pace of games will help them with their audience numbers. there have been tweaks to the game over the years that now seem normal. The biggest were lowering the mound (to increase offense because the owners were worried that all the 1-0 games were too boring and that fans wanted to see more home runs) and the introduction of the DH (same reason). You could say that the introduction and tolerance of steriods was also a change to the game (same reason). It's all about keeping the fans happy and making sure that the next generation of fans get hooked on watching baseball, which does make sense. A few adjustments now that keep the games moving and that will become part of the "standard" after a few years would not bother me a bit.

Speed up the game? 1. Batter must keep one foot in the batter's box between pitches unless there has been a foul ball. He can step out with one foot to look for the sign, then get back in and hit. Ten second clock, then ump directs pitcher to pitch and if the batter is not back in the box then it's a strike regardless of the pitch location. 2. Pitcher must throw next pitch with nobody on base within 20 seconds of receiving the ball from catcher. (In other words, enforce the existing rule) 3. No more than one time out per half-inning for a conference -- one for each team. Doesn't matter if a coach/manager is involved or not. After first conference, any subsequent time out for a conference (not an injury) results in pitching change. 4. When there is a pitching change, start a 2 minute clock as soon as the manager makes the signal, or if it's the second mound visit, the ump makes the signal. Go to commercial, and as soon as you come out of commercial it's "play" and the batter steps into the box. If the reliever takes his sweet time strolling in from the bullpen, kicking dirt around the mound, and lobbing in warm-up pitches -- too bad. You have 2 minutes. Period. You were already warmed up in the bullpen, so you don't need to throw 8 pitches on the mound before you're ready. 5. Limit of two throws to first base per pitch. After the first throw to first, the next one could be a pitch or a pick-off, but after two, the pitcher is not allowed to throw to a base again until he has thrown to the plate. Yes, that allows the runner to go on first movement on the next pitch. It will, as a practical matter, limit the pitcher to one pick-off attempt per pitch to the plate, but every once-in-a-while a savvy pitcher will throw over a second time if he thinks the runner is going to get frisky. The strategy would be very interesting to watch, and steals would increase, which is fine. Pitcher can always pitch out. Would add extra layers of strategy while also speeding up play. (As commentators always say, nothing slows down the game more than speed.) And a fake throw to 2nd or 3rd counts as a "throw." Average game time - 2:30

By August gives up primary late inning lefty role to Smoker.

Dad. Diamond Dad.

I have to go with the game rather than the photo.

Listening to the radio call by Howie and Joshie on MLB.tv -- no local commercials! Love it. Just a few national ads and a lot of silence during inning breaks.

Reply is supposed to be there to reverse a clear error on the field. If the guys in NYC looking at the video get the slo mo and multiple angles and still can't see a CLEAR error, then the call on the field stands and move on. Should not take so long. It's clearly a reversal, or the call stands. to speed things up, managers should have 15 seconds to come out of the dugout to challenge or forget it. Teams can still have their own video guy in the press box calling down to the dugout, but do it faster or skip it -- remember -- CLEAR error or nothing.

Moving day is always tough. Bravo!!

I count! But only one vote per person, please. For years we have had a system where individuals deposit money into accounts and then on a daily basis take some of that money and make bets, which win or lose depending on the outcome of events over which the player has no control, and where the individual's input into the system has no impact on the outcome. The player cannot (normally) fix the system nor influence the outcome, but the player's analytical skills and research skills in making good picks can often result in significant gains and where players with access to better information tend to do better than more casual players who lack the best information or who have less time to devote to the analysis. It's not only legal, but is played by millions of people every day individually and through agents. It's called the stock market. Despite the NY Attorney General's midnight injunction, it is hard to explain why daily fantasy sports is any different from day trading in the market. In both cases, bets are made and the player's savvy, skill, knowledge, intuition, etc. can result in winning or losing, but the player has no actual input into the process nor any influence over the results. You can't "fix" fantasy sports games because players can't shave points or take a dive in a way that would cause a player to win. Now, an NFL quarterback should not be playing daily fantasy for thousands of dollars in a situation where targeting a particular receiver might help his fantasy team to the detriment of his real team, but aside from that, playing daily fantasy (yes, it's gambling in a sense, as is day trading) is not the same as running an on-line casino where you are the house and you are taking money from your players in a game of chance. Of course, poker (both live and on-line) is even LESS like gambling, since the poker player is playing directly against the other players at the table, and the player's individual skills directly impact the outcome of the game. A poker player cannot get an edge on his opponents by doing better research of having inside information about injuries. A poker player may have information about hand histories from other players, but ultimately had to make individual decisions that directly impact whether he wins or loses. So, poker is much less like illegal gambling than either daily fantasy or day trading. Yet, poker is illegal in most places because the government treats it as falling under the prohibition of broad anti-"gambling" statutes. It makes no sense, and it's mostly politics and the economic interests of big corporations that determine these things. I'm sure as soon as Draft Kings and Fan Duel agree to state regulation and to kick-back tax revenue to New York, this will all be smoothed over. There is far too much money at stake. Opening Day at CitiField -- there will be sausages!

Hammer? HAMMER???!! We don't need no stinking Hammer!!! (We need bats that work)

This is absolutely great!

Edgy MD wrote: But the first play* was something less than a fluke, or something more, as Cespedes didn't even have his glove in the air, and seemed to make this weird stab at very last moment to catch it at his hip, only to end up sticking his leg under it and have it carom away. This is why I don't want to sign Cespedes to a 5-year $150 million contract. I think with all his talent that we would see plays like that all too often if he were here under a long-term deal, and his act would get old fast when he's not red-hot at the plate and hitting 700-foot homers every day.