You Thought NASCAR Had The Worst Rule Changes of 2017

"For Sweden" (rallybeetle) 02/21/2017 at 22:38 • Filed to: bad ideas, baseball

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That’s where you were wrong, kiddo

Rico > For Sweden 02/21/2017 at 22:43

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Good

interstate366, now In The Industry > For Sweden 02/21/2017 at 22:45

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...no, NASCAR’s is still worse.

facw > For Sweden 02/21/2017 at 22:48

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So dumb. There aren’t that many walks. And batters swinging at poorly thrown intentional walks is one of baseball’s joys. And if you are going to have it, have it signaled by the catcher taking the traditional intention walk position, instead of by the manager.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > For Sweden 02/21/2017 at 23:10

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How exactly is this bad. Personally I think it makes sense. It shortens the game and doesn’t run up the pitch count. It’s almost as welcoming as the all star game no longer determining home field advantage in the world series

Audistein > For Sweden 02/21/2017 at 23:10

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I think that move was made to protect pitchers’ fragile egos; especially American League pitchers, who essentially live in with their head in the clouds 24/7. A lot of them seemed to see intentional walks as humiliating, throwing those weak balls to the catcher while the crowd jeers at them.

As a life-long SF Giants fan, watching pitchers have to intentionally walk when Bonds came up to plate while the whole stadium boo’d them was one of the best parts of attending baseball games during that era. It really takes away from the experience of the fans on the batter’s side if they can just get signaled to first.

DipodomysDeserti > Audistein 02/21/2017 at 23:20

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Wha? You’re favorite part of watching baseball was seeing Bonds get intentionally walked. Fucking San Francisco, man.

I don’t like it, but it was done to speed the game up. Most pitchers don’t give a shit about listening to fans boo them during a walk.

DipodomysDeserti > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/21/2017 at 23:22

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Baseball is not for people with short attention spands. A pitcher lobbing four pitches every once in a while doesn’t affect his pitch count.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > DipodomysDeserti 02/21/2017 at 23:52

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But it does. It adds 4 unnecessary pitches. There’s no reason for it other than being tradition

LongbowMkII > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 00:01

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Those are casual pitches and won’t fatigue a pitcher.

DipodomysDeserti > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 00:03

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Have you ever played baseball at a competative level? Lobbing four pitches to home doesn’t affect pitch count. If it did, pitchers would never throw over to bases or throw balls back to the umpire. In sports, “traditions” are sometimes referred to as “rules”. Intentional walks aren’t a given. Passed balls, homeruns, and sac flies have all occured while pitchers have attempted to intentionally walk batters.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > DipodomysDeserti 02/22/2017 at 00:12

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When was the last time you honestly saw a hitter swing an an intentional walk pitch. Just because its happened in the past doesn’t mean it still happens.

DipodomysDeserti > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 00:19

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In the MLB? Last September, and it scored a run. I know a lot has changed since September, but it wasn’t actually that far away.

Do you actually watch baseball?

If you think it really does play a role in pitch count, than that would be even more of a reason not to do away with it.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 00:20

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Nobody swings at them but there seems to be 1 or 2 wild pitches on intentional walks each year in the majors. It’s rare, but happens often enough that in my opinion you make them throw the pitches. Kind of like an extra point in NFL Football.

Audistein > DipodomysDeserti 02/22/2017 at 00:25

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I didn’t say it was totally my favorite part, but just that it was one fun part of the experience being in the stadium when it happened. Didn’t really translate to watching it on TV or when it’s an away game though.

Also pitchers can definitely have crowds get to them, especially younger ones. Many pitchers perform worse on the road than at home games for that reason.

I totally don’t buy that it’s to speed up the game. Intentional walks happen so rarely and take so little time that the difference is negligible. There’s other reasons they got rid of it, and I think it has to do with the pitchers not liking having to throw those pitches.

If they really wanted to speed the game up, umpires would just start enforcing the rules which are already in place around time between pitches. That could take 30 mins off a game while skipping intentional walks only saves maybe 1 minute if it happens twice in a game (which is pretty rare).

DipodomysDeserti > Audistein 02/22/2017 at 00:37

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Pitchers don’t give a shit about throwing four pitches for an intentional walk. I’ve played with kids who are now in the MLB. It’s to speed up the game.

Audistein > DipodomysDeserti 02/22/2017 at 01:12

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Eliminating intentional walks to speed up the game just makes no sense. It’s like taking a bottle cap out of your trunk to make your SUV lighter.

Let me put it this way. In 2016 there were 2430 regular season baseball games total plus another 25-35 playoff games. Total intentional walks? Only 932. That means any given team is issuing an intentional walk less often than one in every five games. Additionally, looking at a couple videos, intentional walks only take about 30-45 seconds to complete. Versus the pitcher not throwing the pitches, I would say they save maybe 30 seconds by eliminating it, if that.

In 2016, the average length of a baseball game was 3 hours and 2 minutes (182 minutes). That means a total of about 450,000 minutes of baseball total for the whole season. Even if getting rid of all the intentional walks saved a little under 30 seconds per occation, that’s only about 450 minutes total saved, per season. This means the average game length is reduced by 0.1%. That’s it! This whole rule change for an average reduction of one one thousandth of the time per game ! Doesn’t add up at all.

Also, intentional walks are becoming less common anyway. Out of the last 30-odd years, what which three had the least intentional walks? 2014, 2015, and 2016 in that order. They’ve been on a pretty steeply downward trend line since 2002 and especially since 2011.

DipodomysDeserti > Audistein 02/22/2017 at 01:30

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I don’t think it makes sense which is why I don’t think they should do it, but that’s their thinking. It’s a very minute change, but that’s what they’re going for. The psyche of rookie pitchers intentionally walking batters at away games? Really? You actually believe that?

 If it plays that little role in the length of game, then it plays even less of a role in the psyche of the pitcher listening to boos at an away game for four pitches. You think rookie pitchers have a say in what rules the MLB makes?  

It’s pretty clear you’re a casual fan, as you didn’t even realize someone just hit a sac fly off an intentional walk in the last month of regular season play, amd enjoyed booing pitchers for walking Barry Bonds. You actually enjoyed intentional walks...Better sit this one out.

Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero > DipodomysDeserti 02/22/2017 at 08:41

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Of course I watch baseball. But the 4 pitch intentional walk is stupid. It always has been and the only ones crying about it are probably the same people who think Bryce Harper and his brand of style are bad for baseball. It’s time for a new younger era and thats a poor example. The pitcher should have had the catcher another 2 feet over. That’s not an intention walk going wrong that’s the pitcher being a moron

DipodomysDeserti > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 10:19

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The pitcher should have had the catcher another 2 feet over. That’s not an intention walk going wrong that’s the pitcher being a moron

The pitcher doesn’t tell the catcher where to stand, and even if he did, during an intentional walk the catcher has to stay in the catcher’s box until the pitcher begins his motion. The only way a batter can make contact with an intentional walk pitch is if the pitcher screws up and floats one near the plate (how else would a batter hit it?).

I’m not all that upset about the rule change, but hearing people who clearly know very little about the sport comment on it like they know what they’re talking about is a little obnoxious.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero 02/22/2017 at 12:02

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There was a breakdown using last season numbers which showed it’s going to save less than 3 pitches a game on average. It really won’t speed anything up.

Also, there have been times where crazy things happen on intentional walks. Wild pitches are more common than you’d think which could drastically change the outcome of a game.

They’re fixing something that wasn’t broken.