BASE-BALL

[Dellbeam]

Even though I'm not a Tigers fan I know a lot about that franchise growing up with them over the years and rooting for them from time to time but one thing I always liked seeing is how a ballpark looks after the team has closed the place up and no longer plays there. Michigan and Trumbull is the Tigers real home to me I watched a lot of ballgames at Tiger Stadium. I was in Detroit earlier today and walked around Corktown. Tiger Stadium's site is built up now and Corktown seems to be heading in the right direction. This Google Satelite view shows the field where the Tigers once played. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3325177,-83.068774,286m/data=!3m1!1e3

It made me happy to see at least the field saved.  Back during 2015 I went to visit the site and there was kids from the local neighborhood using the field as park.  Someone had been taking the effort to keep the field mowed and looking somewhat presentable, sure wasn't the city at the time.

I hear ya. I still to this day would have loved to see the Tigers remain there but Tiger Stadium was pretty outdated. For years after it closed I would always drive past it whenever I went to Detroit. Always loved coming around the curve on I-75 to see the massive light towers on the stadium up ahead. I couldn't tell you how many times I walked across that pedestrian bridge over I-75 at Cochrane Street I walked over that thing and back today just for old times.

The best times for Tiger Stadium that I saw on TV were in 1976 and 1984. 

1976 was the year of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.  He was someone to watch--talking to the baseball (himself, actually), patting down the mound, and jumping around all over the field, congratulating teammates on good plays.  His coming out party was when the Tigers beat the eventual American League Champion New York Yankees 5-1 on Monday Night Baseball that season with Fidrych pitching a complete game in 1:51 (hardly ever going to see that again).  The Tiger fans would not leave until he came back out for a post-game curtain call, which he did--in his socks!  .  He sold out stadiums that summer on his way to being the American League Rookie of the Year and a start in that year's All-Star Game.  He ended up going 19-9, pitching 24 complete games in 29 starts (had 31 appearances that season), 250 IP with 217 hits allowed, 53 walks and 97 K's, a WHIP of 1.079, and led the AL in ERA at 2.34, beating out Vida Blue of Oakland at 2.35.  He finished 2nd in the Cy Young Award voting to Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles (I believe he should have won it).  I still have fond memories of him and that season.

1984 was the Year of the Tiger in which the team won the World Series over the San Diego Padres 4 games to 1, with Kirk Gibson hitting that mammoth home run of Rich "Goose" Gossage in Game 5 to seal the deal.  They started 35-5 and finished at 104-58, easily winning the AL East by 15 games over Toronto.  They also had the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner in Willie Hernandez, who went 9-3 with 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA.  Another rocking year.

It is good to hear that the area is not in any disarray.

If The Bird didn't have a catastrophic injury during the 1977 regular season, he might've been a really good pitcher (though probably not as good to reach the HOF). He definitely was one of those players that exceeded the popularity outside of sports fandom, where he even had a cover on the Rolling Stones magazine one time. Though the Tigers in the 80s had a better team, for the most part.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Part of the reason the "time of game"  has increased is the time allowed for commercials between innings and for pitching changes.  With all MLB teams televising games today verses a select few in the 1970's and 1980's (Cubs, Braves, Mets, and Yankees to name some), more time is needed for advertising.  Most areas just had the Saturday Game of the Week on NBC with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek and later (1976ish), Monday Night Baseball on ABC.  I am not sure of what the time allotted for commercials was in the 1970's and 1980's (maybe 1:30?) but today I believe it is closer to 3 minutes.  That adds up, especially with the way pitching is handled in today's game.  Rare is the complete game due to managers and coaches reliance on pitch counts and situational pitching.

Baseball was never meant to be "timed" .  I have never seen a "countdown time clock"  in any field/stadium that I have watched a game at.  The only clock I have seen in the one displaying what time it is.  Whatever happens in a game is going to happen.  Higher scoring games are going to take longer.  Multiple pitching changes will make a game go longer.  Some batters and pitchers do "take their time" .  Oh well, that's gamesmanship.  Live with it.

"Dellbeam"  is correct in his statement above.  NFL games last between 3 hours and 3 hours and 15 minutes.  NBA games are usually 2h 30m to 3 hours.  NHL fairly much the same as the NBA.  So why the fuss about 3 hours of baseball?  Besides, wouldn't having a "pitch clock"  (and to some extent, a "batter clock"  since they have to be in the box before 0:08) be counterintuitive to generating more ad revenue if the desire is to shorten the games? 

MLB has decided that they need to appeal to the millennial generation and younger who have ever shortening attention spans and many other means of entertainment. If more younger people are enticed to watch baseball games, perhaps the advertisers will follow.

[Flint1979]

Even though I'm not a Tigers fan I know a lot about that franchise growing up with them over the years and rooting for them from time to time but one thing I always liked seeing is how a ballpark looks after the team has closed the place up and no longer plays there. Michigan and Trumbull is the Tigers real home to me I watched a lot of ballgames at Tiger Stadium. I was in Detroit earlier today and walked around Corktown. Tiger Stadium's site is built up now and Corktown seems to be heading in the right direction. This Google Satelite view shows the field where the Tigers once played. https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3325177,-83.068774,286m/data=!3m1!1e3

It made me happy to see at least the field saved.  Back during 2015 I went to visit the site and there was kids from the local neighborhood using the field as park.  Someone had been taking the effort to keep the field mowed and looking somewhat presentable, sure wasn't the city at the time.

I hear ya. I still to this day would have loved to see the Tigers remain there but Tiger Stadium was pretty outdated. For years after it closed I would always drive past it whenever I went to Detroit. Always loved coming around the curve on I-75 to see the massive light towers on the stadium up ahead. I couldn't tell you how many times I walked across that pedestrian bridge over I-75 at Cochrane Street I walked over that thing and back today just for old times.

The best times for Tiger Stadium that I saw on TV were in 1976 and 1984. 

1976 was the year of Mark "The Bird" Fidrych.  He was someone to watch--talking to the baseball (himself, actually), patting down the mound, and jumping around all over the field, congratulating teammates on good plays.  His coming out party was when the Tigers beat the eventual American League Champion New York Yankees 5-1 on Monday Night Baseball that season with Fidrych pitching a complete game in 1:51 (hardly ever going to see that again).  The Tiger fans would not leave until he came back out for a post-game curtain call, which he did--in his socks!  .  He sold out stadiums that summer on his way to being the American League Rookie of the Year and a start in that year's All-Star Game.  He ended up going 19-9, pitching 24 complete games in 29 starts (had 31 appearances that season), 250 IP with 217 hits allowed, 53 walks and 97 K's, a WHIP of 1.079, and led the AL in ERA at 2.34, beating out Vida Blue of Oakland at 2.35.  He finished 2nd in the Cy Young Award voting to Jim Palmer of the Baltimore Orioles (I believe he should have won it).  I still have fond memories of him and that season.

1984 was the Year of the Tiger in which the team won the World Series over the San Diego Padres 4 games to 1, with Kirk Gibson hitting that mammoth home run of Rich "Goose" Gossage in Game 5 to seal the deal.  They started 35-5 and finished at 104-58, easily winning the AL East by 15 games over Toronto.  They also had the AL MVP and Cy Young Award winner in Willie Hernandez, who went 9-3 with 32 saves and a 1.92 ERA.  Another rocking year.

It is good to hear that the area is not in any disarray.

If The Bird didn't have a catastrophic injury during the 1977 regular season, he might've been a really good pitcher (though probably not as good to reach the HOF). He definitely was one of those players that exceeded the popularity outside of sports fandom, where he even had a cover on the Rolling Stones magazine one time. Though the Tigers in the 80s had a better team, for the most part.

I remember hearing a story about a game he was scheduled to pitch but couldn't pitch that night because of a shoulder injury. There were 50,000 people at Tiger Stadium there to watch The Bird. The PA announcer came on and said, "Mark Fidrych is unable to start, tonight's starting pitcher will be Jack Morris." 50,000 people stood up and booed.

[jeffandnicole]

Much of everything written below doesn't agree with reality: https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/majors/misc.shtml

In fact, most of what people are complaining about wouldn't be an issue if they didn't promote the time clock.  MLB has said the clock will probably not be as visible to the fans during the regular season, especially those watching on TV.  During the first week or so of spring training, fans have notably not actually complained much about the length of the games.  They're just complaining about the pitch time, especially in notable situations where it had a material effect on the game.  Testing this during the pre-season is a very good thing, and adjustments can be made as a result.  It's also notable that AAA Baseball had the clock during their games last year, in which nearly no 'fan of baseball' seemed to notice.

Part of the reason the "time of game"  has increased is the time allowed for commercials between innings and for pitching changes.  With all MLB teams televising games today verses a select few in the 1970's and 1980's (Cubs, Braves, Mets, and Yankees to name some), more time is needed for advertising.  Most areas just had the Saturday Game of the Week on NBC with Joe Garagiola and Tony Kubek and later (1976ish), Monday Night Baseball on ABC.  I am not sure of what the time allotted for commercials was in the 1970's and 1980's (maybe 1:30?) but today I believe it is closer to 3 minutes.

Commercial breaks were actually *reduced* in time beginning in the 2019 season from 2:25 to 2:05.  20 seconds per half inning, times about 17 breaks, is about 5 minutes that should be saved per game.

I have never seen a "countdown time clock"  in any field/stadium that I have watched a game at.  The only clock I have seen in the one displaying what time it is.

Fenway Park has a clock counting down to the end of the commercial breaks between innings and half-innings. It starts at 2:25.

In fact, that clock has been in ALL ballparks since 2017 or 2018.

Higher scoring games are going to take longer.

Do a sort on the link above for runs per game (R/G).  Of the years where the average game time was tracked, The top 11 runs-per-game were all under 3 hours.  6 of those years are in modern TV times (since the 1990's).

Multiple pitching changes will make a game go longer.

Which is why they now have a rule to force a pitcher to throw to 3 batters (unless the inning ends, at which time the pitcher can be changed if he doesn't also start the next inning).

They also instituted a rule to limit mount visits to 1 per inning.  A 2nd mound visit in the same inning results in a mandatory pitching change.

Besides, wouldn't having a "pitch clock"  (and to some extent, a "batter clock"  since they have to be in the box before 0:08) be counterintuitive to generating more ad revenue if the desire is to shorten the games? 

Advertising is rarely promoted in-between pitches.  On occasion the TV broadcast will have an ad next to the on-screen imagery, whose time may be slightly reduced.  But otherwise, while waiting for the batter and pitcher to reset, the TV cameras usually focus on closeups of the pitcher, batter, runner, fielder or coach, most of which don't display much or any advertising found throughout the ballpark.

I do think it's funny how people complain there's too much advertising at a game, but when they're complaining about the pitch clock, they use that advertising as a basis for why there shouldn't be a time clock.

MLB has decided that they need to appeal to the millennial generation and younger who have ever shortening attention spans and many other means of entertainment. If more younger people are enticed to watch baseball games, perhaps the advertisers will follow.

See link above.  Game times were much shorter in the past, which alludes to that generation enjoyed shorter games.  I don't think there's any issues with companies not advertising due to game lengths, but maybe you have a trade publication story that shows this was a problem.

[gr8daynegb]

Will be interesting to see after first couple weeks once regular season starts how teams will handle this. Keep in mind too in the minors they are used to this so the rookie end of the spectrum has played a season/seasons with the new rules.

I'm curious if the Gallo shift with become the norm.  I wish they didn't put shift rules in, if hitters would take the ball the other way defenses would play them more honestly.  But not defenses have to pay for it because hitters aren't changing from the HR or bust approach of last 20 years.

[triplemultiplex]

It's been maddening for me how players don't just bunt themselves a few base hits and cure defenses of shifting on them.  I don't care if you're a big ass dude with no wheels, if you bunt it past the pitcher when the infield is shifted, you're getting on base.  I thought the whole point of this analytics wizardry in baseball is that a base runner is a base runner is a base runner.  You don't care how the batter gets on base, you just want him there.  More base runners = more runs.

The best part is, it's not like you have to spend the rest of your career bunting.  A handful of bunt hits and the metrics will skew away from the defense shifting and your traditional hitting lanes reopen.

But no, instead they gotta make a new rule because hitters are babies and the fans are impatient little whiners.

God I can't wait for the opener...

[amroad17]

It's been maddening for me how players don't just bunt themselves a few base hits and cure defenses of shifting on them.  I don't care if you're a big ass dude with no wheels, if you bunt it past the pitcher when the infield is shifted, you're getting on base.  I thought the whole point of this analytics wizardry in baseball is that a base runner is a base runner is a base runner.  You don't care how the batter gets on base, you just want him there.  More base runners = more runs.

The best part is, it's not like you have to spend the rest of your career bunting.  A handful of bunt hits and the metrics will skew away from the defense shifting and your traditional hitting lanes reopen.

But no, instead they gotta make a new rule because hitters are babies and the fans are impatient little whiners.

God I can't wait for the opener...

A lot of the reason hitters (especially power hitters) don't bunt for base hits or hit opposite the shift for base hits with a shift on is EGO!  They believe fans expect to see them hit a home run, so they try to deliver that instead of getting on base and possibly starting a good run-scoring inning.  So, in many instances, the hitters will either ground out into the shift or strike out (rant about that mentioned quite a few posts back).  Like triplemultiplex mentioned above, if these hitters would bunt or hit away from the shift, teams would have to employ the more traditional infield set-up and, with it, the hitting lanes open up.  Maybe then league batting averages would be around .260-.265 instead of the low .240's that have been attained the last few years.

[Takumi]

Been following the World Baseball Classic all week. It's been a fun watch, seeing all the passion the Asian and Latin American fans show for their teams at pretty much all times. Quite the contrast to the US-Britain game, which was much more subdued.

[ilpt4u]

Been following the World Baseball Classic all week. It's been a fun watch, seeing all the passion the Asian and Latin American fans show for their teams at pretty much all times. Quite the contrast to the US-Britain game, which was much more subdued.

Group A, played in Taiwan, All 5 teams finished .500 @2-2. By the 2nd tie-breaker, Cuba and Italy advance to the next round in Tokyo

[gonealookin]

Been following the World Baseball Classic all week. It's been a fun watch, seeing all the passion the Asian and Latin American fans show for their teams at pretty much all times. Quite the contrast to the US-Britain game, which was much more subdued.

Puerto Rico's pitchers didn't allow a baserunner through 8 innings in the game vs. Israel tonight, 24 up and 24 down.  But Puerto Rico scored its 10th run in the bottom of the 8th and the game ended on the mercy rule due to the 10-0 score.  So I don't think that's an official perfect game, because it did not go the full nine innings.

[Takumi]

The quarterfinals start tomorrow, with Australia vs. Cuba. Japan will play Italy, and Venezuela has also advanced due to being the sole undefeated team left in its group.

[Takumi]

Japan beat the US to win the World Baseball Classic.

[Roadgeekteen]

Ohtani struck out Trout to win the game. If this was a movie it would be called too good to be true.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Ohtani struck out Trout to win the game. If this was a movie it would be called too good to be true.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the LA Angels clubhouse this year.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) seems to have gotten more media attention this year than in years past. It gets rave reviews. I wonder if it was held at a different time of year, like a mid-season tournament, would generate even more buzz anf viewership.

[jeffandnicole]

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) seems to have gotten more media attention this year than in years past. It gets rave reviews. I wonder if it was held at a different time of year, like a mid-season tournament, would generate even more buzz anf viewership.

Although the injures seemed to help carry the headlines.

[Henry]

Ohtani struck out Trout to win the game. If this was a movie it would be called too good to be true.

I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the LA Angels clubhouse this year.

They're probably going to make this a big storyline in Anaheim all season long, and Opening Day is still weeks away. And the fact that one Angel struck out another in the championship game is truly surreal.

[triplemultiplex]

Although the injures seemed to help carry the headlines.

Yeah but those injuries could have just as easily taken place during spring training games.  So to me, that's a red herring.  Altuve could have just as easily smashed a finger in Arizona.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The World Baseball Classic (WBC) seems to have gotten more media attention this year than in years past. It gets rave reviews. I wonder if it was held at a different time of year, like a mid-season tournament, would generate even more buzz anf viewership.

Although the injures seemed to help carry the headlines.

That leads me back to the timing question. Because we're still in spring training and the MLB season doesn't begin until next week, I would guess that most players aren't in game shape yet, where they presumably would be mid-season.

[epzik8]

Although the injures seemed to help carry the headlines.

Yeah but those injuries could have just as easily taken place during spring training games.  So to me, that's a red herring.  Altuve could have just as easily smashed a finger in Arizona.

Looks like this was a bad omen for the Phillies yesterday.

[SectorZ]

I'm really digging the pitch clock by this point. Rays/Sox played an 8.5 inning game today, 4-2 Rays, took 2:06.

Even last night, a 9-8 Sox/Braves game with a bottom 9th walk off was barely over 3 hrs, and that was with Kenley Jansen leaving due to injury in the 9th and needing a cold reliever to take over.

[Henry]

Opening Day is tomorrow!

My Cubs will be at home hosting the Brewers, their neighbors up I-94.

[Hunty2022]

My Astros will be getting a visit from the White Sox, attempting to keep their Opening Day win streak alive.

[tchafe1978]

Opening Day is tomorrow!

My Cubs will be at home hosting the Brewers, their neighbors up I-94.

Hopefully the weather allows them to play. Go Brewers!

[Ted$8roadFan]

It's opening day in Boston, and it will be a sunny, blustery, late winter day for the Red Sox-Orioles. At least there's no snow in the forecast.