Stealing First Base???

[Schoonerman]

I just read where the Atlantic Baseball League is experimenting with the concept of allowing a batter to steal first base. According to the league rule, the batter may attempt to steal third base at any time during their at-bat. A batter may try to advance to first base if the catcher drops the third strike, but now batters may try to steal on wild pitches, passed balls or if the catcher throws to another base to pick off a base runner. The experiment will begin the second half of this season and will be tested for three years. The idea behind this rule change is to generate more offense and will most likely drive catchers crazy. I think it's an interesting concept, but will probably never see the light of day in MLB.

 

[iasooner1]

So (not trying to be obtuse here) but in your 2nd sentence, does that mean on say a wild pitch a batter can go from the plate to 3rd base, 90' from a score possibly ? (apologies if just a typo)

 

[pssooner]

That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard!!!!!!! Good God!

 

[iasooner1]

maybe. I. misread. the. 2nd. sentence.

 

[Soonerborn59]

Leave the game the way it is and quit trying to add in stupid things like this

 

[CTOkie]

MLB has enough offense with launch angles and exit velocities now a big part of the game’s statistics. More than anything else, home runs are now baseball’s biggest “calling card”. Pitchers are now averaging six innings per start, complete games are very rare and ESPN has shows glamorizing bat flips. Pitching duels are much less a part of the game.
I will always love baseball but the game today is far different from the game I grew up with.

 

[Schoonerman]

So (not trying to be obtuse here) but in your 2nd sentence, does that mean on say a wild pitch a batter can go from the plate to 3rd base, 90' from a score possibly ? (apologies if just a typo)

Should have read a batter can steal first, not third. My bad!

And I just saw on ESPN that the Atlantic League used a computer to call balls and strikes during their league's all-star game. Hmmmmm……..

 

[Soonerborn59]

Should have read a batter can steal first, not third. My bad!

And I just saw on ESPN that the Atlantic League used a computer to call balls and strikes during their league's all-star game. Hmmmmm……..

I personally don’t ever want to see a computer calling balls and strikes. The human element has always been a part of baseball and although I disagree with umpires strike zones at times I still understand its the human part of the game.

 

[SoonerSA]

I am old school. Dislike the DH and artificial grass in the infield. A designated DH (that's all he does), is not a baseball player.

 

[CTOkie]

I am old school. Dislike the DH and artificial grass in the infield. A designated DH (that's all he does), is not a baseball player.

The DH isn't going away and I think in 2-3 years the NL will have it. It makes little sense to have one league with it and one without it.
I prefer baseball without the DH, but with pitchers being so brittle and the pitching talent so diluted these days and with older (Pujols) and brittle (Stanton) players around, the DH can protect their careers.
One wonders how David Ortiz would have done after his 35th birthday in 2011. He averaged 32 homers a years from 36-on and in his final year, at age 40, he had 48 doubles and 38 homers....and a triple.
If the players' union wants it, the DH will stay and include the NL.
MLB, however, has many more important issues to resolve.

 

[humblesooner]

I believe the Atlantic League is going to continue using the electronic umpire, as well as, the stolen first base the rest of the year.

 

[JConXtsy]

Whatever it takes to revive this dying sport. Baseball is as American as it gets. Would you rather it just die with honor (original rules), or would you rather it try to fight for life with some relatively small changes?

Youth baseball has seen player enrollment cut in half in 10 years.
MLB has the oldest viewership in sports and growing (55 years).
At this pace, baseball will become second fiddle to soccer in the USA.

 

[iasooner1]

I agree with the above wholeheartedly; save the National past time !!

 

[Schoonerman]

I agree with the above wholeheartedly; save the National past time !!

I too feel that we need to do whatever it takes to keep baseball alive in the U.S., but I think the game is beginning to slowly fading away. As JCon pointed out, the average age of the fan is getting older and it seems like all the kids today are bypassing baseball and football for lacrosse, soccer, etc.

 

[Soonerborn59]

Just a question for JCon and Sman. So you think introducing a new gimmicky backyard rule is going to save the game or make kids love it more? I personally don’t.

 

[JConXtsy]

Just a question for JCon and Sman. So you think introducing a new gimmicky backyard rule is going to save the game or make kids love it more? I personally don’t.

I don't know. I'm not confident it will. I do think it's appropriate for a league like the ABL to give it a shot and see what happens. People today want action and scoring. Just look at how much people moan and groan about NFL games that end up in defensive struggles... 10-7 NFL games draw the ire of just about everyone these days.

 

[Schoonerman]

I don't know. I'm not confident it will. I do think it's appropriate for a league like the ABL to give it a shot and see what happens. People today want action and scoring. Just look at how much people moan and groan about NFL games that end up in defensive struggles... 10-7 NFL games draw the ire of just about everyone these days.

What JCon said. Let the minor leagues try it out and see how it works. If it's good, then maybe MLB should give it a try. I too am a traditionalist and only like to see gradual change come to sports, but baseball is losing fans rapidly and needs to do something to get people interested again.

 

[Soonerborn59]

I don't know. I'm not confident it will. I do think it's appropriate for a league like the ABL to give it a shot and see what happens. People today want action and scoring. Just look at how much people moan and groan about NFL games that end up in defensive struggles... 10-7 NFL games draw the ire of just about everyone these days.

True but to me a defensive struggle in football is like a great pitching duel that ends up 1-0 or 2-1. Overall though to me the best football games are 24-10 type games but all these 54-41 type games or 38-34 games to me are like watching arena games. In baseball today I think there are way to many 10-6 type games which tells me pitching is going the way of defenses in football.

 

[Soonerborn59]

31-21 type games are just the right mix of offense with some defense for football and 4-2 for baseball. However I know I am in the minority on this opinion as most want the higher scoring games we have today.

 

[iasooner1]

I used to steal a base or two a looooooooooooooooong time ago when I was alive...

 

[pssooner]

Now that I think about it, baseball can change what ever they need to! What I witnessed yesterday at Angels stadium was purely magic. There is no explanation for what we witnessed?

 

[CTOkie]

Just imagine how nice it would have been had OU just held every opponent to under 30 points these past three years.

 

[Schoonerman]

Just read where the first player in the Atlantic League stole first base last night. Second pitch of the game, the pitcher throws a wild pitch that goes to the backstop and the batter stole first. He later scored his team's first run that inning.

Also read where MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said to hold off on getting too worked up over the electronic umpire calling balls and strikes. He said MLB would look at it, but sound like he's talking years before they would introduce it at the major league level.

Sometimes change is good if it is gradually implemented versus having it stuffed down your throat!

 

[humblesooner]

Just read where the first player in the Atlantic League stole first base last night. Second pitch of the game, the pitcher throws a wild pitch that goes to the backstop and the batter stole first. He later scored his team's first run that inning.

Also read where MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said to hold off on getting too worked up over the electronic umpire calling balls and strikes. He said MLB would look at it, but sound like he's talking years before they would introduce it at the major league level.

Sometimes change is good if it is gradually implemented versus having it stuffed down your throat!

To me, the electronic umpire is just like instant replay. There was a time when an umpire got a call wrong on a bang-bang play....and we all lived with it. You could argue that, over time, the calls evened out. Probably an accurate statement.
What instant replay does is even them out as they happen. And I don't consider that a bad thing.
The electronic umpire could even everything out as it happens, also. It will just require that the bugs are worked out before it is implemented at the Major League level. That is what is happening with the ACL.
Probably a lot of things that need to be decided how to handle before they come up. The ACL will hopefully bring most of those things to light and allow decisions to be made on them.
The live umpire will still be required to over-rule obvious errors.
Like what, you ask?
The computer will call a strike if the ball passes through the strike zone. Sounds simple, right?
Well, what if it bounces up in to the SZ?
How do you program Jose Altuve's SZ versus Aaron Judge's?
It will take some time, but starting in the ACL seems to be the right way to start.

 

[JConXtsy]

How do you program Jose Altuve's SZ versus Aaron Judge's?
It will take some time, but starting in the ACL seems to be the right way to start.

I'm guessing with the progression of real-time image recognition that the electronic umpire will recognize the changing strike zones of each player. But where there's a loop, humans will always find the loophole. My guess is that you'll end up hearing about a player or two that figures out a trick to buy some leverage against the electronic ump every year, and every year the programmers will have to modify code for said tricks.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

MLB has enough offense with launch angles and exit velocities now a big part of the game’s statistics. More than anything else, home runs are now baseball’s biggest “calling card”. Pitchers are now averaging six innings per start, complete games are very rare and ESPN has shows glamorizing bat flips. Pitching duels are much less a part of the game.
I will always love baseball but the game today is far different from the game I grew up with.

There are several major changes that have allowed for more offense.

1. Pitchf/x & Trackman data collection. These tools have just recently been adopted by baseball. Some clubs were slow to use them, some jumped fast at the opportunity to use and share the data collected. This has changed baseball. Some teams have already incorporated this data collection and it's use in their Minor league teams. So by the time the player reaches the Majors, not only do they believe in it, they seek it.

2. These two tools has allowed the batter to approach his at bat differently. For years, stats have been collected on the batters. What they like, don't like, can or can't hit. But now the stat game has completely flipped. Batters are learning the pitchers. Stats are given to eacg batter these days that breaks down the pitcher's pitches. Not just speed, but what type of pitch to expect, how often a pitcher uses the pitch. What first pitch to expect etc. The data collected has allowed the batter to become a huge study of the game these days. Hence more offense. They also have the advantage of video. Watching their swing. Over & over & over again. All in an effort to perfect the swing, the bat speed etc.

3. The baseball itself. There is a theory that after the steroid run in baseball, that the homeruns dropped. And the fact is, homers sells tickets. So every effort has been made to create more homeruns w/o the use of steroids. So... the baseball has been changed as well. Tighter threads/seams, not as thick... makes the ball spin differently and therefore break less etc. Verlander believes this to be true as does many pitchers. Who knows really.

I do believe the tools of Pitch f/x & TrackMan have allowed the teams to collect data so much easier and faster than before. Today, for example, the Dodgers have a analytical dept that's twice that of their scouting dept. But bottomline, the players have to use it. Many of today's young players have bought into the data collection and it's use. It shows too.

 

[WhyNotaSooner]

BTW... Beltran was a study of all the pitchers he faced. He watched video over & over & over of the opposing pitcher(s) in an effort to pick up little clues. It worked. He didn't even play in the WS game that night, but passed along to all of the Astros that Yu was tipping his pitches. They knocked the crap out of him. They knew exactly what pitch was coming by his gripping the ball pre-pitch. They sat back and just tee'd off on him. Years back, this would have been very difficult to do w/o video and technology afforded to today's players.

 

[SoonerStin]

Thought this was a thread about roofies.