In Praise Of The Pitch Clock
May 17, 2023 6:38 PM Subscribe
I’m on record as opposing the pitch timer, and I opposed it on aesthetic, even theological, grounds... I’ll just have to come right out with it. I was wrong.
Fiasco da Gama — This was a great read, thank you for posting. Wanna watch some baseball now, maybe I’ll catch the Mets game on the weekend if it doesn’t rain.
Totally agree with your comment, test cricket (especially) is a thing of beauty.
posted by bxvr at 6:48 PM on May 17, 2023
Totally agree with your comment, test cricket (especially) is a thing of beauty.
posted by bxvr at 6:48 PM on May 17, 2023
Everybody thought a professional chess game had to take a few hours, then they came up with rapid chess, and then blitz chess, and now you can play a whole chess game in a minute.
I wonder how fast a baseball game could be pushed...
posted by clawsoon at 6:51 PM on May 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
I wonder how fast a baseball game could be pushed...
posted by clawsoon at 6:51 PM on May 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
This is not the article on tar-based timekeeping I thought it would be. Still very interesting.
posted by swift at 6:56 PM on May 17, 2023 [30 favorites]
posted by swift at 6:56 PM on May 17, 2023 [30 favorites]
The threeness of its structure—three outs, three bases, 32 innings and the same number of players on the field—as well as the way baseball dramatizes and celebrates the human impulse to depart from home and to return or at least to help others to do so, all of this speaks to something deep within the us.
After work, I'll be jumping on the train to meet Mrs. Ghidorah, to watch our beloved Chiba Lotte Marines. She's off today, and will be going early to make the pilgrimage to see the World Baseball Classic trophy that's touring different stadiums around the country. A student of mine excitedly showed me pictures he took of it when he went yesterday, all the while telling me how he waited in line for an hour just to see it.
That passage above has me excited for the game in a way that I wasn't before. I was, and am, very much looking forward to spending a golden evening in early summer with my wife as the team plays, the fans sing songs (different ones for each batter), enjoying a couple beers as the sun sets. Now, I'm looking forward to the game with a renewed interest in the stories, in the archetypes. I was never a huge fan of the game, the atmosphere of Japanese games is what drew me in until I could build an appreciation of it, but even before, when I still actively disliked the game, I was aware that baseball, and its history, have such a wealth of stories. It's fascinating reading breathless reports of how Shohei Otani has broken another record that stood from the 1930s, or that he's done something in a game that literally hadn't been accomplished in 100 years. James Earl Jones wasn't wrong when he talked about memories so thick they need to be brushed away, or feeling as if being dipped in magic waters.
I don't believe I've ever looked forward to a midweek evening baseball game this much before. I'm glad I saw this.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:08 PM on May 17, 2023 [13 favorites]
After work, I'll be jumping on the train to meet Mrs. Ghidorah, to watch our beloved Chiba Lotte Marines. She's off today, and will be going early to make the pilgrimage to see the World Baseball Classic trophy that's touring different stadiums around the country. A student of mine excitedly showed me pictures he took of it when he went yesterday, all the while telling me how he waited in line for an hour just to see it.
That passage above has me excited for the game in a way that I wasn't before. I was, and am, very much looking forward to spending a golden evening in early summer with my wife as the team plays, the fans sing songs (different ones for each batter), enjoying a couple beers as the sun sets. Now, I'm looking forward to the game with a renewed interest in the stories, in the archetypes. I was never a huge fan of the game, the atmosphere of Japanese games is what drew me in until I could build an appreciation of it, but even before, when I still actively disliked the game, I was aware that baseball, and its history, have such a wealth of stories. It's fascinating reading breathless reports of how Shohei Otani has broken another record that stood from the 1930s, or that he's done something in a game that literally hadn't been accomplished in 100 years. James Earl Jones wasn't wrong when he talked about memories so thick they need to be brushed away, or feeling as if being dipped in magic waters.
I don't believe I've ever looked forward to a midweek evening baseball game this much before. I'm glad I saw this.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:08 PM on May 17, 2023 [13 favorites]
I'm in favor of all the new rules, Manfred runner included. The wait between pitches was interminable. The shift rewarded analytics over athleticism. The Manfred runner adds an element of urgency to the late game. Low scoring games end mercifully quickly, and longer games are proportionally more exciting, at least if your team isn't on the wrong side of a blowout. It's so much better.
posted by rouftop at 9:35 PM on May 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by rouftop at 9:35 PM on May 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
I think one thing that brought me around was that people were saying the same things about the beauty and the pace of baseball in the 80s, when baseball was as fast, it not faster then it was now. When you.arr waxing about the game, you gotta remember it was at least as fast when these old takes were being written.
posted by Carillon at 10:32 PM on May 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Carillon at 10:32 PM on May 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Go Giants!
posted by chavenet at 12:02 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by chavenet at 12:02 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I Can't Believe How Fast a Baseball Game Feels in 2023 - "A snaillike sport has given itself a time cut, and moves briskly on TV. How does it feel while eating hot dogs at the ballpark?"
posted by kliuless at 12:05 AM on May 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by kliuless at 12:05 AM on May 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
In the article kliuless posted, the writer makes some solid points, but really buries the lede: his kid managed to snag a ball at a game on a school night. That’s the kind of thing that can, potentially, spark a lifelong interest in the game. That’s something that doesn’t happen if the kid doesn’t go to the game because it’ll last for three and a half hours.
posted by Ghidorah at 12:42 AM on May 18, 2023 [11 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 12:42 AM on May 18, 2023 [11 favorites]
I can live with the pitch clock and even the new shift rules. I like the faster games. As a Yankees fan, some of their games, especially against the Sawx took almost 4 hours. I have literally watched every inning of every Yankees game for the last 4 years. I DVR most games and could fast forward between pitches 30 seconds often. Now 10 seconds is the most without losing action. Now, I only FF past the commercials. But, something about a clock in baseball just doesn't sit right with me. I know, I know I am an old fuddy duddy.
As for the shift, it is really a manifestation of the analytics. I happen to think the hitters should have been rewarded for hitting the other way rather than making the shifts illegal, but this rule does bring back some balance between the offense and defense. Baseball like it ought to be, Oops, like it used to be.
I draw the line at the ghost runner or Manfred Man. I hate that rule. I object on several issues. One is the scoring of it. In theory and likely never in reality, is a pitcher can throw a perfect game, no hits, no walks, and no errors and still lose. 2 sac flies in the 10th and game over 1-0. Two, the runner gets credit for a run scored (if they score natch), but in the box score there is no way to know how they got on base. At least for the pitcher it is an unearned run. Three, it alters the way the game was intended and played. It is arbitrary. I think a better compromise would have been to institute the ghost runner in the 12th inning or maybe the 11th. Give an extra inning, free baseball!, a few innings before altering the game with artificial offense.
I do think Ghidorah makes a great point about kids attending games, but I argue that that is more about parent priorities than kids being tired. I followed my parent's example. Actually, believe it or not, my mom's example. She would take us to games on school nights and would let us stay for the entire game. She understood and appreciated that missing a day of school or arriving late or being tired was not a big deal in the big picture long run. She would much rather have quality family time and create memories than worry about missing one day here or there of 7th grade. Growing up is about way more than school.
(While my mom would take us to games, she would read a book a lot. My brother is still mad because he had to escort me to the bathroom and when we were in the bathroom we hear a loud roar of the crowd. We rushed back to the seats and asked mom what happened. She said the book was too interesting and missed it. It was a grand slam.)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:28 AM on May 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
As for the shift, it is really a manifestation of the analytics. I happen to think the hitters should have been rewarded for hitting the other way rather than making the shifts illegal, but this rule does bring back some balance between the offense and defense. Baseball like it ought to be, Oops, like it used to be.
I draw the line at the ghost runner or Manfred Man. I hate that rule. I object on several issues. One is the scoring of it. In theory and likely never in reality, is a pitcher can throw a perfect game, no hits, no walks, and no errors and still lose. 2 sac flies in the 10th and game over 1-0. Two, the runner gets credit for a run scored (if they score natch), but in the box score there is no way to know how they got on base. At least for the pitcher it is an unearned run. Three, it alters the way the game was intended and played. It is arbitrary. I think a better compromise would have been to institute the ghost runner in the 12th inning or maybe the 11th. Give an extra inning, free baseball!, a few innings before altering the game with artificial offense.
I do think Ghidorah makes a great point about kids attending games, but I argue that that is more about parent priorities than kids being tired. I followed my parent's example. Actually, believe it or not, my mom's example. She would take us to games on school nights and would let us stay for the entire game. She understood and appreciated that missing a day of school or arriving late or being tired was not a big deal in the big picture long run. She would much rather have quality family time and create memories than worry about missing one day here or there of 7th grade. Growing up is about way more than school.
(While my mom would take us to games, she would read a book a lot. My brother is still mad because he had to escort me to the bathroom and when we were in the bathroom we hear a loud roar of the crowd. We rushed back to the seats and asked mom what happened. She said the book was too interesting and missed it. It was a grand slam.)
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:28 AM on May 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
I recently went to a game in my city, my first in person since the rule changes, and though the game didn’t actually take much less time it felt much zippier. Things kept happening and we had to pay attention if we didn’t want to miss them.
posted by Peach at 4:13 AM on May 18, 2023
posted by Peach at 4:13 AM on May 18, 2023
The threeness of its structure—three outs, three bases, 32 innings
No wonder the games felt too long!
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:28 AM on May 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
No wonder the games felt too long!
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:28 AM on May 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
I also want to add that having the game go too long was the opposite of contemplative live. Stadiums are sparkly, vendors are shouting, you keep having to get up to let people through, and you’re likely to have a dollar dog or a water bottle land on you from the upper deck. It’s only on radio or TV that I can watch a game and feel the world turning.
posted by Peach at 4:47 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by Peach at 4:47 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I’ll have you all know that the beloved and brave Chiba Lotte Marines beat the Orix Buffaloes (which are the rare non-Marines team I feel indifference towards) 5-1. Beers were had, and I may have decided what character various players would be in an office related drama based entirely on their pictures on the Jumbotron during their at bats.
“Ooh, he’d be the strict boss wanting to know why you’re taking a paid day next Friday, didn’t you remember there’s the big client meeting? Surely your wife will have a birthday next year, right?”
posted by Ghidorah at 5:42 AM on May 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
“Ooh, he’d be the strict boss wanting to know why you’re taking a paid day next Friday, didn’t you remember there’s the big client meeting? Surely your wife will have a birthday next year, right?”
posted by Ghidorah at 5:42 AM on May 18, 2023 [6 favorites]
I was more or less prepared for this season because I went to a few AAA games last summer which already most of the new rules in place, and so I got over my surprise at how quickly things moved when I realized it was the bottom of the eighth and less than two hours had passed. It's great! I listen to a game almost every day now, because I know it's not going to take a whole evening. I might miss the supreme tension of a minute-long staredown between pitches come September or October, but a game in May doesn't warrant that kind of intensity.
The shift ban doesn't bother me; almost every other sport has positional rules to keep play from devolving, so making them more specific in baseball made sense to me. I have also argued for a further refinement--keeping a "key" behind second base open to increase the chances of a bloop up the middle--to open up offenses even more. (Is this related to the Mets' bats disappointing this season so far? Perhaps.) If we can appreciate the contemplativeness of the recurrance of three in baseball, we can also acknowledge that Three True Outcomes aren't the most interesting to watch.
And likewise, I'm not 100% opposed to the Manfred Man. If we aren't going to start counting points and have ties, increasing the impact of chance and probability on who wins if one team can't do it in 27 outs is the right path. The ghost runner is certainly a better way to do that than, say, holding a mini home run derby. But I think I'd rather have it kick in in the 11th or 12th rather than than the 10th, just to give a little more progression into "extra time" rules.
posted by thecaddy at 6:15 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
The shift ban doesn't bother me; almost every other sport has positional rules to keep play from devolving, so making them more specific in baseball made sense to me. I have also argued for a further refinement--keeping a "key" behind second base open to increase the chances of a bloop up the middle--to open up offenses even more. (Is this related to the Mets' bats disappointing this season so far? Perhaps.) If we can appreciate the contemplativeness of the recurrance of three in baseball, we can also acknowledge that Three True Outcomes aren't the most interesting to watch.
And likewise, I'm not 100% opposed to the Manfred Man. If we aren't going to start counting points and have ties, increasing the impact of chance and probability on who wins if one team can't do it in 27 outs is the right path. The ghost runner is certainly a better way to do that than, say, holding a mini home run derby. But I think I'd rather have it kick in in the 11th or 12th rather than than the 10th, just to give a little more progression into "extra time" rules.
posted by thecaddy at 6:15 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Our local team is AA, so I was already looking forward to the shorter games after several 2:20 trips to the ballpark last season. I have not made it to a live game yet this season, something I plan to remedy this weekend.
posted by COD at 6:27 AM on May 18, 2023
posted by COD at 6:27 AM on May 18, 2023
Baseball writing has a tendency to be "thinky" but I didn't expect a name check on Josef Pieper and Thomas Merton.
Gregory Hillis is the executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Ah, yeah makes sense now.
I've seen a lot of articles about the pitch clock but nothing about the changes to the DH rule. C'mon where's the old timey rivalry about that?
posted by fiercekitten at 8:13 AM on May 18, 2023
Gregory Hillis is the executive director of the Aquinas Center of Theology at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Ah, yeah makes sense now.
I've seen a lot of articles about the pitch clock but nothing about the changes to the DH rule. C'mon where's the old timey rivalry about that?
posted by fiercekitten at 8:13 AM on May 18, 2023
Designated Hitter will always suck.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:29 AM on May 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 8:29 AM on May 18, 2023 [9 favorites]
This was terrific. Thanks for spotting it and sharing, FdG.
posted by martin q blank at 8:49 AM on May 18, 2023
posted by martin q blank at 8:49 AM on May 18, 2023
I like the new rules except for the extra-innings ghost runner. The other tweaks have sped the game up and introduced more non-three-true-outcome action, so why not use the saved time to keep extra innings tense and played with the same rules as the rest of the game? I'm a Mets fan, and while it was exciting to see Alonso hit a walkoff last night, it did feel a bit like the shootout in the NHL...
posted by AJaffe at 9:06 AM on May 18, 2023
posted by AJaffe at 9:06 AM on May 18, 2023
I am hopeful the new pitch clock, which seems to have basically worked as intended (a small miracle in itself until you realize MLB has become the one league that actually test drives new ideas before introducing them) results in getting rid of the ghost runner, which is an abomination. Nothing is stopping you from leaving in extra innings, extra innings will now happen earlier in the night and there is something wonderful in the impromptu feeling of community that a long set of extra innings can produce.
posted by yerfatma at 9:56 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by yerfatma at 9:56 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm with the crew that thinks most of the changes are reasonable but abominates the zombie extra-innings runner.
posted by praemunire at 10:10 AM on May 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 10:10 AM on May 18, 2023 [3 favorites]
Also, I've always thought of baseball vs. the "oblong sports" as a question of classical vs. romantic sports. I find only baseball to be satisfactory to listen to on the radio, because of the economy of words required to evoke even a brilliant play; that's because the options for player movement are far more constrained than in sports where neither offensive nor defensive players are stationed at preestablished locations. This dichotomy doesn't add much to analysis of the pitch clock, though.
posted by praemunire at 10:55 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 10:55 AM on May 18, 2023 [2 favorites]
I'm with the crew that thinks most of the changes are reasonable but abominates the zombie extra-innings runner.
I kinda like the Manfred Man, even though initially I was lukewarm on the idea. It's made the late innings much more competitive, and ramps the teams up to playing more aggressively to avoid extra innings rather than to play cautiously to keep from tiring themselves and hunkering down for a protracted, slow bout of extra innings.
posted by tclark at 11:27 AM on May 18, 2023
I kinda like the Manfred Man, even though initially I was lukewarm on the idea. It's made the late innings much more competitive, and ramps the teams up to playing more aggressively to avoid extra innings rather than to play cautiously to keep from tiring themselves and hunkering down for a protracted, slow bout of extra innings.
posted by tclark at 11:27 AM on May 18, 2023
As I stated above, I am opposed to the ghost runner rule. What was the intention of the rule? Not to make the game shorter necessarily. That was the by product if I understand the logic. THe point was the pitchers and their arms. Injury. Don't want a $4 million a year pitcher to hurt his arm from overuse. Long extra inning games in the modern game will affect the next several games as teams maneuver around some usage rules they set up internally. The Yankees will rarely if ever, use a reliever 3 days in a row. When games go too long, the team with the well rested bullpen has an edge. The other team often has to resort to the position player pitching. The league seems to think that is bad for the fans. That is why I advocated for the ghost runner in the 12th inning (and beyond). Use the time savings to extend some free baseball then after two innings of trying it the old fashioned way, go to the artificial offense way.
I guess it some hypocrisy that I am opposed to artificial offense via the ghost runner but support the DH. As an American League fan, the junior circuit, and a Yankees fan, and a Jew who loved Ron Bloomberg (the first DH ever), I like having to pitch well to all nine batters rather than have a statistically likely rest with the pitcher coming up. I do regret that it did change the strategy, but It was a rule I could live with and that, quite frankly, benefited my Yankees a lot.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I guess it some hypocrisy that I am opposed to artificial offense via the ghost runner but support the DH. As an American League fan, the junior circuit, and a Yankees fan, and a Jew who loved Ron Bloomberg (the first DH ever), I like having to pitch well to all nine batters rather than have a statistically likely rest with the pitcher coming up. I do regret that it did change the strategy, but It was a rule I could live with and that, quite frankly, benefited my Yankees a lot.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 11:40 AM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I'm firmly on the record of loving the pitch clock. Shift rules I'm apathetic about. The Manfred Man is a weird sore thumb that deserves amputation.
And the DH? Unless the pitcher is Ohtani, ain't nobody got time to watch a pitcher be a tee-ball player at the plate. (Also, someone explain to me why the Angels keep wasting all these years of Ohtani and Trout? Seriously!)
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:13 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
And the DH? Unless the pitcher is Ohtani, ain't nobody got time to watch a pitcher be a tee-ball player at the plate. (Also, someone explain to me why the Angels keep wasting all these years of Ohtani and Trout? Seriously!)
posted by drewbage1847 at 12:13 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
I am against NL DHs with every fiber of my being, think ghost runners belong only on the playground, and I believe a pitch clock is sacrilegious. All that being said, I watched some ball game for the first time in a long time last week. The pace of play as compared to a few years ago is ridiculously more watchable. Not least because the announcers can concentrate on the game instead of trying to fill interminable minutes between pitches. I actually chose to watch more this week I haven't put on a ball game in years.
Which is to say, I too was wrong. (But not about the DH; 9 fielders, 9 hitters.)
posted by ob1quixote at 12:28 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
Which is to say, I too was wrong. (But not about the DH; 9 fielders, 9 hitters.)
posted by ob1quixote at 12:28 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
why the Angels keep wasting all these years of Ohtani and Trout? Seriously!
We need at least one professional sports franchise in the US the show fans exactly what "I wish the owner of my team was more directly involved!!!!" means in practice. Mets almost took over as the example, but Cohen stepped back and let the people who actually know how to run a baseball team to run his baseball team.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 3:27 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
We need at least one professional sports franchise in the US the show fans exactly what "I wish the owner of my team was more directly involved!!!!" means in practice. Mets almost took over as the example, but Cohen stepped back and let the people who actually know how to run a baseball team to run his baseball team.
posted by Back At It Again At Krispy Kreme at 3:27 PM on May 18, 2023 [1 favorite]
The rest of the changes are fine, the DH is truly an abomination. Having to decide whether to let the pitcher bat and probably make an out, or sub in a pinch hitter and burn a bullpen pitcher, is one of the key strategic points of National League baseball, and I already miss it.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:09 PM on May 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:09 PM on May 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
DH is the worst. Managing around your weak spot in the lineup, especially late in the game with pinch hitters, is part of the game. I'd rather have a normal speed seven-inning game than a pitch clock because the unbearable suspense is part of the game. Oddly enough, I like the ghost runner, because it inserts a sense of "you better do something, because this isn't going on forever." That's inconsistent, because settling in for an endurance contest is also part of the game.
(I've been scoring it as GR, pretty much the same as if the first batter reached on an error. E-everyone, for letting it get this far.)
posted by ctmf at 8:45 PM on May 18, 2023
(I've been scoring it as GR, pretty much the same as if the first batter reached on an error. E-everyone, for letting it get this far.)
posted by ctmf at 8:45 PM on May 18, 2023
(Well, and I guess that runner doesn't get scored as an at-bat)
posted by ctmf at 8:46 PM on May 18, 2023
posted by ctmf at 8:46 PM on May 18, 2023
Three true outcomes was the very worst thing that ever happened to the game but this ghost runner shit is right on its heels.
One of the greatest things about baseball, before every game became a seven-hour slog, was the mystery of just how long this game might go. With the pitch clock normalizing things, that mystery, the slight possibility of today's game going eighteen or twenty innings, is basically zero now that the hideous ghost runner has been pressed into service. And that maddeningly takes away a bit of the magic the pitch clock helped restore.
posted by riverlife at 10:40 PM on May 18, 2023
One of the greatest things about baseball, before every game became a seven-hour slog, was the mystery of just how long this game might go. With the pitch clock normalizing things, that mystery, the slight possibility of today's game going eighteen or twenty innings, is basically zero now that the hideous ghost runner has been pressed into service. And that maddeningly takes away a bit of the magic the pitch clock helped restore.
posted by riverlife at 10:40 PM on May 18, 2023
We need at least one professional sports franchise in the US the show fans exactly what "I wish the owner of my team was more directly involved!!!!" means in practice. Mets almost took over as the example, but Cohen stepped back and let the people who actually know how to run a baseball team to run his baseball team.
George Steinbrenner, RIP.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:55 PM on May 18, 2023
George Steinbrenner, RIP.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:55 PM on May 18, 2023
Also, see Ted Turner. The Braves got good when he stopped trying to run the team and hired professionals to do that.
posted by COD at 7:16 AM on May 19, 2023
posted by COD at 7:16 AM on May 19, 2023
The pitch clock is just using the rules to stamp out prima donna behavior that—in a more civilized age—would have been curbed by shame and ridicule. You gotta be batting at least .300 if you wanna make everyone watch some fussy ritual before every pitch and we're still gonna make fun of you for it
But today I also learned that they've been adding an automatic runner during extra innings FOR TWO YEARS and nobody told me—which is obviously terrible—but what's really killing my soul is that so few people grew up playing neighborhood pickup games that they would use the word "ghost runner" for something that is LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF A GHOST RUNNER.
posted by straight at 9:45 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
But today I also learned that they've been adding an automatic runner during extra innings FOR TWO YEARS and nobody told me—which is obviously terrible—but what's really killing my soul is that so few people grew up playing neighborhood pickup games that they would use the word "ghost runner" for something that is LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF A GHOST RUNNER.
posted by straight at 9:45 AM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
People talking about how the game "was intended" to be played seems very silly when talking about a game as artificial as baseball. The whole game is constructed out of bits and pieces, bases and pitches. All games are, of course, but with baseball it's really obvious.
No offense intended at all to the FPP author, and it's always interesting to see an article writer admit they were wrong (if only I could admit that as often, it's certainly frequently called for). But when people talk about baseball as if it were somehow beautiful, I, so to speak, balk*. Beauty as elegance it obviously doesn't have, and beauty as a metaphor I don't see. Maybe it's about failure. One of the most notable cultural characters related to baseball, Charlie Brown, is mostly known for being to terrible at it. My favorite related poem, "Baseball's Sad Lexicon," is about a game where the poet's team lost really badly.
One thing baseball does have in its favor, I think, is originality. Sure, it borrows a fair bit from cricket, but less than you'd think. I don't know of many sports that are quite like baseball that don't derive from it. When obviously created things like baseball manage to become popular, and even grow into institutions, that's really interesting to me.
(What the heck even is a balk, in baseball? I still don't know!)
posted by JHarris at 3:53 PM on May 19, 2023
No offense intended at all to the FPP author, and it's always interesting to see an article writer admit they were wrong (if only I could admit that as often, it's certainly frequently called for). But when people talk about baseball as if it were somehow beautiful, I, so to speak, balk*. Beauty as elegance it obviously doesn't have, and beauty as a metaphor I don't see. Maybe it's about failure. One of the most notable cultural characters related to baseball, Charlie Brown, is mostly known for being to terrible at it. My favorite related poem, "Baseball's Sad Lexicon," is about a game where the poet's team lost really badly.
One thing baseball does have in its favor, I think, is originality. Sure, it borrows a fair bit from cricket, but less than you'd think. I don't know of many sports that are quite like baseball that don't derive from it. When obviously created things like baseball manage to become popular, and even grow into institutions, that's really interesting to me.
(What the heck even is a balk, in baseball? I still don't know!)
posted by JHarris at 3:53 PM on May 19, 2023
so few people grew up playing neighborhood pickup games that they would use the word "ghost runner" for something that is LITERALLY THE OPPOSITE OF A GHOST RUNNER.
Nah, I know that of course, but it's also a pretty good name for the thing that this is, even though it isn't the same thing. A runner just appeared out of nowhere with no batter having been up and gotten on base. Must be a ghost.
posted by ctmf at 6:03 PM on May 19, 2023
Nah, I know that of course, but it's also a pretty good name for the thing that this is, even though it isn't the same thing. A runner just appeared out of nowhere with no batter having been up and gotten on base. Must be a ghost.
posted by ctmf at 6:03 PM on May 19, 2023
What the heck even is a balk, in baseball? I still don't know!
The pitcher has to go perfectly still, just for an instant, before throwing the ball to home plate. Once they've gone still, if they move to throw it to home plate, they cannot throw it to try to pick off a runner. This is all so a runner trying to steal a base knows when they can take off. There are a bunch of details, but that's basically it.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:44 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
The pitcher has to go perfectly still, just for an instant, before throwing the ball to home plate. Once they've gone still, if they move to throw it to home plate, they cannot throw it to try to pick off a runner. This is all so a runner trying to steal a base knows when they can take off. There are a bunch of details, but that's basically it.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 8:44 PM on May 19, 2023 [1 favorite]
I stopped watching hockey because of the general anti trans, anti gay culture of ownership, management, and fans (in general)
Is baseball something I could get into?
posted by rebent at 4:15 AM on May 20, 2023
Is baseball something I could get into?
posted by rebent at 4:15 AM on May 20, 2023
I stopped watching hockey because of the general anti trans, anti gay culture of ownership, management, and fans (in general)
Sadly, no. Baseball players may be the most culturally conservative of professional sports in the US. You want Women's Professional Soccer, which is actually quite awesome in its own right.
posted by COD at 5:06 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
Sadly, no. Baseball players may be the most culturally conservative of professional sports in the US. You want Women's Professional Soccer, which is actually quite awesome in its own right.
posted by COD at 5:06 AM on May 20, 2023 [2 favorites]
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