Dicking around between songs is like the break between innings. The IBB is like an extended drum solo on one song during a 3 hour concert.
JULIET: O Romeo (long pause while she fiddles with the hem of her dress)
JULIET: Romeo…
(JULIET looks out at the audience; after ten seconds or so she shrugs, asks the stage manager for time out, and consults with the prompter. The stage manager eventually comes out to chase the prompter away.)
JULIET (after another long pause): Wherefore art thou…
(ROMEO holds up his hand, jumps down from his tree, flexes his fingers, and scratches his groin. JULIET waits for him to complete his maneuvers.)
JULIET (when ROMEO has returned to his former position) Wherefore art…
(MERCUTIO strolls into the audience’s line of sight. JULIET glares at him for a few seconds, then steps off her mark on the balcony. He leaves.)
JULIET: …thou Romeo?
(Another long pause while JULIET attempts to find her original marks on the balcony. She places first one foot in position, then the other, then repositions the first, and so on.)
JULIET: Deny thy father–
(MERCUTIO returns. JULIET steps toward him. MERCUTIO stands still for a second and then ducks offstage again.)
JULIET: --and refuse thy name…
(Her voice trails off. Perhaps she has not said it loudly enough. There is a long pause.)
JULIET: --and refuse thy name…
(The director trots out from behind the scenery to consult with JULIET briefly. The stage manager eventually chases her away.)
JULIET: --and refuse thy name…
(ROMEO, jumps out of the tree and trots into the wings to consult with the scriptwriter. JULIET begins to say the next line but is prevented from doing so by the stage manager. ROMEO returns, wearing a different hat.)
JULIET: Or (pause) if thou wilt not, be but scorn mine…
(The stage manager, the director, and the prompter all put on headphones and huddle for two minutes twenty-three seconds, at which point the stage manager gives a signal that the audience recognizes as indicating a line flub.)
JULIET (who has relaxed her entire body and now must go through the laborious process once more of placing her feet directly on her marks): …be but SWORN mine…
(ROMEO, who has fallen out of the tree, scurries back up. He has changed his hat yet again.)
JULIET (pausing after each word): And…I’ll…no…longer…
(ROMEO stares down toward the scriptwriter for a sign.)
JULIET: …be…a…Capulet.
(JULIET has talent, to be sure; certainly she has an impressive delivery. ROMEO continues to hope that he will get to second or third base at the very least before his at-bat is over, but we will be honest; it is getting late. JULIET looks directly at the audience as she finishes speaking the line, hoping no doubt for applause, but it is already eleven o’clock at night and we are still in the top of the second inning, so there is no more audience to speak of as they all have all gone home.)
Back in 2002, I wrote a little essay on my scorecard during a White Sox-Twins game in Minnespolis, “Too many mid-inning pitching changes. Too long between pitches. Too many pitches taken. Too many deep counts. Too many throws over to first…”
It really isn’t the length of the game. It’s the pace. As my vignette, I hope, demonstrates.
Regarding intentional walks…
Last fall I went through all my scorecards from the major league games I’ve seen in person (I was creating a kind of database). It was interesting to see the changes in strategy from the end of the sixties to the present. A few of the changes are really obvious, things such as allowing starters to complete games, but others were a bit more subtle: there were a lot more sacrifice bunts back in the day, at least in the games I saw, for instance; it was fairly common for a relief pitcher to enter a game in the third or fourth inning and pitch 4 1/3 or so innings himself; and boy were there ever a lot of intentional walks.
Here’s a game, Padres at Cubs back in '71, and an inning that…well, you wouldn’t see it today:
*Bottom of the fifth, tie game. The first two runners walk unintentionally and move up on a wild pitch.
*So the Padres walk Billy Williams intentionally to load the bases with no one out. (That’s one.) Okay, Williams is the Cubs’ best hitter. Still–
*There’s a strikeout and a two-run double; Williams goes to third.
*So the Padres walk Johnny Callison intentionally to load the bases with one out. (That’s two.) Okay, Callison is…not the Cubs’ best hitter. Or second best, or third best. Hmm.
*A wild pitch moves everybody up. Then there’s a popout. Two down, second and third.
*So the Padres walk JC Martin intentionally to load the bases with two out. (That’s three.) This is to bring up the pitcher, Ken Holtzman, who goes out to end the inning.
Nine batters. Three intentional walks. Exciting stuff! (Or not.)
Don’t want to make the thread longer by quoting, but that was a very funny and poignant example Ulf.
Well done.
I think the “automatic intentional walk” rule has a place…in Little League and high school, where they have pitch count limitations on the pitchers. (Beginning this season, every state is “supposed to” have some sort of count-based limit on its pitchers. For example, in California, it is 110 pitches per day in varsity, and 90 in JV; also, throwing 31-50 pitches in a day results in a mandatory rest the next day, 51-75 requires two days, and 76 or more requires three days.)
Regarding post #222 in this thread - I don’t even like or follow baseball, but that is one of the funniest things I have read on the SDMB. Well played sir.
Having read the discussion, I have to agree with the majority here that this is a silly change to make.
Is this an argument for or against the new rule?
I think he’s saying the IBB doesn’t have any real effect on the experience, and what they should be doing is cutting the amount of time between innings. So, against.
Against. If your rationale is to speed play, you don’t go after something that saves an average of 14 seconds. You could cut one commercial from one inning break and double the savings!
I think the reason the IBB was selected was precisely that - commercials. You see, inning changes and pitching changes allow tv commercial breaks, so we can’t do anything to reduce them (even though they are, far and away, the biggest single time sinks). But the IBB is during active play and tv daren’t go to break because one of those rare events might happen. So, it gets cut.
Sir T-Cups and Dead Cat, thank you for the kind words. It was fun to write.
If the IBB is the drum solo of the baseball game, cutting it out is a good thing regardless of what little time it saves.
A’s pitcher Sonny Grey will not be allowed to pitch in the WBC due to a rather strange circumstance:
His insurance carrier will not cover him.
Due to his injuries last season, the insurance company will not authorize him pitching. MLB asked the carrier to issue a waiver, allowing him to participate. They said no.
Interesting. Sunday, May 16, 2nd game of 2. Play by play is here. The 2nd game was suspended due to darkness at Wrigley Field. 1971 was the year that leadoff hitter Enzo Hernandez of the Padres had 618 plate appearances and 12 RBIs (including 1 in this game), part of an MLB career of 113 RBIs with 129 stolen bases. Good glove though.
MLB has instituted theDavid Price rule, effective this season. This rule stipulates that if a pitcher’s back foot is parallel to the rubber and his other foot is in front of the rubber, he is deemed to pitching from the stretch position. If he is actually going to wind up, he must inform the umpire. Apparently this rule was born because David Price has been known to wind up with a runner on 3rd, but starting from a position that looks like he might be in a stretch (meaning he would have to stop and come set). I would have to see some video of Price in this instance because I do not recall any confusion watching him pitch with a runner on 3rd base. This is not a game altering rule, but seems overkill if it’s really designed for one or two guys.
They can create a rule for this, but can’t be bothered to address Carter Capps, the guy who jumps full in the air and lands about 2 feet in front of the rubber before delivering his pitch?
I think they did address Capps, they told him as long as he’s dragging his back foot it’s ok. Now, what constitutes a drag vs. a hop is apparently debatable.
ETA: I said it when it was a new thing and still do believe that Capps’ delivery is completely illegal. He missed all of last season and is now with the Padres. They tweeted a video of his bullpen session recently, which has reignited the controversy. That will be interesting to follow.
If he was dragging his foot, then I suppose that might be worthy of debate. But since he clearly is *not *doing that, I can’t imagine how MLB could possibly say that his delivery is legal.
Luckily for me, today is March 1st, and the legality of some random pitcher who may or may not make a Major League roster this year is the most worrying thing I have to think about today…
Ouch. David Price had an MRI on his pitching elbow and now will be seeking a second opinion from the surgeon whose name strikes fear into the hearts of every baseball fan, Dr. James Andrews. It’s too early for official word yet but obviously the Red Sox are very concerned right now.
Is it still “hot stove” talk when Spring Training has already started?