Its April and its baseball season.

3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Stretch19 said:
i was speaking more in terms of trying to grow the sport and bring on new fans...most fans knows the guys that were mentioned, but if you asked a casual fan, they would have no clue

yet the casual nba fan knows who steph curry is, etc
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If someone doesn't know who Mike Trout is they are not a casual fan, they are not a baseball fan.

Its fine, plenty of people sit in MLB stadiums and drop 50 bucks on beer and popcorn and a hat who aren't fans. I have no problem with them, until they start to crow about the Red Sox, as if they would know Wade Boggs from Boz Scaggs.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
ntz said:
reggie didn't face fresh relievers in his last two at bats all throwing 95++
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Well it was in the 72 All star game against an all star NL pitcher.

And the idea that pitching is better now is somewhat questionable, fewer teams = deeper talent pool. Take the worst 30% of pitchers in the majors right now and send them down, whats left? Thats what you face in a 22 team league.
 
ntz

ntz

tricknollegy
when jose comes back, yes, kershaw has been really bad, and pineda is more "fun" to watch pitch than cole.

i hope for the sake of baseball that jose fernandez comes back 100%. i would have listed strasburgh, but he hasn't been electric.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
whogotz said:
thank you 3xc for throwing a Met into your 500 foot hr hitters list.
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Kingman hit some balls out of Wrigley that went over Waveland Avenue and onto the next street. He was tall and gangly and looked kind of like Goofy. The idea that he needed weight training when he was hitting balls 500+ a couple times a year is laughable. Gooby plz.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Beer_Leaguer said:
It's actually 503 feet. Projected the ball would have traveled 530.
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I stand corrected, but it doesn't change my point. Weight training/PED taking in baseball isn't dramatically changing the game, not as much as watered down pitching, bandbox stadiums, tighter baseballs, maple bats, etc.

Fact is, guys were hitting moon shots 30, 40, 50 years ago, because some humans are genetically predisposed to have 100+ mph swing speeds, and some of them never touched a weight in their life. Williams sat around fishing, showed up for spring training, stretched a little, and then hit .350 with power.
 
ntz

ntz

tricknollegy
he hit that homerun in 71 off doc ellis who was three dabs in and chasing a white rabbitt through the looking glass
 
Stretch19

Stretch19

Grow up
3XC said:
Well it was in the 72 All star game against an all star NL pitcher.

And the idea that pitching is better now is somewhat questionable, fewer teams = deeper talent pool. Take the worst 30% of pitchers in the majors right now and send them down, whats left? Thats what you face in a 22 team league.
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some would argue the worst 30% of pitchers in the league right now would have been studs back in the day

as a hitter getting to see the same pitcher 3+ times in a game is an advantage more so that seeing a new guy based on matchups in 1/2 of your at bats during a game
 
justinstp

justinstp

PayPal Ready
I think a lot of the changes in the way the game is viewed and shared is a direct reflection of the state of little league in this country. Kids nowadays are ******* and just honestly don't give a ****. They're all superstars. A guy I know who played with Will Clark growing up coaches a "travel" team. He said he told his kids that sometimes after practice, Will would take an additional 200 hacks on his own, and that it wouldn't be a terrible idea if they did the same. He said the kids looked at him like he like he had a penis on his face. iPads, or more practice? **** a ***** named practice. The whole "purist" thing is all but long and gone, and once Billy Crystal leaves this earth forever, we will be left with nothing.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Stretch19 said:
some would argue the worst 30% of pitchers in the league right now would have been studs back in the day

as a hitter getting to see the same pitcher 3+ times in a game is an advantage more so that seeing a new guy based on matchups in 1/2 of your at bats during a game
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Some would argue that and be wrong, because pitching was never about velocity as much as its about location, "stuff", and mentally beating hitters. Witness Maddux, or every lefty junk thrower who ever won 20 games, and there have been a LOT of them.

The worst 30% of pitchers today are failed starters, converted to long relief/situational guys, and bad starters who are about to become failed starters. None of them are winning a CYA in 1968. If you think Drysdale/Seaver/Gibson/Carlton etc. are making way for some journeyman specialist with a 4+ ERA magically sent back to 1968, you're mistaken. Very mistaken.

The best part about the 60s/70s is that we have film, good film, and somewhat accurate radar guns for all those pitchers. Koufax's curve would shame modern hitters, just as it shamed the guys he actually faced.
 
ntz

ntz

tricknollegy
if you're a kid from the inner city, and failure is all around you, why would you even want to play a game where you fail more often than you succeed. basketball gives you instant gratification, is played and celebrated all around you, and is the most free flowing off all the sports. there is no reason for the great inner city young athletic kids to play baseball.
 
Stretch19

Stretch19

Grow up
3XC said:
Some would argue that and be wrong, because pitching was never about velocity as much as its about location, "stuff", and mentally beating hitters. Witness Maddux, or every lefty junk thrower who ever won 20 games, and there have been a LOT of them.

The worst 30% of pitchers today are failed starters, converted to long relief/situational guys, and bad starters who are about to become failed starters. None of them are winning a CYA in 1968. If you think Drysdale/Seaver/Gibson/Carlton etc. are making way for some journeyman specialist with a 4+ ERA magically sent back to 1968, you're mistaken. Very mistaken.

The best part about the 60s/70s is that we have film, good film, and somewhat accurate radar guns for all those pitchers. Koufax's curve would shame modern hitters, just as it shamed the guys he actually faced.
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im with you to a point...the guys who were good then, would still be good today, there no denying that...but the guys you listed would be considered as some of the best of all time, right?

the philosphy of the game has changed so much sense then as far as the bullpen and match ups, etc which to a point is a shame...i just dont think its really an apples to apples comparison
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
justinstp said:
I think a lot of the changes in the way the game is viewed and shared is a direct reflection of the state of little league in this country. Kids nowadays are ******* and just honestly don't give a ****. They're all superstars. A guy I know who played with Will Clark growing up coaches a "travel" team. He said he told his kids that sometimes after practice, Will would take an additional 200 hacks on his own, and that it wouldn't be a terrible idea if they did the same. He said the kids looked at him like he like he had a penis on his face. iPads, or more practice? **** a ***** named practice. The whole "purist" thing is all but long and gone, and once Billy Crystal leaves this earth forever, we will be left with nothing.
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The game will be just as well played, just in Spanish.

There will still be 30 MLB teams with substantially the same talent level as today, or 10 years ago, or 20 years ago. Instead of Ken Griffey III we'll have Octavio Figueroa, who didn't mind taking extra BP because he didn't have an iPad or even a TV in his shack.

If American kids would rather work at Target than pitch at Target Field, so be it. I don't give a **** either way TBQH. I didn't clutch my pearls when MLB started lamenting the "lack of diversity" in what is BY FAR the most diverse pro sports league in the world, just because African Americans chose other sports. I don't give a rat's ass who is playing. Taiwanese guys pitching to Venezuelans, who grounds to a Dominican that flips to a Canadian who turns to fire it to a Mexican born guy raised in Texas. As opposed to the "diverse" NBA, where a black guy passes it to a black guy who has his shot blocked by a black guy, and a black guy gets the rebound and starts a fast break where 3 black guys pass it back and forth before passing to Nowitzki.

Whatever.
 
Stretch19

Stretch19

Grow up
ntz said:
if you're a kid from the inner city, and failure is all around you, why would you even want to play a game where you fail more often than you succeed. basketball gives you instant gratification, is played and celebrated all around you, and is the most free flowing off all the sports. there is no reason for the great inner city young athletic kids to play baseball.
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that and the fact you actually need stuff in order to play baseball as opposed to just showing up with a pair of shoes and being able to play basketball
 
justinstp

justinstp

PayPal Ready
I read an interesting article about Tommy John surgeries being performed at a staggering rate on American pitchers while not being performed much at all on foreign born pitchers. Is it because we're *******? Is it because kids aren't being taught proper form? Are they just throwing kids out there, and using the "pitch count" excuse as a safe haven? If you're throwing like ****, you're going to **** up your arm eventually. Those mother****ers in Cuba and the Dominican Republic pitch year round, and I'm betting they have no pitch counts. How many of them have Tommy John surgery compared to Americans? Too much estrogen
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Stretch19 said:
that and the fact you actually need stuff in order to play baseball as opposed to just showing up with a pair of shoes and being able to play basketball
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Kids are resourceful though. Stickball, all that. Kids, if they wanted to play baseball, would play pepper and mess around as kids do. They aren't clamoring for bats or making makeshift equipment like Brazilian kids playing soccer with grocery bags full of socks for a soccer ball. They just don't like baseball, which isn't a tragedy, contrary to sports media chicken littles. The world will fill MLB with outstanding talent.
 
ntz

ntz

tricknollegy
plus baseball is hard, very little of what you do is natural athletic movement, it's more learned skill than instant gratification. if i'm a 10 year old, i'm like **** that, let's go get some run at the park
 
Stretch19

Stretch19

Grow up
3XC said:
Kids are resourceful though. Stickball, all that. Kids, if they wanted to play baseball, would play pepper and mess around as kids do. They aren't clamoring for bats or making makeshift equipment like Brazilian kids playing soccer with grocery bags full of socks for a soccer ball. They just don't like baseball, which isn't a tragedy, contrary to sports media chicken littles. The world will fill MLB with outstanding talent.
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its just easier to go inside and play video games or do something else

kids making soccer balls in brazil with grocery bags dont have that other option to choose from...its the same reason we are all so fat and other countries arent
 
justinstp

justinstp

PayPal Ready
Right. You have to work at being good at baseball. You have to develop incredible muscle memory as a hitter, and you have to do a lot of repetitive things to be successful. **** that, I'm gonna put my nuts in somebody's mouth if they in the paint.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
justinstp said:
I read an interesting article about Tommy John surgeries being performed at a staggering rate on American pitchers while not being performed much at all on foreign born pitchers. Is it because we're *******? Is it because kids aren't being taught proper form? Are they just throwing kids out there, and using the "pitch count" excuse as a safe haven? If you're throwing like ****, you're going to **** up your arm eventually. Those mother****ers in Cuba and the Dominican Republic pitch year round, and I'm betting they have no pitch counts. How many of them have Tommy John surgery compared to Americans? Too much estrogen
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Why? Focusing on strikeouts in HS/Legion ball, or radar gun numbers. Pitching camps/clincs don't teach the mechanics needed to become durable, they teach the mechanics needed to gain velocity, which is the be all/end all of draft position. We teach 14-15-16 year old kids how to reach their max velocity instead of teaching them how to get hitters out with 75 mph pitches. 50 years ago, radar guns were a curiosity, and scouts would look at a kids frame, hand size, composure, etc, and sign guys that they thought would grow (literally) into MLB capable players.

So instead of changing speeds, batter eye level, that sort of mind game stuff, they want "blow you away" stuff, 95+ gas, impossible sliders, and get-injured crap like splitters. Tiny stadiums at the MLB level have made ground ball pitchers more valuable than ever, and ground ball guys throw sinkers/splitters. Until scouts for college and pro teams stop using the gun as their #1 or only method for evaluating talent, kids will learn the wrong mechanics and blow out their elbows.
 
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