My dumb radical change (that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else propose) is to make the gloves smaller, thus giving people more incentive to put the ball in play. You’d have to phase it in over time, though, or else you’d have a season when everyone looked like they’d just graduated from clown college, which presumably is not a look MLB is trying to achieve.
RickJay - First, change your sig. It is way wrong. That was a very well-done analysis of the problem. Second, thanks for the shout-out to Max Muncy. For a guy who spent all of last season in the minors, he’s putting up All-Star numbers right now.
Another radical change is to make the bases 85-87 feet apart. It’d slightly increase batting averages in balls in play without making it stupid, making it more attractive to be a contact hitter.
We could tweak the baseballs, make their collisions with the bat a bit less elastic and a bit more plastic so to speak. Cut the number of home runs and we’ll see a better game.
I’m sitting here now wondering why I’m still watching the Phillies shellack the Pirates 14-4. I either need to stop watching MLB Network or spring for MLB At Bat, because I haven’t seen a single good game on the network all week.
Check the prices for MLB.TV around the all star break, they often have a decent sale then.
The Wall St. Journal runs a weekly feature on “Tech Essentials” preferred by celebs/semi-celebs.
This week it’s Trevor Bauer on his favorite toys. Yes, he still loves drones (one of them sliced open his finger late in the 2016 season, with negative effects on his playoff performance). Beyond that, he boasts about driving a McLaren 650s Spider (supposedly just during the off-season).
“It’s a lot of fun. I might feel like I’m cruising, out on a Sunday stroll. Then I look down and I’m going 110. The acceleration is ridiculous. It’ll throw you around if you’re not paying attention.”
Given his penchant for high-risk activities, it’s a good thing for the Indians that Bauer intends to never sign more than a one-year contract.
Yet another Cubs comeback as they score 4 in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead over the Reds. This team has had quite a few comebacks over the past few games, let’s see if this lead holds.
Stupid Reds. They’ve been surging since last month, trying to crawl out of the cellar. They’ve been very good against the Cubs recently, taking all of the series. This was definitely one that got away after a tight 3-2 win yesterday. What’s up with all these day games?
ETA: Okay, so they’re 5-1 against the Cubs since mid-June, and 17-7 since June 10th.
It’s a weird relationship with the Cubs and my neighborhood. I assume there’s a day game heavy schedule because the Wrigley concert schedule starts next weekend when the Cubs are away. Jimmy Buffet play Wrigley on Friday and Def Leppard on Friday. The Cubs can only have some many night events, including concerts.
Marlins just hit back to back homers off of Max Scherzer, that’s not exactly what I’d expect tonight.
Happier now? (Nats up 10-3 in the 6th).
Oops, 13-3.
Nats beat the Marlins 18-4; Mark Reynolds tied the all-time franchise record for RBI in a game with 10.
Eleven different Red Sox hitters had at least one R.B.I. in tonight’s game against the Royals (Martinez, Bogaerts, Moreland, Vázquez, Benintendi, Bradley Jr., Betts, Swihart, Holt, Devers and León).
Any idea what the major league record is for most players on a team having one or more R.B.I.s in a single game?
All star rosters have been announced
Not a bad job by the fans except for Bryce Harper.
The three Reds (Votto, SUarez and Gennett) that made it certainly deserved it.
Now they need to stop dropping close games, especially when they have a lead like they have in the last two games against the Cubs.
Toronto’s only All Star representative is JA Happ, and there is a pretty good chance he’ll be traded before the All Star game. (There’s a 90% chance he will be traded before July 31.)
If that happens, I assume Toronto will have to send someone else. The thing is, the Blue Jays have no deserving All Star at all; even Happ was a terrible choice, but the rules say every team has to have one.
Toronto’s best players by WAR:
Justin Smoak 1.9
Kevin Pillar 1.8
Seunghwan Oh 1.0
Those are all their players above 1 WAR. Honestly, the team’s best player is really Yangervis Solarte but WAR underrates him.
Still, there’s are no All Stars on this team. Even bad teams usually have one. The Orioles are an absolute tire fire of a baseball team but Manny Machado is a tremendous player. The Royals might be even worse but they have some ace relievers. The Mets are so miserable an outfit that they batted Jose Reyes cleanup yesterday (they were shut out, what a surprise) but Jacob deGrom is awesome.
The Blue Jays are 41-48 and I honestly don’t know how they aren’t 25-64 like the Royals. Nothing has gone right. They have no one who deserves to get into the ASG without a ticket. Where the hell did 41 wins come from?
I saw the game at Nationals park. A lot of fun in the stands.
Kinda curious how that works. You’re right, of course.
Meh, it’s the ASG. Just for show.