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MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

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Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#91

If only the Yankees get access to it (e.g. they patented it and won't let other teams use it) then I could see it as an unfair advantage. In most other areas of America life, though, this innovation would be allowed or even celebrated. I imagine it will go the way of the brilliant strategic innovation a few years back of shifting defenders heavily depending on the batter's statistical hitting patterns. It'll get bann…

If only the Yankees get access to this, the rest of the league will simply vote to outlaw it. You see something similar going on in football, right now, with a play known as the "tush push". It's not a particularly complex play, but for some reason the Philadelphia Eagles can pull it off astoundingly better than anyone else in the league. In response, several teams are petitioning rules to outlaw it. All it takes is…

The have the rule where the team defending the field goal is not allowed to act like a “locomotive” to push thru and try to block the kick, which would almost certainly work because the edge blockers cannot just defend come inside to defend it.

The tush push shouldn’t be allowed because is almost impossible to defend, sort of an automatic 1 yarder once you get there. The snapping team always have advantage because they know the start timing and the defense always has to react a split second later.

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If home runs happen all the time, they lose their excitement. TV ratings show otherwise - in every instance so far, HRs put butts in seats, and defense makes people change the channel. TV and ballpark analytics show this to be true. The common thought is that's why the league ignored abuse during the steroid era so much. edit - This is also the driving force behind multiple 'juiced ball' conspiracy theories.

For sure, that makes a lot of intuitive sense. I was thinking that there's a sweet spot with HRs. If it gets too common then it may be less of a dopamine hit. Kinda like how the randomness of slot machines is fine-tuned to maximize addictive potential. However, one could argue the same thing about Curry and 3 pointers. My original argument suggests that seeing someone makes loads more 3 pointers would be boring. Yet…

3 pointers are actually the opposite problem; they turn out to be more efficient but they make the game a lot more boring to watch.

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#93

Two players used the bats. I'm not a Yankees fan, but all these articles are making it seem like the bats are the reason. That does not explain why the rest of the lineup went off. Perhaps poor pitching is the better explanation. Too much is being made of these bats. Also, golf club technology basically does the same thing. Everything is about making a bigger sweet spot. Oversize drivers and irons didn't seem to ruin…

Professional golf just rolled-back the ball they play with because distance is a problem.

Drivers have COR and volume limits, etc. Professionals are dropping blades and playing game improvement irons. Dropping 2i and playing 7w

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#94
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If only the Yankees get access to this, the rest of the league will simply vote to outlaw it. You see something similar going on in football, right now, with a play known as the "tush push". It's not a particularly complex play, but for some reason the Philadelphia Eagles can pull it off astoundingly better than anyone else in the league. In response, several teams are petitioning rules to outlaw it. All it takes is…

The have the rule where the team defending the field goal is not allowed to act like a “locomotive” to push thru and try to block the kick, which would almost certainly work because the edge blockers cannot just defend come inside to defend it. The tush push shouldn’t be allowed because is almost impossible to defend, sort of an automatic 1 yarder once you get there. The snapping team always have advantage because th…

In both cases why not?

1. Make the kicker kick from farther out in that case. Pretty simple change.

2. 1 yard is kind of nothing in this league now when the referees have so much leeway to change yardage. They get the spot wrong ALL the damn time now. So what if it's automatic for some teams. And so what if the offense has the advantage there. That's sport. Same thing in soccer on penalty kicks, the kicker has the advantage there knowing where he's going to kick.

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#95

If only the Yankees get access to it (e.g. they patented it and won't let other teams use it) then I could see it as an unfair advantage. In most other areas of America life, though, this innovation would be allowed or even celebrated. I imagine it will go the way of the brilliant strategic innovation a few years back of shifting defenders heavily depending on the batter's statistical hitting patterns. It'll get bann…

how do you ban shifting defenders? i admittedly know nothing about baseball, but surely the team can dispatch its people wherever it likes within the legal zone for them to be at all.

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#96
post #50
post #4

This seems to most help with guys who were hitting the ball most often not at the sweet spot. By moving the sweet spot to where they are hitting the ball, they might gain some power. A bat needs to be round, a solid piece of wood, less than a certain length and less than a certain diameter. The actual shape is not defined.

By moving the sweet spot to where they are hitting the ball, they might gain some power Could we end up with custom bats for each player designed around where they tend to hit the ball?

Why not? I'd assume similar things are already done in other sports like tennis, golf, hockey, ...

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Brewer's pitching is injured, and the starter that day was a Yankee last year and the team is intimately familiar with his game. Is this one of those situations where the Yankees are even still paying part of his salary?

I don't know, but those situations exist and they might be more problematic than baseball is willing to admit. The pitcher may get more from the Yankees than the Brewers. So the pitcher may have more incentive to make sure the Yankees don't go bankrupt. Hmmm.

[deleted]

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#98
post #95

If only the Yankees get access to it (e.g. they patented it and won't let other teams use it) then I could see it as an unfair advantage. In most other areas of America life, though, this innovation would be allowed or even celebrated. I imagine it will go the way of the brilliant strategic innovation a few years back of shifting defenders heavily depending on the batter's statistical hitting patterns. It'll get bann…

how do you ban shifting defenders? i admittedly know nothing about baseball, but surely the team can dispatch its people wherever it likes within the legal zone for them to be at all.

Before the shift ban, there could be 3 players on one side of 2nd base. The rule now is that there have to be two fielders on either side on 2nd when the pitch is delivered. Essentially, they changed the legal zone

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#99

Good. Baseball isn't a serious spectator sport. It's only interesting to statisticians. Now there will be more work for them to do, adjusting for bat type in addition to stadium dimensions, rule changes, etc. to compare players across eras. And more HRs might make it a little more interesting to spectators as long as the OBP doesn't increase to prolong an already too long game.

Baseball is a different spectator sport. You don't have to pay attention to it 90% of the time. If you're looking for a game to pay attention to constantly, then yeah baseball's not ideal. But if you're looking for a game to put on in the background, or go to a ballpark and have a picnic, then baseball's the perfect sport. Also, regarding your last sentence, the new pitch clock rules in 2023 have helped a lot, bringing average game time from ~3 hours to ~2.5 hours, which seems like a small difference but has helped a surprising amount

Re: MLB says Yankees’ new “torpedo bats” are legal and likely coming

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The granny free throw and the belly putter are both better tools, but they are uncool. We can add the torpedo bat to that list.

Belly putting is anchoring to belly? That’s not legal.

TIL. The new version of this is the "armlock putter" where you anchor to your arm instead of to your belly.
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