Thoughts on the series

[TraderGary]

That is why the banned the shift but doesn't seem to have made much difference.

Yes I agree with that. But what happened to the little things like moving runners? Somebody hits a leadoff double. Two ground balls or a ground ball and SF gets a run home. You don't even need another hit. Simple. One hit that's not even a HR plates an easy run as long as you play fundamental baseball. Or in extra innings, you don't need a hit at all! FUNDAMENTAL BASEBALL is all it takes to get the run in!

But for whatever reason, fundamental baseball seems to be a thing of the past. You rarely see guys purposely hit behind runners anymore to move them along. Leadoff double and guys are still swinging for the fences.

Why isn't this being stressed more from the coaching staff, particularly in extra innings with the ghost runner, (which is still the bane of my existence by the way). Is it simply all about the next contract and getting paid because you hit 20-30 HR's the previous year? Never mind that you didn't do the little things to help your team win.

I guess I'm just an old codger because I miss the way the game used to be played. It was a lot more fun and entertaining to watch. This HR or strikeout mentality is ruining the game IMO. Give me guys like Pete Rose, Ricky Henderson, Lou Brock, George Brett, Wade Boggs, Rod Carew, etc etc. Give me managers like Billy Martin or Earl Weaver. If you're going to be consistently swinging out of your shoes on every pitch with a runner on 3rd and less than two outs with the game on the line, you're going to hear about it. And if you don't adjust, you're going to be riding the bench. I don't care how much they're getting paid, or if they're the face of the team. Today we just hear things like, "well that's baseball". Fuck that! Do something about it to change things up! WTF are you getting paid for! A monkey could fill out a lineup card, and probably better than some I've seen lately.

Sorry for the rant. This got me worked up a little.

Because all those things you're talking about simply aren't possible with today's pitching. Nobody 20 years ago threw sliders the way they do today, except maybe Randy Johnson, and they didn't have analytics to tell you hitters' weaknesses with precision.

Yes, I agree that pitching today is night and day better than it was in the past. No question. But you're telling me guys can't shorten their swings to make contact and hit the ball to the right side to move the runner, or maybe a medium depth fly ball to get him home? Not buying it.

[D-train]

I think with as hard as pitchers throw these days, particularly relievers, it makes it harder to do things like hit behind the runner.

That actually seems counterintuitive....If you are a RH hitter, just have to get your bat to a high 90s fastball or an outside slider and you will hit it to the right side...

[Donn Beach]

But they aren't going to throw a pitch in a location that helps you advance a runner. That was the thing with shifts, they would want to pitch you to get you to hit into it

[D-train]

But they aren't going to throw a pitch in a location that helps you advance a runner. That was the thing with shifts, they would want to pitch you to get you to hit into it

Do you think opposing pitchers think we are going to try to advance a runner and try to prevent guys like Julio and Teo and Geno from going the other way? I do not.

[Donn Beach]

It's not them trying to go the other way. Like you said, if they pitch them outside it could put a batted ball behind the runner even without them trying to do it