Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Major League Baseball's Dumb Idea to Wave a Batter to First Base: Here's What Really Should Be Done



As part of its initiative to improve "pace-of-game" play, Major League Baseball has approved a change to the intentional walk rule, going from the traditional four-pitch walk to juts a dugout signal, sources told ESPN's Howard Bryant.

The manager will just be able to signal an intentional walk and the batter will be able to go to first base without the traditional four pitches way outside the strike zone.

It's almost as though the MLB sees part of the game as a hassle and they don't even want to deal with it.

This is dumb, seriously dumb.

Fans don't really care about time as much as tension, excitement, and strategy, The four-pitch walk took the excitement out but there is a way to put MORE  tension, excitement, and strategy into the intentional walk decision.

I explained my proposal in the past when teams were walking Barry Bonds at a record pace:
Last year Barry Bonds was walked intentionally 68 times. No one in baseball has ever been intentionally walked so often in one season of baseball before, not Babe Ruth, not Willie Mays, not Hank Aaron, not Mickey Mantle, not Mark McGwire. No One. This is a crisis for baseball.

A new element has entered the strategy books of baseball managers. Put your threat on first base, so he can’t do real damage via a double or home run.

And as the rules are written today, what can Bonds do about it? Nothing.

He must stand at the plate and watch four thrown pitches fly by completely out of hitting range.

He is completely taken out of the game. The pitcher-hitter confrontation, the quintessential baseball confrontation, is completely taken out of the game at key points of the game.

Here’s my proposal to put Bonds and other major sluggers back in the game.

Any time Bonds or any other hitter is thrown four balls without any strikes during an at-bat, Bonds or any other hitter should have the option of taking first base or demanding that the pitcher continue to throw. If the pitcher then throws four more balls without any strikes, Bonds should then have the option of taking second base or demanding more pitches. If four more balls without a strike are thrown, Bonds should then have the option of taking third base or demanding to be pitched to. At this point there is absolutely no strategic reason not to pitch to Bonds, since four more balls to Bonds would result in a “walked in home run” clearing the bases.

Such a rule change, as articulated above, would put Bonds back in the game. It would add a further element of strategy to the game. At what point does Bonds decide to take a base? At what point do opposing teams decide to pitch to Bonds? Whether to hit or not is now totally in Bonds’ hands. Play Ball!
-RW

6 comments:

  1. Here's another idea: Intentional Walk = 1 out in the next half inning.

    You IW Bonds, your team only get 2 outs in your next at bats.

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  2. "I love having sex with you. It's delightful from beginning to end. How can we speed it up, get it over with sooner?" Odd request, isn't it?

    Why is this being said about baseball? I love the game. For me the games are too short and the seasons end too soon. Don't speed it up!

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  3. I think we should quit fooling around and bring back gladiator combat to the death. No need to fiddle with the rules to pace that game. Everything from two man enter, one man leave cage matches to longer sniper v sniper contests in elaborate environments full of cameras. They could recreate scenarios from classic movies. Capture it all on camera to entertain us when we're bored. Plus it's a less disruptive meat grinder to feed the world's tough guys into. Everybody wins. Except the guys who die. They obviously lost.

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  4. Don't forget the occasional error that occurs with an intentional walk, rare but happens. I seem to remember a stolen base or two during those pitches also.

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  5. Robert Clemente (the official "The Great One") hit a double off of a pitchout one time. You never know what could happen differently...

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