I'm not saying increasing the base size ISN'T about increasing infield hits or stolen base attempts, but my understanding was that it was more about giving players more space to step on (to cut down on players stepping on one another on close plays at first, primarily) and to give players more area to aim for/hold on to when sliding.
Maybe this is overly cynical, but if this Apple deal means $$$ for the owners and makes them willing to go higher on their CBT number, doesn’t that leave the players thinking they should be getting even more to account for what they see as their share of a now bigger pie?
I would be interested in learning the incidence of the larger 1st and 3rd base bags getting hit by batted balls that would have cleared the smaller bases. As long as we are thinking in terms of inches and tenths/hundredths of a second.....
It's been a while, and I had totally forgotten about it, but I helped put together an infield one time as a volunteer (at a local park). Someone else brought the tape measure & the rules, and the rest of us helped with the manual labor. I was surprised that the measurement was from the back edge. I didn't even think about the fact that all bases were done this way, which doubles the amount of space the base eats up between bases. Pretty fascinating idea. I'm totally for it if it increases stolen bases, which I love. It also makes it easier for faster runners to beat out infield hits. Hopefully that increases the incentive for bunting for a hit, which also takes away the shift for players that can actually bunt. It's actually a pet peeve of mine that more players don't strategically use the bunt, even if it's not always successful, to discourage the shift. Steve Garvey used to bunt quite successfully for a hit. But the ultimate end was that teams were forced to play the third baseman well inside third base when he hit, opening up the hole. That probably caused the shortstop to shade a bit that way and opened up the middle. The bunt isn't just what happens on one or two at bats. It's what it causes the defense to do in reaction. I've seen the numbers, and I don't recall them specifically, but Garvey may have bunted two dozen times for a hit, in a couple of years, and very little after that. Once the defense adjusted, he had what he wanted & didn't need to actually bunt anymore.
I appreciate that link. Interesting article. One of the guys on the worst list made it only 30% of the time, and still had .333 wOBA. The guys on the best list were really helping their team, and assuredly doing much better than just swinging away. I am sure they were choosing their times, but if you are going to make it more than one out of tree, much less more than half time or 4 out of 5, you probably should be bunting for a hit quite a bit.
The article said Mantle had 80 bunt hits with the bases empty, and over a 54% success rate.. You can't play a guy that hits that hard to stop it, or he will kill you in other ways.
Do they know what's going on in Ukraine? Do they know just how petty and ridiculous they look right now? Switching from Ukraine news to baseball news just to see if they settled is disgusting. At first I didn't care about the details. Now I don't want to know. I know long time fans, not me, who are giving it up - or at least say so. Just let me know when they're going to quit squibbling over millions and play ball.
As I said the other day, union "negotiations" are often more about anger & punishing their opponent than good faith negotiating. But, I do think the Apple deal & other pending deals are game changers. They can shift the attention of the owners from punishing the players association toward their greed for all that new cash coming in. Sometimes greed is the most powerful motivator, especially for greedy billionaires. Money is, practically speaking, what billionaires think about all the time.
The teams already operate as if they have a salary cap - either because of the luxury tax or their own mandated budget from ownership. I'd rather they just add a salary cap along with a salary floor. The NBA operates this way and I don't see an issue with their salaries.
The Apple deal taking games from local TV is good for me now that I've cut cable (again) and could be good for lots of people if it leads to the elimination of the blackout rules down the line (MLB gets $0 from me for games instead of whatever I'd pay them for streaming if I could get Angels games at home; less than they'd get if I still had cable, but more than that $0).
In the short term it's probably going to frustrate anyone paying for cable who doesn't want to also pay for Apple TV and whichever extra service gets the next deal.
I agree they seem close to a deal, and ought to be able to hammer out what's left of the difference, but I also think you are overlooking that a big part of the remaining problem is that owners keep throwing new things in. Like, their proposal from yesterday involved finally making some real movement on the things people have been talking about the most, but also including throwing in the creation of an international draft. Your sense seems to be that the players should just accept these last-minute additions, but their inclusion is another example of how obnoxious the owners have been throughout this process, and while an international draft may not seem like a big deal to you, many international players (Fernando Tatis Jr., for one) have said what a bad thing it would be for baseball in their home countries. Of course owners don't care even a bit about the health of baseball in other countries, but it seems like SOMEONE involved in this process should be, so it falls to the players.
They are that stupid 😩😩
Apparently the international draft was a bridge too far.
I'm not saying increasing the base size ISN'T about increasing infield hits or stolen base attempts, but my understanding was that it was more about giving players more space to step on (to cut down on players stepping on one another on close plays at first, primarily) and to give players more area to aim for/hold on to when sliding.
Maybe this is overly cynical, but if this Apple deal means $$$ for the owners and makes them willing to go higher on their CBT number, doesn’t that leave the players thinking they should be getting even more to account for what they see as their share of a now bigger pie?
I would be interested in learning the incidence of the larger 1st and 3rd base bags getting hit by batted balls that would have cleared the smaller bases. As long as we are thinking in terms of inches and tenths/hundredths of a second.....
It's been a while, and I had totally forgotten about it, but I helped put together an infield one time as a volunteer (at a local park). Someone else brought the tape measure & the rules, and the rest of us helped with the manual labor. I was surprised that the measurement was from the back edge. I didn't even think about the fact that all bases were done this way, which doubles the amount of space the base eats up between bases. Pretty fascinating idea. I'm totally for it if it increases stolen bases, which I love. It also makes it easier for faster runners to beat out infield hits. Hopefully that increases the incentive for bunting for a hit, which also takes away the shift for players that can actually bunt. It's actually a pet peeve of mine that more players don't strategically use the bunt, even if it's not always successful, to discourage the shift. Steve Garvey used to bunt quite successfully for a hit. But the ultimate end was that teams were forced to play the third baseman well inside third base when he hit, opening up the hole. That probably caused the shortstop to shade a bit that way and opened up the middle. The bunt isn't just what happens on one or two at bats. It's what it causes the defense to do in reaction. I've seen the numbers, and I don't recall them specifically, but Garvey may have bunted two dozen times for a hit, in a couple of years, and very little after that. Once the defense adjusted, he had what he wanted & didn't need to actually bunt anymore.
According to https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/12/10/3748738/best-bunter-all-time-career-bunt-hits-bases-empty-mlb, Steve Garvey was 46 for 56 of bunting for a hit with no one on base. This was good for a 82.1% success rate, third highest on the list. (They filtered using the bases empty so the statistics weren't skewed by sacrifice bunts.) I am sure that helped to keep the defense honest as you claimed.
I appreciate that link. Interesting article. One of the guys on the worst list made it only 30% of the time, and still had .333 wOBA. The guys on the best list were really helping their team, and assuredly doing much better than just swinging away. I am sure they were choosing their times, but if you are going to make it more than one out of tree, much less more than half time or 4 out of 5, you probably should be bunting for a hit quite a bit.
The article said Mantle had 80 bunt hits with the bases empty, and over a 54% success rate.. You can't play a guy that hits that hard to stop it, or he will kill you in other ways.
Anyway fun numbers to read.
Do they know what's going on in Ukraine? Do they know just how petty and ridiculous they look right now? Switching from Ukraine news to baseball news just to see if they settled is disgusting. At first I didn't care about the details. Now I don't want to know. I know long time fans, not me, who are giving it up - or at least say so. Just let me know when they're going to quit squibbling over millions and play ball.
Both sides share the blame BTW.
As I said the other day, union "negotiations" are often more about anger & punishing their opponent than good faith negotiating. But, I do think the Apple deal & other pending deals are game changers. They can shift the attention of the owners from punishing the players association toward their greed for all that new cash coming in. Sometimes greed is the most powerful motivator, especially for greedy billionaires. Money is, practically speaking, what billionaires think about all the time.
The teams already operate as if they have a salary cap - either because of the luxury tax or their own mandated budget from ownership. I'd rather they just add a salary cap along with a salary floor. The NBA operates this way and I don't see an issue with their salaries.
"I loathe in principle anything that makes the luxury tax MORE like a salary cap,"
Joe, is that as a fan, or as a human?
As a fan, I like salary caps because it will help to prevent a handful of teams from hoarding the best players and limiting competitiveness.
As a human, I don't like salary caps as much, because I prefer for the players to get as much of the money as they can.
Loving the app. Thanks Joe
The Apple deal taking games from local TV is good for me now that I've cut cable (again) and could be good for lots of people if it leads to the elimination of the blackout rules down the line (MLB gets $0 from me for games instead of whatever I'd pay them for streaming if I could get Angels games at home; less than they'd get if I still had cable, but more than that $0).
In the short term it's probably going to frustrate anyone paying for cable who doesn't want to also pay for Apple TV and whichever extra service gets the next deal.
Hi Joe. I can't install the Substack app. They sent me an e-mail to click on to finish installing it, and it doesn't work. Tried twice.
Joe's a member of the Geek Squad. He'll be right over.
I agree they seem close to a deal, and ought to be able to hammer out what's left of the difference, but I also think you are overlooking that a big part of the remaining problem is that owners keep throwing new things in. Like, their proposal from yesterday involved finally making some real movement on the things people have been talking about the most, but also including throwing in the creation of an international draft. Your sense seems to be that the players should just accept these last-minute additions, but their inclusion is another example of how obnoxious the owners have been throughout this process, and while an international draft may not seem like a big deal to you, many international players (Fernando Tatis Jr., for one) have said what a bad thing it would be for baseball in their home countries. Of course owners don't care even a bit about the health of baseball in other countries, but it seems like SOMEONE involved in this process should be, so it falls to the players.
Keep us posted when the android version is available and I'll be right on it. Thanks!!
If you use android or PC and you haven't found it yet, reader.substack.com is a pretty nice option.