Really, It COULD Be Worse

to perfectly word what i mean.

I think my response directly above this one, in which i respond to Iglew, shows what i meant.

Point is, yes, folks here, including me, don’t just accept these things we’re talking of, these baseball men things.

What i meant was we just accept them for the moment, move on, and they never get truly answered.

As for my quote about hacking vs wild pitchers, and seeing that even as a kid, i think that’s clearly something valid. The fact that in the 30 years since then teams have been more patient in those situations (A’s, Yankees, Red Sox, all taking more patient approaches, and winning,) backs this up. Why bail struggling pitchers out?

To think a good study would come from seeing if those “off that day” pitchers perhaps gave up more meatballs down the middle is quite counter-intuitive to me, i mean, they cannot find the zone. Even if they were to throw one down the middle, you could easily still hit it right at someone, or make an out any number of ways. Makes more sense to just let him walk you. Sure, if you’ve got a big time hitter up and there’s now guys on, and the count is 3-1, 2-0 or something, maybe, take a hack if you see one coming down the middle. But that’s not what happens. Time and again they bail these guys out.

Wild pitchers who cannot find the zone (usually relievers who one never knows if they’ll “have it” that day,) are practically giving you the game, if you just DON’T swing. I see teams swing at a guy who came in, threw 6 or 7 straight balls out of the zone (would have been balls but a few were swung at,) only to give him a free strike by swinging again at a ball, calming him down, then hacking at another out of the zone, which then puts him in a pitchers count (all not only keeping you from putting runners on due to walks, but giving that pitcher life, getting him more confident and “on it,” when he was simply not. You’re letting him off the hook. Too many teams still do it.)

Recap: I know folks here also get frustrated by old school, stubborn crap lots of teams still do. I often say there are many (i’ve said even most) occasions we cannot know all the factors.

But many times there simply aren’t any good reasons, and i want those times pressed by the media more, we do it in other sports (TOs misused in football, when or when not to go for 2.) Why not MLB? I say it’s because there’s this traditional america vibe to it, it’s sacrilege to go there, for some reason, and i’m sick of it.

We know these guys aren’t the brightest bulbs in the basket (i’m guessing the folks on here have far, far higher IQs than most baseball men, and far higher than myself.)

I will say it again. There are still things that most baseball teams/players/managers do that need fleshing out if you’re interested in maximum production, still many things that could and should be done better.