I don’t get it. What did he do wrong?
https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1403556698749652993
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the pittsburgh pirates intentionally walked a brewers hitter to load the bases
then walked the next 3 hitters
lost by 3
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Spin rate baby spin rate.
At the very beginning of the clip, before 1s even, you see his left foot move back a hair and his right knee dip. The delivery itself was fine, and the clip almost cuts off the balk at the beginning.
Nothing that wouldn’t have gone unnoticed, except that ump crew got a burr under it’s saddle. 1st, Ohtani asked what was was wrong with several strikes that weren’t called strikes. Then they fucked up a balk call saying Ohtani didn’t step off, when he clearly did. After that, it was game on for anything strange a pitcher did.
I tried to ump baseball one season. There was no training, no rulebook, the only thing you got was a chest protector.
You’re supposed to only do the bases your first year, but usually no other ump would show up for my games. My second game by myself some coach starts screaming about the pitcher balking. I laughed out loud and told him I had no idea what a balk was so it was perfectly legal today.
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Me two.
Qs to consider:
- does changing this rule remove skill from the game?
Answer: in a trivial sense, it removes the “skill” of walking around and touching all the bases. Here’s the thing: Sabo the dog not only can do that, he has done that, and on a MLB field. T-Mobile Park 2018-7-5. He’s been there, done that. And if I wasn’t so lazy, he could improve his “skill” level, with my coaching (aka training). So it;s a skill that can be improved with coaching.
- does changing this rule fuck with tradition?
Yep. But also in a trivial way. It fucks with tradition when time is out, under any normal circumstances and use of that term… Another tradition associated with baseball when time is out is public singing. Ask yourself this: which rule change that fucks with tradition while time is out makes you more embittered: 86 home run trots -vs- 86 public singing ? There’s no “correct” answer, of course. The purpose of the Q is for peeps to try to quantity their level of bitterness.
- would changing this rule speed up the game?
Yes it would. But again, in a trivial amount. Just like 86ing thrown intentional walks speeds up the game an average of 14 seconds.
- would changing this rule make the rules themselves better, as in more consistent, easier to understand etc/etc
No. It would do exactly the opposite. Now we’d need a new rule that handles out of the park HRs differently.
- would changing this rule make the game more “fun”?
That depends on your idea of fun. Some folks find on-field celebrations somewhere on a spectrum between annoying to evil. What would make them happy is to have to see less of them. So it depends on what the rule is changed to. Changing it to the batter has to just get back to the dugout in a timely manner without doing any damn celebrationing… they’ll be happy. If the rule is the batter has the option (and is encouraged) to celebrate on the way back, they are not going to be happy at all.
OTOH, some fans really like on-field celebration. That’s one of the major reasons they enjoy watching sports ball. They should love replacing the home run trot, with the “home run scurry” to coin a name for celebrating on the way back to the dugout. Freeing the post-HR celebration from this requirement that all the bases must be touched in order, frees up the scope and variety of showmanship which can be brought into play. Remember: the runners on base at the time would be freed from the same requirement too. A out of the park grand slam means four dudes get to get their dance moves into the fun simultaneously.
- would more of the same rule make things better?
How about this: before the game, the grounds crew chalks a maze behind 2nd base. The new rule states that after a out of the park HR, the batter must (1) touch 1st, (2) touch 2nd, (3) run the maze, (4) touch third, and (5) touch home. The batter would be out if they crossed a line of the maze. Same idea: a symbolic ritual that must be accomplished after an out of the park HR for it to count… except more, the dial has been cranked from “4” to “5”… Would this be a better rule change instead… instead of less useless ritual, lets go to more? Once again, there is no correct answer? The purpose is to get folks to think about things in a different but relevant way.
Put the above all together. Assigned a weight to each Q (again, no right answer), do the math, and see what you get.
| # | Q | My valuation, just my opinion man |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | loses “skill” factor of HR trot | +3.00 |
| 2 | fucks with tradition | -1.00 |
| 3 | speeds game up ~14 seconds | +0.14 |
| 4 | needlessly muddies the rules | -1.00 |
| 5 | more celebration fun | don’t care either way (zero) |
| 6 | let’s do more instead of less | let’s not (zero) |
| Total | 1.14 positive means let’s change it |
Wait they gave you a chest protector? I had to supply all my own gear. Same level of training though. I think we got about 3 innings behind the plate with an experienced ump watching us. Then we umped 8 year old games as a one man crew, with at least 1 parent per game that would taunt you like you were Angel Hernandez out there blowing calls all day. We were told we had the authority to eject unruly fans but I never pulled the trigger.
I pitched a decent amount growing up. I hated throwing pickoffs because at least 1 out of 3 would get by and the runner would end up on second or third. Then I saw another pitcher who would just step off and stare you back to the bag. It seemed like a good alternative. So next time I came to my set, saw the runner getting too much of a lead, and stepped off to stare him down. The ump is like “what the hell are you doing… that’s a balk.” Apparently you have to step BACKWARDS off the rubber with your back foot, not forward. Huh. He’s like “I’ve umped dozens of games where you pitched and you never knew that rule?” Nope dude. That’s my first time ever stepping off the rubber when coming to a set. I saw some other guy do it, seemed like a good idea.
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Players will still jog around the bases. It’s fun. It’s tradition. It’s celebratory. I don’t think any player dislikes taking the very literal victory lap.
Just remove the part where you take away a run scored by hitting a baseball 400 feet because the tip of his shoe missed 2nd base.
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Like who really cares about the players or traditions when you got action on a game and shit like happens and it flips the result. Whose laughing now? It’s a stupid fucking rule.
If somebody did a poll, I’m guessing I’m the biggest traditionalist here. It’s a stupid rule.
{ warning, gambling analogy ahead, proceed with caution }
Like, is blackjack a less stupid game if the rule is, if you forget to say “please” when drawing, your hand is dead?
It’s stupid rule because it’s a bug to begin with. The rules never should have been that way, it makes the rulebook more complicated, it serves no useful purpose, and not so occasionally, it fucks an entire game up as a goof.
The rule should be…
When the ball leaves the field of play (for any reason in any direction) play is out. Runners are “placed” (like that extra innings crap, let me puke) properly before play resumes.
If extra inning the “placed” runner doesn’t tag 1st on the way out, to be fair and consistent, shouldn’t he be out too. it’s a stupid rule.
ETA: When a runner from 1st is going with the pitch, often they’ll be most of the way to 3rd when a long fly lands foul. Play is out. Now, the runner will return to 1st diagonally by the pitchers mound. They don’t need to retouch 2nd. Why not? It’s a stupid rule.
Counterpoint- if you dumb enough to miss a free base as you trot around the diamond admiring your home run, you deserve to be out if the other team notices.
It’s what makes baseball hilarious.
He shouldn’t have been admiring the ball
He wasn’t. He was in full sprint because it wasn’t clear if the ball was going to clear the fence.
JFC what an answer. Bauer called this out years ago and was obv correct.
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Now I know exactly what my wife sees when she asks me if I ate all the ice cream.
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