***PROGRAM NOTE:  Hacksaw’s newest Podcast is now up on You Tube.
Look-Listen here:

“Questions Worth Asking”===================

BASEBALL:  The new rules are in place, the reaction seems to be positive..same as the results.  Pitch clock, Ban the Shift,  pickoff moves, batters box moves, bigger bases.

What we have seen so far?  Games that went (3:01) in length last year, are now being played in (2:39), quite a drop.

Ban the shift.  Games last year, batters  hit (.259).  Thru the first weekend of spring training games, teams are hitting (.272)

Pitch Clock…On 10-violations overall, but a weird one for veteran starter Jose Quintana.  So flustered by the pitch clock and then being penalized twice, he also made mistakes on a pickoff move.  In a 40-pitch sequence, he gave up 4-runs- 4 hits, 2-walks, 2-pitch violations

Pickoff moves mean less throws to first, meaning runners getting big jumps.  Last spring, 12-stolen bases the first weekend of those games.  This past opening weekend 24-stolen sacks.

The batters have forgotten they cannot step out of the box, cannot adjust their batting gloves all the time, and must be ready all the time.  12-batters have had strikes called on them so far.  A bases loaded rally was wiped out in the 9th inning when an Atlanta batter was called out on a strike for not getting back in the box-killing a potential win that wound up becoming a tie game.

The increased base size will mean a bigger bag for a runner to slide into; a bigger bag means fielders making pivots on double plays can not be in jeopardy of getting run over, and first baseman might not get spiked on closer plays because they will stretch for throws off the edge of a bigger bag at first.

So we head to the second weekend, and the changes have had an effect on the games.

Faster games.  More  stolen bases.  Safer-better plays around the bigger bases.

Looks good to me so far.

===============================

Please follow and like us: