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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

#411

Post by Gravityloss »

gerdesj wrote: post #335
scoofy wrote: post #257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I am not a golfist at all and unfortunately I feel that I must instinctively hate the game - that is really my problem and not golf's. Golf is a decent sport and not deserving of my opprobrium. So why do I feel the need to dislike golf? I'm a white skinned, middle aged male and my job title is Managing Director. Obviously I should be a passionate small white ball smacker. No I'm not. I love the idea of golf but hate…

There's a lot of variance in golf courses and golf cultures and players. At worst it's really bad, at best it's really good.

Maybe there could be a coordination method to only play with blades and persimmons. Then you could mark it in when reporting your score for handicap calculation. That's the make-it-or-break-it decision. If there's a way to get recognition or compensation for playing with worse equipment, then people might do it.

Shorter courses could also be more interesting this way. Then you would have more places to play closer by, eliminating travel etc.

There's some precedent already. Drivers have limitations and most manufacturers are under them (ie just at the limit for things like moment of inertia) but drivers that are outside regulations are available to buy online. Also horizontal distance metering is allowed in competition, but not vertical distance. Most rangefinders have a visible external switch to disable vertical distance. One could expand from those two places where we by regulation already use sub-optimal equipment.

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

#412

Post by nemo44x »

alabastervlog wrote: post #410
nemo44x wrote: post #404

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed and I can see the appeal on old courses that were designed for a ground game that doesn’t exist in the modern aerial game. Especially if you have firm conditions like in Scotland.

Reading about these was the first time I was even tempted to take up golf. Smaller courses are really appealing—the huge courses of modern golf kinda stress me out, and I've also got a vague and not-strongly-held dislike for how much land they use, which, environmental and community-development effects aside, I'd think would also tend to make the game more expensive, plus, when they're so sprawling as they often are,…

You sort of have a few different classes of golf course.

- Par 3/Pitch & Putt. Should be able to reach the green from the tee on most or all holes.

- Executive. Smaller course with more par 3 holes and shorter par 4s. Less than 5,000 yards and makes for fast play.

- Championship. Full sized course that most people are familiar with. These have gotten longer as equipment has evolved.

There has been a resurgence in par 3 and executive course openings. Especially par 3 courses. I agree that a faster round that’s more about shot making than power is fun.

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

#413

Post by theluketaylor »

nomercy400 wrote: post #388
szvsw wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There’s some consensus though that currently, pitching has evolved much faster than batting due to advances like Trackman and deeper understanding of the relationship between biomechanics, pitch tunneling, spinrate/flight path/movement, and so on. In conjunction with that has been a shift towards “TTO” (three true outcomes - HR/BB/K) on the offensive side, which is a statistically motivated perspective that batting f…

I know nothing of baseball. If pitching evolves faster than hitting, does that mean the response time of the hitter becomes shkrter? Can't you move the pitcher further away to give the hitter more time to respond?

MLB could move the mound back or lower it again like was done in 1969 after the 'Year of the Pitcher', but it's not that simple.

The other crisis baseball faces is pitcher arm health. The mere act of throwing a ball 90-105 mph is damaging to the arm, and it only gets worse the harder you throw. Every pitcher is chasing velocity and spin rate since the resulting success and money is undeniable. Pitchers frequently need major surgery and extended year+ time recovering as a result.

If the mound is moved back or lowered pitchers will respond by doubling down on chasing velocity just to stay level, leading to more injuries and UCL replacement surgeries.

The same incentives apply to other options to give batters an edge, like juicing the ball or shrinking the strike zone. Pitchers will respond with velocity and blow up their arms.

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

#414

Post by poulsbohemian »

Bud wrote: post #395
poulsbohemian wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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…

Basically none of this is true. The wild card system has resulted in an NFL where well over half the league has playoff hopes very deep into the season. It's completely false that "by about the 4th week of the season", the league has bifurcated. Simply not even close to being true. The NFL has also been extremely successful in leveling the playing field via salary cap and draft, such that franchises beset by woe can…

[flagged]

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

#415

Post by domoregood »

dylan604 wrote: post #245
jagged-chisel wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It wouldn’t take long to have a tight selection of bats for every player to try and based on each swing, the system can predict the best bat.

Yeah, but that's not a very HN way of doing it though. Bring in the AI, then add some crypto, and the code must be written in Rust. If there's a UI, then Next/React must be used to re-write the existing HTML/CSS only version, because that's just not even trying. Oh, and it needs to be done over a weekend

this

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

#416

Post by borroka »

bizzletk wrote: post #311
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…

> It's easy to point to home runs as entertaining, but they a ultimately rather boring. For die hard fans, you want more hits that end up in play, with more strategy, and more opportunity for mistakes and drama. You're not going to get that from home run derbies. There's a counter-example in Cricket. The game used to be a 5-day long battle with daily skirmishes and tactical changes required according to the ebbs and…

I have stopped following professional sports for at least a couple of decades, despite being a sportsman of the real variety--of practice and not attendance as a spectator. A friend sometimes invites me to see G League basketball games—he has season tickets—and sometimes I go, more for the company than anything else.

I watch a spectacle, dreadful, terrible. Every time out is a good reason to blast loud, annoying music and show a group of dancing children on the jumbotron, for a cheerleading exhibition of people who are over 60 or under 13, for a competition in which the girl, or the middle-aged man in attendance, tries to score a bucket with bio-mechanically unsound movements that herald an expensive visit to the orthopedist, for a toss from the in-house entertainers either of T-shirts or socks that gets retirees, who are struggling to get out of their chairs, all excited.

Cops on the court checking that the retirees themselves are not throwing a fit, tickets to be scanned, metal detectors ringing for a key in the pocket, a $15 draft beer. When I leave, I'm exhausted, mortified, wondering who made me do it.

Give me back the sport of 50 years ago, or never invite me again.

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

#417

Post by scoofy »

TheCondor wrote: post #406
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…

This simply impacts the viewers of the sport, right? When you play, you can play with whatever equipment you want, with a like minded group of players. Keep the game as “pure” as you want or use “The Sure Thing” clubs from top golf. The changes only matter on TV and then specifically if you compare that product to years or decades back. MLB is an incredibly poor example of maintaining purity. the most sacred records…

No, for golf at least, it completely changes the way the game is played for even amateurs.

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

#418

Post by scoofy »

hmmm-i-wonder wrote: post #398
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…

Opposite advice. Take the best equipment and enjoy the game the most, focus on strategy with the increased options and capabilities. So much time and frustration wasted with inferior equipment that sucks the life out, or requires a path of practice and mastery most people don't want for hobbies or things they enjoy doing. If YOU want to use the least helpful tools and make up the difference with knowledge, skill and…

If you really believe this, just go full bore and get a swingless golf club: https://youtu.be/MGpg8rclilc?si=S-vEbbtk3RWMAkg6

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

#419

Post by slumberlust »

bgschulman31 wrote: post #251

I think the media is attributing too much to the bats. I was at the Yankees game, and the wind was blowing straight out and hard. Many of the home runs I saw hit would have been fly outs on a day with more normal wind.

You're right, we should ban global warming too!

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

#420

Post by TheCondor »

scoofy wrote: post #417
TheCondor wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This simply impacts the viewers of the sport, right? When you play, you can play with whatever equipment you want, with a like minded group of players. Keep the game as “pure” as you want or use “The Sure Thing” clubs from top golf. The changes only matter on TV and then specifically if you compare that product to years or decades back. MLB is an incredibly poor example of maintaining purity. the most sacred records…

No, for golf at least, it completely changes the way the game is played for even amateurs.

Yeah, but you still can play with the harder to use clubs or older balls or whatever. Some amateur coming to the course and driving 300yds too easily doesn't have to change the way you play.

I guess if you want to compete with them then there is that.

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