Yep, you’re right.
I even pulled up the rulebook before I posted :smack: …it just shows how tough those 14 inning games can be, doesn’t it?
Arguing for outlawing the shift is as stupid as bitching about batters that bunt to avoid it.
New strategies come into sports all the time, and they usually aren’t outlawed unless they go against the spirit of the game somehow. I don’t think defensive shifts are like that. It’s still baseball. Does anyone look at a shift and think, “I wish they’d stop screwing around and play ball the way it was meant to be played”?
Defensive shifts make left-handed pull hitters less valuable. As a result, other types of hitters become relatively more valuable. Right-handed hitters, spray hitters and left-handed opposite field hitters should create a higher proportion of their teams’ runs. Is there something wrong with that?
BTW, I assume someone has measured the effect of all this shifting. What do the numbers show?
Sure, why not think about it? Okay, I’m thinking about it… it’s ludicrous.
The shift isn’t even a new strategy.
I’ve noticed that, too. And that makes it more and more obvious that the unwritten rules don’t really mean anything. Usually it’s just a pitcher trying to get an advantage.
I agree that this is quite difficult and, especially for a pitcher, would likely lead to injury.
But in keeping with the idea of outlawing the shift, imagine that baseball decided to protect over the top pitchers by requiring that teams not do any scouting on them and not adjust their lineup or pitch selection for fear that those pitchers will be at a disadvantage.
The Yankees just hit a sacrifice fly off Colby Lewis.
Now I ask you, is that FAIR??
The Yankees have always been a passel of right BASTARDS.
So that was one of the weirdest plays of the year (Indians v. KC). Corey Kluber was pitching a masterful game, having only given up one hit through 7. Mike Moustakas loops one into left field with a shifted outfield. Ryan Raburn hauls ass all the way over to the left field foul line, so much so that he just slightly overruns the ball, having it bounce off his wrist instead of into his glove, and is then a little surprised the ball was called fair (which was the right call). He hustles over to pick up the missed ball, and then somehow spikes the ball during his attempt to throw into second, instead losing it into center field. Moustakas comes around to score the only run of the game.
It looked weirder than it sounds.
Video evidence, though it fails to show the throw itself.
Sounds pretty weird to me!
And it just proves what people have been saying, that there’s no way for a lefty pull hitter like Moustakas to beat any kind of shift as learning to hit to left is clearly impossible!
Weird tidbits from from tonight’s Dodgers-Giants game:
[ul]
[li]Zack Grienke has a four-strikeout inning[/li][li]The Dodgers have had a three-triple inning[/li][li]Yasiel Puig has hit three triples through six innings[/li][/ul]
Apparently, Puig’s 11 total bases without a home run is a Dodger record.
And that’s just through 7. Maybe we can get some more, just to rub it in.
AT&T Park has the second-highest triples factor in MLB, next to Comerica Park. You can see the rankings here. AT&T is very deep to right center, and the right field wall has some weird angles and a scoreboard that can cause the ball to bounce in odd directions.
Dodgers nose back into First Place with a nifty complete-game (2-hits allowed, I think I saw) shutout from the Kershaw guy.
Tomorrow’s Ryu vs the recently-acquired Peavy ought to be interesting.
The Dodgers sweep the Giants to cement themselves atop the NLWest. Peavy looked mighty shaky in his Giant’s debut tonight.
It’s nothing really new. He’s looked pretty shaky all year. His ERA is about 4.72 and, perhaps even more telling, his WHIP is about 1.42, which is his worst WHIP numbers since his rookie season.
The Orioles came out of the All-star Break with a tough west coast road trip against the three top teams in the strong AL West. They took one of three against Oakland, two of three against the Angels, and three of four against the Mariners, giving them a 6-4 record for the trip. I think most O’s fans would be happy with that, especially away from home against those teams.
Baltimore’s still on top of the AL East, three games ahead of the Blue Jays, who just took two of three from the Yankees to move back into second place. Tampa has won nine of their last ten, and must now be considered back in contention.
A while back RickJay picked the Red Sox to win the division. I don’t think i’d count them out yet, but they’re 10.5 back now, and haven’t (yet) been able to put together the sort of run that would make them a threat.
Peavy has lost something off his fastball, sure, but I suspect his poor record in Boston this year was mostly due to getting no run support whatever, causing him to press and get too fine. He’ll always be remembered kindly here for *buying *the Duck Boat he rode in the parade.
Boston should have been the best bet to take the East, due to having the deepest pitching, but it hasn’t worked that way. They do have a big enough stockpile of prospects to get a difference-maker, especially after getting *two *good prospects for Peavy, but who’s available now, really? Realistically, they’re done. Gotta pick the O’s now, and in hindsight the Nelson Cruz signing was fucking genius.
I have to say that but for a couple of passed balls/wild pitches, and Uggla letting a routine grounder go through his wickets unmolested, Peavy would have had a much better outcome. I know Posey is a good offensive player, but how is he rated as a defensive catcher? He seemed to have trouble with plays AJ seems to make routinely.
I’m hoping this sweep crushed the Giants’s spirits a bit. 