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illgamesh Yeah, let's look at the NHL for ways to improve the popularity of a sport that is more popular than its ever been.Baseball is fine. A lot of this seems arbitrary. Especially the DH stuff. Honestly, all I think is needed is strike penalties if the batter takes forever to get in the box, and ball penalties if the pitcher takes forever to deliver the ball. It will almost never have to come into play after the first couple months, as everyone would speed up their pace.To me it seems like more often than not the catcher is at fault, standing on the plate and trying to block the runner who is already pretty much there. Half the time there isn't even a play. And everyone loves a home-plate collision. If you want people to be more exciting, you shouldn't take away an exciting play. -
ultxmxpx I kind of like Conan O'Brien's idea of letting runners choose whether they round the bases counterclockwise or clockwise. -
Chris Magyar I agree that most of these rule changes are too drastic, though I like the idea of mitigating the DH rule somehow. The one-and-done version is my favorite. The DH is kind of a sham rule anyway. By allowing a special PH to hit for the pitcher without removing him from the game (once only), or allowing a big bat to sub at the plate once for a glove wizard (once only), you get to ratchet up the tension at the plate without sacrificing the managerial strategy of the game's essence.
My co-ed softball league uses the commit line at home plate for safety reasons. It's no fun. And how would it work with a runner on third? Would they be more restricted in moving up the line on a doubtful fly ball to the gap? Could they retreat to the bag if the ball's caught? Would they have to stay behind the line until it's caught or not? Unnecessarily complicated. Are catchers (with chest protectors and shin guards) really that much more in danger than a SS avoiding the spikes of a runner on a double play? How many catchers have been seriously injured on a plate collision in the history of the sport? Is it substantially more than the number of fielders hurt in collisions chasing after pop flies?
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tangotiger If you think that the 4-0 double walk and 1-0 mid-inning relief change is too drastic, what would you call a 3-point line, a 24-sec shot clock, 4-4 overtime, and protect the QB at all costs? Not to mention the granddaddy of them all: shootouts to crown the World Cup champion?
As for the commit line, if you put it 30 feet from home plate, there's no runner from 3B that would be hanging right at the 25 foot mark wondering if he should run back to the bag for 65 feet. But, if you think he will, then put it at 15 feet.
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katoomba there is one thing I think hockey could learn from baseball:
Don't screw around with your rules. leave it as is. The flaws are are sometimes th things that make a sport good.
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tangotiger Have you been following hockey since the lockout?
Much better than pre-lockout.
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BobbyRoberto Surely this article should have been posted on April 1, right? -
metty5 Tango,
I read your site all the time and think you are very smart and gifted individual. However, this article might be full of some of the worst ideas I have ever heard. No sport will ever be perfect, and its flaws make them exciting and debatable.
The middle inning relief changes are annoying, but they are a part of the game as it has evolved. Taking away the game's history and negating its evolution is criminal.
The DH rule, in my humble opinion is horrible. I don't necessarily think that both leagues need to be the same, but I do think the concept of a one dimensional player is a joke. Baseball is a two way sport, and having the pitcher bat, bunt, or otherwise adds to intrigue.
Keep up the good work at your blog, but leave the game the way it is. -
constancio Hockey has its problems, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from it. I liked the article, even if I didn't like every idea.
The middle inning relief penalty in particular seems like an easy-to-implement idea that would really influence the flow of a game. Can you imagine a tinkering manager bringing in a lefty specialist to face David Ortiz if you knew that meant starting with a 1-0 or 2-0 count?
And 'balls' are used as deturrents/penalties in other aspects of the game... such as when a pitcher brings his hand to his mouth on the mound.
One idea I really don't think would work is with the 4-0 walk penalty. While I understand the intent, it could also serve as double jeopardy on a pitcher with legit control issues. I also don't see the 'pitching around Bonds' as a huge problem that needs a strong response; it's not like Bonds and Pujols don't manage to put up huge offensive numbers even though pitchers frequently work around them.
Finally, as one of those people who still likes to keep score on a scorecard: the floating DH idea is just cruel. :)
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RobertDudek I appreciate Tango's efforts to put forward innovative ideas. Some of these ideas I like, some I don't:
Rule 1: I think something has to be done to limit pitching changes. But I dislike penalties that create artifical hitter's counts.
Better is James' idea of allowing one free mid-inning change and then forcing the pitcher to stay in until he allows at least one run. I would make an exception for a pitcher injury, but then I would force the team to immediatly place the injured pitcher on the disabled list.
Also, if the game goes extra innings, another free mid-inning change should be granted (so a team that has not used any would now have two).
2) 4-0 walk penalty.
Extra base penalty is far too severe. Instead I would allow any batter to refuse a walk until at least one strike is thrown to him. This would cut down on the blatant intentional walk if the offensive team decided it was advantageous to keep batting. This would negate much of the "walking a batter to create a DP situation"; well, the pitcher would have to throw at least one strike.
3a) One-and-done DH or 3b) floating DH
I don't like these at all. I see arguments for and against the DH, but don't see the current situation as especially limiting action. The problem, if it exists, is very mild and does not warrant such a drastic solution. But option 3a is far preferable to 3b. 3b accentuates the value of the one-dimensional player because you can bat your best hitter in high value situations.
4. I like the auto-ejection for hitting a batter in the head. The actual rule has been tweaked in the 10-20 years, in that after a warning to both teams, a pitcher is automatically ejected if the umpire determines his intent was to hit the batter. The proposed rule change is better because it takes intent out of the equation.
But I'm against the increased penalty for any HBP. I see too many batters lean in right to the edge of the plate; if the ball is two inches inside it will frequently hit them, possibly only brushing their jerseys. We don't need more incentive for a batter to lean over the plate. We WANT pitchers to pitch inside (let the batter wear elbow guards, batting gloves and batting helmets - but nothing more). We should slowly move the batters box a few inches away from the plate and force the batter to start with both feet completely in the box - both before and during their swing.
They might complain that they can't reach the outside corner. Hey - that might encourage a trend to slightly longer and slighly thinner bats (good for the game because it would hopefully reduce the number of foul balls).
5 Limiting Pickoffs. Limit of three attempts per plate appearance (after that a balk is called) would be my preference. We could see the return of the 100+ SB man. Besides, pitchers can speed up their delivery in an effort to contain base stealing. Indeed many have done this successfully.
6: Home plate commit line.
No need for this. The reason there are so many collisions is that, over the years, the catchers has been allowed to do more and more to block the plate without possessing the ball. The close play at the plate is one of the most exciting in baseball, so my vote would be NOT to do anything to take the excitement out of it.
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Adam The leitmotif of "action and tension" that the article is based around makes no sense. A mid-inning pitching change only serves to build the tension of the game. Hockey "doesn't tolerate crap like tripping [and] hooking" because you can seriously injure a player by doing it, not because it slows the game down. However, it's not as if David Ortiz is going to get hurt waiting two minutes for Mike Myers to warm up. It just makes it more dramatic when he hits a home run.
Most of these proposed chages are a logistical nightmare. If any of these rules were enacted (which, frankly, seems highly unlikely), then I can only imagine how difficult it would be to explain them to someone that doesn't know what baseball is. One-and-done DH? The DH is bad enough; making it pointlessly convoluted would not enhance the game of baseball. Arbitary ball penalties? These rules would be stupid in video game baseball, let alone real baseball.
In fairness to your proposed changes, there is absolutely no reason why umpires should not immediately eject a pitcher who throws at a batter's head. However, I think MLB does a passable job of enforcing safety rules already.
You are clearly working out of your element here; I suggest you try this article again after you have a regression analysis demonstrating what aspects of baseball are fun to watch.
Changes on the f
THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball —
Rule changes, as we’ve previously discussed.
Changes on the fly
THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball —
Rule changes, as we’ve previously discussed.
THT: Tango: Changing on the fly
BBTF's Baseball Primer Newsblog —
THT: Tango: Changing on the fly Gromit points out that “Tom Tango’s article on rule change ideas is interesting”. Rule Change No. 3B: The Floating DH As an option to tweaking the existing DH rule, we can continue with our David Ortizes and Travis Hafners, but they can bat for anyone in the lineup, and can come up no quicker than one time per every nine team at-bats. So, if No. 8 hitter Adam Everett is up with men on base, you can bring in your floating DH to bat for him. But, that means that the next batter, the pitcher, must bat for himself. The floating DH must wait for ...
I did my civic duty, now leave me alone
Nice Guys Finish Third —
... But, in HT today, there was a pretty interesting article about changes that Tom Tango and others were discussing on Tango’s website. I’ve always wondered if there would be a way to speed baseball up without using a clock - eliminating the requirement that four pitches be thrown for an intentional walk being the easiest one I can think of - but some of these ideas would really help speed the game up, and also make it more interesting. ...
Daily Roundup 4/18/08
Beyond the Box Score —
... Links of the Day:
- A pair of THT links: Tom Tango's NHL influenced proposed changes to the game of baseball and Jeff Sackmann looks at the benefit of batting eighth.
- BP writer Dan Fox is now a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Congratulations and good luck to him, although I'll miss his pieces on BP.
- Fire Joe Morgan looks at a Brian Sabean>Billy Beane article.
Pic of the Day: Ouch.
via d.yimg.com
Best Pitching Matchup: Cole Hamels ...
Hawiian Shirt Friday: 04/18/08
MVN RSS —
... This is what happens when two of my favorite sports collide: Tom Tango over at The Hardball Times takes a look at what would be some rule changes for the game of baseball, taking their lead from Hockey! ...
A Response to Tom Tangos Suggested Rules Changes
Baseball Digest Daily —
Tom Tango, of InsidetheBook.com, recently listed in an article for The Hardball Times some suggestions for rules changes in Major League Baseball . I’d like to respond to those suggestions and offer up some of my own. The Mid-Inning Relief Change Penalty So, what you do is allow one mid-inning switch per game. But, the second time you do a mid-inning switch (same inning or not) is start the batter at 1-0. And the third time, the batter starts at 2-0. You may find it hard to believe, but a batter who starts at 2-0 hits as well as Albert Pujols does at 0-0. Is there any manager ...
This Week in News and Sabermetrics, 4/13-4/19
MVN RSS —
... Tom Tango suggests some interesting rule-changes the MLB should potentially implement but will more than likely ignore. ...
