TheHurl

Sucked a lot. But Yankees and Sox plus Dodgers and Cards (probably the 4 most storied clubs in baseball in wild card games is good for baseball...all to be ruined (along with all baseball) when the TB Rays win their first WS. RaysUp Bitches

Will Z went off today...and I'm probably out of Survivor.

I figured it was a different Mom but it appears to be the same one.

kind of...they have a mandate that everyone gets a TNF, SNF or MNF game. Thursday seems to get the short end of that.

American JuniorFelix and Canadian Junior. I'll see if I can make something in your profile to reflect that.

Robinson looks older than his Dad.

Determining Home-Field Advantage in Two-Team Tiebreakers 1. Head-to-head winning percentage during the regular season. 2. Higher winning percentage in intradivision games. 3. Higher winning percentage in intraleague games. 4. Higher winning percentage in the last half of intraleague games. 5. Higher winning percentage in the last half plus one intraleague game, provided that such additional game was not between the two tied clubs. Continue to go back one intraleague game at a time until the tie has been broken. Determining A, B, C Designations in Three-Team Tiebreakers 1. All Three Clubs Have Identical Records Against One Another • Club with highest winning percentage among three tied clubs in intradivision games chooses its designation, followed by the team with the next highest winning percentage in intradivision games. If any two of the clubs have identical winning percentages, then then the two-Club tiebreak rules will break that tie. If all three Clubs have identical winning percentages, then; • Club with the highest winning percentage in the last half of intraleague games chooses its designation, followed by the team with the next highest winning percentage in intraleague games. If any two of the clubs have identical winning percentages, then then the two-Club tiebreak rules will break that tie. If all three Clubs have identical winning percentages, then; • Club with the highest winning percentage in the last half plus one intraleague game, provided that such additional game was not between any of the tied Clubs, chooses its designation, followed by the team with the next highest winning percentage in the last half plus one intraleague game. Continue to go back one intraleague game at a time until the tie has been broken. 2. Three Clubs Do Not Have Identical Records Against One Another • If Club 1 has a better record against Clubs 2 and 3, and Club 2 has a better record against Club 3, then Club 1 chooses its designation, followed by Club 2. • If Club 1 has a better record against Clubs 2 and 3, and Club 2 and 3 have identical records against one another, then Club 1 chooses its designation. Clubs 2 and 3 would follow the two-Club tiebreak rules to break their tie to pick the next designation. • If Club 1 and 2 have identical records against one another, but each has a better record against Club 3, then Clubs 1 and 2 would follow the two-Club tiebreak rules to break their tie to pick the first designation. • If Club 1 has a better record against Club 2, Club 2 has a better record against Club 3, and Club 3 has a better record against Club 1; OR Club 1 has a better record against Club 2, Club 2 and 3 have identical records against one another and Club 3 has a better record against Club 1; OR Club 1 and 2 have identical records against one another, Club 1 has a better record against Club 3 and Club 2 and 3 have identical records against one another, then: a. The Clubs will be ranked by their overall winning percentage amongst the other Clubs combined. The Club with the highest overall winning percentage in that group chooses its designation, followed by the team with the next highest overall winning percentage. b. If two of the Clubs have identical winning percentages, then they would follow the two-Club tiebreak rules to break their tie to pick their designation. c. If all three teams have identical winning percentages, then the tiebreak rules above (No. 1) for three clubs having identical records against one another should be followed. Determining A, B, C, D Designations in Four-Team Tiebreakers 1. The Club with the highest winning percentage in games among the tied Clubs chooses its designation first, followed by the Club with the second-highest winning percentage and the Club with the third-highest winning percentage. If two Clubs have identical winning percentages, then the two-Club tiebreak rules shall apply to determine which team selects its designation first. If three Clubs have identical winning percentages, then the three-Club tiebreak rules shall apply to determine which teams select their designation first. If all four Clubs have identical winning percentages, then; 2. The Club with the highest winning percentage in intradivision games chooses its designation first, followed by the Club with the second-highest winning percentage and the Club with the third-highest winning percentage. If two Clubs have identical winning percentages, then the two-Club tiebreak rules shall apply to determine which team selects its designation 4. The Club with the highest winning percentage in the last half plus one intraleague game, provided that such additional game was not between any of the tied Clubs, chooses its designation followed by the Club with the second-highest winning percentage and the Club with the third-highest winning percentage. Continue to go back one intraleague game at a time until any ties have been broken. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship (Losing team does not qualify for Wild Card): One tiebreak game will be played to determine the Division Champion. Home field advantage will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship and Wild Card: One tiebreak game will be played to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game will be declared a Wild Card. Home field advantage will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Club Outside Division For One Wild Card Spot: 1. One tiebreak game will be played to determine the Division Champion. Home field advantage will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. 2. A second tiebreak game will be played between the loser of the game to determine the Division Champion and the team from the other division at the ballpark of the team in the other division to determine the Wild Card. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Club Outside Division For Two Wild Card Spots: One tiebreak game will be played to determine the Division Champion. Home field advantage will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. The loser of the game and the team from the other division will both be declared Wild Cards. Home field advantage in the Wild Card game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Two Clubs Outside Division For One Wild Card Spot: 1. Two tiebreak games will be played. One will feature the two Clubs tied for the Division to determine the Division Champion, and the other will feature the other two Clubs outside the division. Home field advantage in each game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. 2. A third tiebreak game will be played between the loser of the game to determine the Division Champion and the winner of the game between the two Clubs outside the division at the ballpark of the team outside the division to determine the Wild Card. Two-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Two Clubs Outside Division For Two Wild Card Spots: 1. Two tiebreak games will be played. One will feature the two Clubs tied for the Division to determine the Division Champion, and the other will feature the other two Clubs outside the division to determine one Wild Card Club. Home field advantage in each game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. 2. A third tiebreak game will be played between the loser of the game to determine the Division Champion and the loser of the game between the two Clubs outside the division to determine the second Wild Card Club. Home field advantage in the game will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. Two-Club Tie for One Wild Card Spot: One tiebreak game will be played to determine the Wild Card. Home field advantage will be determined by the rules above for a two-team tiebreaker. Three-Club Tie for Division Championship (Losing teams do not qualify for Wild Card): After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The winner of that game would then host Club C to determine the Division Champion. Three-Club Tie for Division Championship & One Wild Card Spot: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The winner of that game would then host Club C to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game would be declared the Wild Card Club. Three-Club Tie for Division Championship & Two Wild Card Spots: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The loser of the game would be declared one Wild Card Club. The winner of that game would then host Club C to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game would be declared the other Wild Card Club. Three-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Club Outside Division For One Wild Card Spot: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations (In this case, Club D would be the Club outside the Division), Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. 1. If Club D wins, it would be declared the Wild Card Club and the winner of the game between Club A and Club B would be declared the Division Champion. 2. If Club C wins, then the winner of the game between Club A and Club B would host Club C. The winner of the game would be declared the Division Champion and the loser would be declared the Wild Card Club. Three-Club Tie for Division Championship & Tie with Club Outside Division For Two Wild Card Spots: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations (In this case, Club D would be the Club outside the Division), Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. 1. If Club D wins, it would be declared one Wild Card Club and the winner of the game between Club A and Club B would be declared the Division Champion. The loser of the game between Club A and Club B would host Club C to determine the other Wild Card Club. 2. If Club C wins, then the winner of the game between Club A and Club B would host Club C. The winner of the game would be declared the Division Champion and the loser would be declared one Wild Card Club. The loser of the game between Club A and Club B would host Club D to determine the other Wild Card Club. Three-Club Tie for One Wild Card Spot: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The winner of the game would then host Club C to determine the Wild Card Club. Three-Club Tie for Two Wild Card Spots: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B and C designations, Club A would host Club B. The winner of the game would be declared one Wild Card winner. Club C would then host the loser of the game between Club A and Club B to determine the second Wild Card Club. Four-Club Tie for Division Championship (Losing teams do not qualify for Wild Card): After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations, Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Division Champion. Four-Club Tie for Division Championship & One Wild Card Spot: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations, Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game would be declared the Wild Card Club. Four-Club Tie for Division Championship & Two Wild Card Spots: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations, Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. 1. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Division Champion. The loser of the game would be declared the Wild Card Club. 2. The losers of the original two games would meet, hosted by the loser of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the other Wild Card Club. Four-Club Tie for One Wild Card Spot: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations, Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. The winners of each of those games would then meet, hosted by the winner of the game between Club A and Club B, to determine the Wild Card Club. Four-Club Tie for Two Wild Card Spots: After Clubs have been assigned their A, B, C and D designations, Club A would host Club B and Club C would host Club D. The winners of each of those games would be declared the Wild Card Clubs.

I read a study about pythagorean underperformers through history. Most had lower than average aged offences. I assume the theory is that younger players pile on the runs when up by a lot.

I just didn't select Daddy as a $1 keeper in my roto league (auction draft Sunday afternoon) and I'm regretting it. Send me an offer for him please. I have interviews from 10 to 4 today.

The parlay on that is 4.63

still isn't an event that matters to me. I enjoyed the social media after more than the golf. I had two friends at the event and they put it up among their favourite events they have watched live. Maybe I'll give it a shot one year but I have so many bucket list events ahead of it.

I meant to get a team in I like Mito, Norlander, Ortiz and Hoffman. Figured I could easily fit a few good pieces in around those 4.

Although the Rays only went with 4 bench bats in comparison to the Jays 6, and their every offensive player in the current lineup has at least 260 PA's this year. I understand your point though. Also the Rays have 3 full days off before their game 1. There is no need to sit anyone.

4-1 and a tiebreaker. I might be going full Grant here...but I believe that Boston is losing 2 at least.

5-1 gets them there IMO

You going Wednesday as well?

I would like to see the mound moved back as well. MLB does have to be careful of too much offense though as high scoring games will likely end up slowing down the games again. I still think MLB will be a 7 inning game in our lifetime though. Well probably not my lifetime...but some people here

That I can agree with and pitch clocks did up offense probably for this reason. Data would be tougher to relay in time.

Purely a joke as it's always said that the old people hold back change in baseball. As one of the oldest people here, but also one of the most open to change in the sport (one of the more realistic/pessimistic when it comes to Baseball's future). As someone who believes baseball needs change, I love what Tampa does (no will drive more change than a non money making team who is going to win). I don't think Tampa is good for baseball in any way, but baseball needs changes. so are teams supposed to ignore the data they have? Or should baseball make the changes to give offense back advantages?

Reports from the minor league rule changes. Sorry if some doesn't cut and paste this was Kyle Glaser article under the BA paywall so I couldn't link. At a Low-A game between Rancho Cucamonga and San Jose in August, three high-ranking Major League Baseball officials sat in the stands and watched the league’s experimental playing rules unfold in real time. Senior vice president of minor league operations and development Peter Woodfork and senior vice presidents of on-field operations Michael Hill and Raul Ibañez sat about a dozen rows behind home plate at Rancho Cucamonga’s LoanMart Field. They watched as Rancho Cucamonga and San Jose completed a nine-inning game in 2 hours, 28 minutes. The night before, they saw Lake Elsinore and Inland Empire finish a game in 2:24. Both games were played with a 15-second pitch clock, which was implemented in Low-A West earlier in the season. After the final out in Rancho Cucamonga, all three officials couldn’t help but remark at the pace of play with the pitch clock in place. Their enthusiasm is widely shared by MLB officials in New York. “The pitch timer was one of the more successful experiments from this season,” MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Morgan Sword said. “We received very positive feedback on the timer from players, coaches, umpires, minor league operators, frankly everybody that was involved in the Low-A West league this year. We were very encouraged by how it went.” MLB enacted six experimental rules changes in the affiliated minor leagues this season, staggering them at different levels to see how they played out in isolation. Now that the 2021 minor league season has largely concluded, officials are reviewing the effects of the rules changes on each league to determine if they should be kept—or expanded—moving forward. First and foremost is the pitch clock. The 15-second timer was introduced into Low-A West on June 8, five weeks into the season, and led to a decrease of 21 minutes in the average time of a nine-inning game, as The Athletic's Jayson Stark first reported. Games from Opening Day through June 7, prior to the implementation of the pitch clock, averaged 3:02. Games from June 8 through the end of the regular season, with the pitch clock enforced, averaged 2:41. As Stark also first reported, the introduction of the pitch clock also corresponded with an increase in batting average, runs and home runs and a decrease in walks and strikeouts. R/G AVG OBP SLG HR% BB% K% w/o pitch clock 5.13 .237 .333 .371 1.9 11.1 29.3 w/ pitch clock 5.86 .263 .347 .424 2.5 9.7 25.3 Source: MLB Research “I thought it was really good,” said Inland Empire manager Jack Howell, who played 11 seasons in the major leagues. “I thought it really helped. It just kept the pace, the flow of the game going better. And it was better for our pitchers, teaching them to work quick. Get your sign and go." While there were other elements in play, the pitch clock was the overriding factor in the reduction of the league’s average game time. Another experimental rule designed to increase the pace of play limited pitchers to two pickoff attempts per plate appearance in all Low-A leagues. The rule made no significant difference in the game times in Low-A West. Nine-inning games in the league (when it was known as the California League) lasted an average of 3:03 in 2019, with no limits on the number of pickoff attempts. Games lasted the aforementioned 3:02 through June 14 this year, a decrease of only 1 minute, when the pickoff limit was in place but the pitch clock was not. This was not the minors’ first experience with a pitch clock, but it was its most effective. Since 2018, pitchers at Double-A and Triple-A have had a 15-second pitch clock with no one on base and a 20-second pitch clock with runners on. Despite those restrictions, the length of games has increased at both levels. The average time of a nine-inning game at Double-A rose from 2:43 in 2017 to 2:55 in 2021. The average time of a Triple-A game rose from 2:55 to 3:04. There were two fundamental differences that made the Low-A West pitch clock more effective at reducing average game times. The first, simply, is there was less time on the clock. The pitch clock rose to 17 seconds with runners on base in Low-A West, compared to 20 seconds at higher levels. Batters were also required to be in the box ready to hit with eight seconds remaining on the clock, compared to seven seconds at higher levels. The second, and more significant, difference was how the pitch clock was enforced. Pitchers at Double-A and Triple-A can step off the mound and have the pitch clock reset with no penalty. In Low-A West, stepping off the mound counted as one of the pitcher’s pickoff attempts. He could step off twice and have the clock reset, but the third time he’d be called for a balk. “We removed a lot of the quote-unquote loopholes that existed in the Triple-A and Double-A pitch clock,” Sword said. “I think that’s why we saw such a better result in Low-A West compared to some other levels.” The 15-second pitch clock will be used in the Arizona Fall League this year, but no additional commitment has been made beyond then. MLB is still gathering information and feedback on all of the rules changes and has not yet made an official decision on which rules will be kept or expanded in future seasons. “We plan to discuss with the competition committee this offseason the results of each rules experiment and what, if anything, we’d like to do going forward with that rule,” Sword said. “We’re currently working through all the data and interviewing a lot of players and coaches and doing everything we can to provide a comprehensive report to the competition committee on how this year went. That will be a project for the next couple months, to start thinking about which of these rules should be advanced or used in a broader way, which should be adjusted (and) which should be dropped entirely.” In addition to the pitch clock, here is an overview of the rest of the experimental rules changes that were implemented in the minor leagues for the 2021 season. This includes the results of those rules changes and what support exists for keeping them moving forward. TRIPLE-A: LARGER BASES MLB increased the size of the bases at Triple-A from 15 square inches to 18 square inches for half of the season in each league. The larger bases were used in Triple-A East for the first half of the season and in Triple-A West for the second half of the season. The goals of the change were to increase the success rate on stolen base attempts (larger bases equals a shorter distance between them), increase the number of infield hits and decrease the number of collisions around the bag. The larger bases did result in higher stolen base success rates. Runners were successful on 76% of stolen base attempts at the Triple-A levels this season through Sunday. The success rates ranged between 69-72% each season from 2015-19. “Not in a dramatic way, but it did kind of move the numbers in the right direction,” Sword said. “The other positive was the adjustment period it required of players was very short. Some players reported they barely even noticed the larger bases. And it had some pretty significant health and safety benefits, too, in terms of the number of injuries that occur on and around a base. That one, we also had a pretty positive takeaway.” Farm directors and Triple-A managers echoed the sentiment that the change caused little noticeable disruption. “There was nothing that stood out to me that was like ‘Wow, that really changed the game,’ ” Round Rock manager Kenny Holmberg said. “It wasn’t anything good, it wasn’t anything bad. It was just kind of indifferent. The bases just were bigger.” The exact number of how many additional infield hits or fewer collisions occurred with the larger bases is not available. Still, Sword said he agreed with the characterization that larger bases and the pitch clock were the two most successful rules changes enacted in 2021. “I think so,” he said. “If by successful you mean had the desired effect with sort of minimal disruption, yeah. I think that’s probably right.” DOUBLE-A: SHIFT RESTRICTIONS MLB introduced a pair of rules limiting shifting at Double-A. In the first half of the season, all four infielders were required to have both feet in the dirt when the pitch was delivered. In the second half, two infielders were required to be on each side of second base in addition to being in the dirt. The thought was by limiting shifts, more balls in play would get through the infield for hits. After compiling data throughout the year, however, MLB found no significant difference in batted-ball outcomes by limiting shifts. The batting average on balls in play at all Double-A leagues was .309 in 2018 and .305 in 2019. In 2021, with shift restrictions in place, the batting average on balls in play was .307. “I wouldn’t say that there was anything in the data so to suggest a dramatic effect of the shift restrictions,” Sword said. “We kind of rigged it up by righties and lefties, who are affected a little bit differently by shifting, and in terms of how hard the balls are hit. There’s slight differences, but generally there was not a large effect of those restrictions being in place.” Year BABIP H/G 2018 .309 8.34 2019 .305 7.90 2021 first half .307 7.86 2021 second half .308 8.09 2021 overall .307 7.97 Sources: MLB Research, Baseball-Reference Double-A managers’ experiences largely matched with those findings. Many noted that while some balls that would have been outs with the shift turned into hits, other balls that would have been hits against the shift turned into outs with infielders playing straight up. “I didn’t see any advantages or disadvantages to it at all,” Pensacola manager Kevin Randel said. “In the end it all kind of evened out. You steal some outs and you give up some cheap hits. I think it was pretty much all the same.” “I’m kind of impartial to be honest with you,” Mississippi manager Dan Meyer added. “The rule helped us at times and a few times it hurt us … As far as any strong feelings, to be honest with you, I don’t really have any.” With no significant difference in batted ball outcomes by limiting the shift, such restrictions could be unnecessary moving forward. However, Sword noted shifting is less prevalent in the minors, and thus the restrictions may not have been as impactful as they would be in the majors. MLB implemented the second-half shift restrictions in the Arizona Fall League and will continue to gather additional data. HIGH-A: THE STEP OFF RULE MLB required pitchers at High-A to fully step off the rubber before attempting a pickoff throw this season. The rule eliminated the Andy Pettitte-style pickoff move where a lefthanded pitcher could hang on his back leg in his delivery before deciding whether to throw home or attempt a pickoff at first base. MLB experimented with the rule in 2019 in the independent Atlantic League and was originally set to implement it for the 2020 minor league season before the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. As happened in the Atlantic League, the step off rule led to an increase in the number of stolen base attempts and stolen base success rates. From 2015-19, teams averaged 2.4 stolen base attempts per game in High-A. In 2021, they averaged just under 2.85 attempts per game. The success rate on stolen bases rose from nearly 68% from 2015-19 to just under 76% this season. Year SB Att Pct. Att/G 2015 3569 5220 68.4 2.51 2016 3491 5113 68.3 2.47 2017 3342 4958 67.4 2.41 2018 3112 4628 67.2 2.25 2019 3255 4845 67.2 2.37 2021 3821 5040 75.8 2.84 While there were concerns about stolen bases becoming too easy or too prevalent with the rule change, the result was less than one additional stolen base attempt every other game.

Yep. The shifts kind of already do this but this would be a complete switching positions for each batter. Would add huge value to Rays fantasy players who suddenly are every position but catcher. This one would slow down an already slow game and I understand why baseball put a stop to it. It is interesting that they seem to run their ideas past MLB before they implement. Also makes you wonder what else they would do without MLB interference.

He served his suspension and by all logic of a measure of a manager....without Cora they were a .400 team who finished behind the O's. With him they are a 90 win team who might make the playoffs. Without bringing character into it I'd like to see one BBWAA try to justify anyone else getting the award. If they are bringing character into consideration should they be voters?

Exactly it leads to stubborn old f***s to tell everyone that baseball is now terrible.

Not any more because of the 3 batter rule but their thoughts were more like having McKay in the OF. Your pitcher isn't very good against lefties but McKay excels. McKay comes into face the lefty the pitcher goes to the field and comes back in. Then say three batter later Cronenworth (who was still with the Rays when this was told to me) comes in to face the the RH Batter who is bad against the Spliter. Now imagine them having 5 or 6 guys that can do that. Just more 1% stuff that would entertain me but make the old f***s (not that I'm not that) butt hurt.

I may or may not have told this story here but I had a conversation with a member of the Rays F.O. They had a plan to keep any 2 way draftees who were drafted as batters, on a light (could be once a week, maybe more maybe less) pitching program. With a utopian result being that the big league club could pull a position player at any time to pitch to a single batter (with the pitcher taking some safe defensive position) and then put the pitcher back in to continue the game. MLB caught wind, MLBPA filed a grievance (which is a weekly thing for the Rays) and then the MLB rule in March 2019 was put in, changing the plans. Another fun Rays idea was to have a different defensive alignment for every hitter which MLB said they would fine them millions for.