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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

#291

Post by rglullis »

next_xibalba wrote: post #193
rglullis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> dangerously experimental PEDs Would you be willing to be the guinea pig?

No more than I'm willing to drive a race car 200+ mph (i.e. formula 1) nor step in a boxing ring and accumulate a bunch of micro-concussions. But I'll happily tune in for the many that would be willing to do it if the money was right. Why in the world would this have any bearing on the conversation? What point are you trying to make?

Do you watch sports because of the chance of people dying from accidents and because you know they are risking themselves, or despite it?

If the former, I regret to inform you: you are a psycopath.

If the latter, then please go read some Nassim Taleb and refrain from opining on what is acceptable risks for others unless you yourself are willing to pay for the consequences.

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

#292

Post by poulsbohemian »

fracus wrote: post #290

I'm wary this will change baseball for the worse. Already, we've seen the power game become more and more dominant since the steroid era. You see less of the base running and nickel and dime baseball. It's all about home runs. If it were up to me, they would make the bats deader, not more lively.

So much this - the game is better when the focus is on getting the ball in play. Likewise, I prefer the WNBA these days because it's a game of fundamentals rather than the 3-point shootout of the NBA.

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

#293

Post by riatin »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #279
scoofy wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't disagree with any of this, I'm just saying that we know where this goes. It's just an arms races if you let it become one. If the pitching is getting too good, make it harder to pitch. >In short, you would rather have a lower BA and a higher home run rate even if it means a higher K rate, since home runs (and 2Bs) are so significantly more valuable than singles, and fly outs are also much more valuable than g…

>The American sports system doesn't allow this because there is no relegation system A few years ago a friend of mine from the UK made the observation that American Football would benefit greatly from a relegation system... every season I have the same reaction. By about the 4th week of the season, the NFL bifurcates into legitimate contenders and everybody else. You end up with Thursday nights and late season games…

They're never going to change this, it's the reason NFL franchises have such massively inflated valuations. Same w/ basketball + IPL franchises, very little downside risk to the earning power of the franchise.

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

#296

Post by _carbyau_ »

scoofy wrote: post #257
gerdesj wrote: post #252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not invent say "Field Golf" or "Lolz Golf" or whatever you fancy calling it? Set the rules and equipment to around your ideal time. Get some mates together to give it a go and refine it. I think the toughest part will be equipment - golf bats cost a fair bit to make but perhaps a price limit might help fix that. You could define club classes akin to how sailing has standard class boats. You could even require tha…

There are plenty of associations who do this: https://worldhickoryopen.com/ I still play with my grandfather's persimmon clubs about 25% of the time. It's just a coordination problem... but once the dominant professional association the game changes forever, because the vast majority of people just want to emulate the pros, because they grew up dreaming of becoming pro. Golf is finally trying to do something about th…

> but once the dominant professional association the game changes forever, because the vast majority of people just want to emulate the pros, because they grew up dreaming of becoming pro

I don't want to squash anyone's dreams but I feel like "emulating the pros" undermines the "spirit of the game" a lot. Most sports are literally "bet I can" style games that have then been refined and refined. They don't intrinsically matter to life continuing.

When you've experienced "sledging" in a low skill amateur series and the defence is "the pro's do it" then the fun of the game is gone...

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

#297

Post by gus_massa »

magicalhippo wrote: post #127
SkyPuncher wrote: post #85

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…

> You see something similar going on in football, right now, with a play known as the "tush push". As a European that just woke up from a nap, I was having a very hard time imagning a soccer move called "tush push" that was so successful it had to be outlawed...

My small daughter is watching https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Tsubasa , and I think I saw something like that in one episode.

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

#298

Post by smeej »

scoofy wrote: post #243
jparishy wrote: post #14

I think it's quite cool (disclaimer: I am indeed a dirty Yankees fan) Hitting is really hard. If you feel up to it, and can find a public batting cage near you that has a fast pitch machine (usually maxes out 75-85mph which is 20+ mph less than your typical MLB fastball), give it a shot. When you hit the ball away from the sweet spot, especially on the parts closer to your hands, it really freaking hurts and throws o…

I play golf. I write about golf. I genuinely love golf. Over the last 50 years, we have slowly broken the game of golf by allowing incremental technological advancements -- just like this -- that make it easier to do something that is hard, that is making it easier to hit the sweet spot. I am sending a grave warning to baseball fans here from the future that you will arrive at by following this road. Golf used to be…

I think what both have in common is this: People who don't otherwise care about the sport will watch highlights of people smashing balls really far with sticks. And "people...will watch" generates revenue.

People who are passionate about either sport will find them less and less interesting, but 1) most of you will keep watching anyway, and 2) the sports can afford to lose you for the parts you won't watch if it increases the total amount of "seconds people will watch" enough by drawing in enough new eyeballs.

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

#299

Post by dillydogg »

scoofy wrote: post #243
jparishy wrote: post #14

I think it's quite cool (disclaimer: I am indeed a dirty Yankees fan) Hitting is really hard. If you feel up to it, and can find a public batting cage near you that has a fast pitch machine (usually maxes out 75-85mph which is 20+ mph less than your typical MLB fastball), give it a shot. When you hit the ball away from the sweet spot, especially on the parts closer to your hands, it really freaking hurts and throws o…

I play golf. I write about golf. I genuinely love golf. Over the last 50 years, we have slowly broken the game of golf by allowing incremental technological advancements -- just like this -- that make it easier to do something that is hard, that is making it easier to hit the sweet spot. I am sending a grave warning to baseball fans here from the future that you will arrive at by following this road. Golf used to be…

Hasn't baseball already turned into this with the rise of three true outcomes?

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

#300

Post by jaredhallen »

poulsbohemian wrote: post #276
scoofy wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I play golf. I write about golf. I genuinely love golf. Over the last 50 years, we have slowly broken the game of golf by allowing incremental technological advancements -- just like this -- that make it easier to do something that is hard, that is making it easier to hit the sweet spot. I am sending a grave warning to baseball fans here from the future that you will arrive at by following this road. Golf used to be…

>that make it easier to do something that is hard, that is making it easier to hit the sweet spot. I agree completely with your synopsis, but I'm still a bit torn on whether it is a bad thing... I first golfed using my parent's 1970s era wood headed, aluminum shaft clubs that were extremely limited - it really was entirely about the golfer, not the equipment. Years later when I picked the game back up a bit - it's cl…

I agree about the skis. I think one important difference from the golf clubs is that they've enabled the really talented people to take things to a level previously unimaginable. Big mountain skiing is pretty bananas these days.
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