Ford and Locklear

[Donn Beach]

I think that's turned a bit, you can see it at SS. That was weighed to defense enormously. Now it's become a very offensive oriented position.

“I think when my dad played,” says touted Toronto shortstop prospect Bo Bichette, son of ’90s outfielder Dante, “it was more like, you need to be able to field, and if you can’t hit we’ll live with it. Nowadays, you gotta be able to hit, and if you can’t field, you know, we’ll figure it out.”

[D-train]

My opinion, and this one is coming straight out of my ass. It's injuries of course. You want a guy that can cover multiple positions to allow for injuries. So what happened to make this an issue now. I'll say it's a lack of talent. Baseball is thinner now than it use to be talent wise. Young athletes have more options now. It's countered by the Latino influx but I'm sticking to it. I think it shows up in your minor leagues. You see it with pitching. I think it was easier to find decent replacement level players in the minors so it wasn't necessary for ML players to play multiple positions

Yeah, I would agree there.

Baseball isn't anywhere near as popular as it once was to the youth of America. That and pitching is on a far more elite level than it ever was given the science surrounding spin and increasing velo.

But again, that would seem to make the hit tool far more valuable. I dono... I feel like the league follows trends... I'm looking for a team to break this trend.

Or MLB does something... they had juiced balls in the later 2010's... juice em again. Nobody finds 2-1 15 K performances on each side fun to watch.

The problem is hitting is based on vision and reflexes and hand eye coordination and there is nothing that can be done to improve it. It is at its max and it would take an Alien from outer space coming here to improve it.

[D-train]

I think that's turned a bit, you can see it at SS. That was weighed to defense enormously. Now it's become a very offensive oriented position.

“I think when my dad played,” says touted Toronto shortstop prospect Bo Bichette, son of ’90s outfielder Dante, “it was more like, you need to be able to field, and if you can’t hit we’ll live with it. Nowadays, you gotta be able to hit, and if you can’t field, you know, we’ll figure it out.”

Not with OFers but he is right. They realized that hitting is massively more important than D.

[Seattle or Bust]

I feel like there's also been an evolution in the way hitting is taught.

For example, in the NBA... European players are now seen as much more prepared to play in the NBA because they are so fundamentally sound and youth basketball in the US has basically become, "can you dunk by the 7th grade? ok... screw the ability to pass, dribble, defend, or shoot... just be athletic!"

When I was growing up in the game of baseball it was VERY contact focused. There was a huge emphasis on taking the ball to right field and creating a line-drive focused swing. Striking out was the enemy.

I don't know this because I'm no longer involved, but I wonder if there is now a sell out for power in the development US-born players in baseball.

[Donn Beach]

Yeah, but pitchers throw harder now which I believe requires swinging harder. Remember charlie lau, he was like a rock star. His approach was a level swing. I really wonder what George Brett thinks of the modern way of swinging. He was the KC hitting coach not so long ago, he's still involved

I was reading about basketball the other day. The influx of European players is more than some additional talent. They have changed how the NBA game is played. I hadn't realized that

[Bil522]

I now have undisputed evidence that Jerry is a complete and utter moron.

Code: Select all

Split	G	GS	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB	ROE	BAbip	tOPS+	sOPS+
Home	39	26	102	89	12	23	1	0	6	16	0	0	10	34	0.258	0.353	0.472	0.825	42	1	3	0	0	0	0	0.347	109	121
Away	44	39	149	130	20	27	5	0	10	18	0	0	14	47	0.208	0.302	0.477	0.779	62	3	4	0	1	0	0	0.23	94	113

As you can see the player above was a ton better at home than on the road....which is weird because T-MOBILE is his home park. These were Mike Ford's 2023 splits. How do we let someone go, who is making no money, who hits well in T-Mobile (one of the hardest parks to hit in), and fits in the clubhouse? I was willing to give Jerry a little slack because he could be under orders from on high, but these stats show, he just has no clue of what his park or hitting is all about.

[harmony]

I loved Heather Locklear!

I would occasionally come home to Heather Locklear when the TV series Melrose Place would use my Los Angeles apartment complex for location shoots. At the time I was dating a blonde actress named Heather ... but she was not Heather Locklear.

[Donn Beach]

Mr suave harmony

[Seattle or Bust]

Locklear 1-1 with a 2 run homer...

[D-train]

Mr suave harmony