Seth.com: 10.26.05 State of Baseball

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Oct 26, 2005
10.26.05 State of Baseball
Congratulations to the White Sox. They earned it playing steady, by the book, baseball. It was refreshing to watch them let their pitchers complete games. That's baseball! More relievers, means more stoppages. Baseball is best when it moves along.

I also think baseball is a day game. If i had my way, I would make 2 changes: 75 per cent of the games would be played in the day and the wild card victor wouldn't get a first round home game. They would have to "earn" their way into the elite winners-of-their-division circle. If they can win a first round series without a home game, they've overcome the non - penalty they had for not winning the division. I'm also in favor of the Designated Hitter rule. National League games bore me and while I am a traditionalist, a slight tweak to tradition, makes the game better. The DH rule, one extra hitter a game, was a big difference why Houston lost: they had no one on their bench who could hit while the White Sox had a ton of guys who have DH'd. It made a difference.

i also advocate pitchers being able to fight for the inside portion of the plate. Baseball is all about the legitimate struggle for a small piece of the plate. Intimidation must be a part of that equation. I, of course, don't want to see players deliberately hit and hurt, BUT, pitchers must be allowed back players off what they consider "their" part of he plate. Players have their own code of how to work things out on the field. Unfortunately, the political correctness in our country has found its way into sports as well. Can you imagine that umps have to legislate 'boys just being boys'? It's ridiculous. Baseball is the battle over a small piece of real estate: the inside corner of the plate, mostly. It's equivalent to the "trenches" in football, where most games are won and lost. One of the enjoyable parts of baseball is seeing who wins that battle. Well, just few thoughts on the Series and baseball in 2005. It was a very good year for the game.

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Call me a purist, but you can't have it both ways.

You can't have the DH AND pitchers getting to throw at people. Part of what keeps that behavior within the unwritten bounds of the game is the self-policing aspect (one that people who never played on the big diamond will never quite understand) is that pitchers have to bat ! The DH screws with the delicate balance of the game, and so it must go.

As much as I love day baseball, 75% is too much. However, there should be more.

The World Series should be on in the day - that way it can be a National Holiday like it was when I was a lad. (OK, it was 1967 in Massachusetts, but even in Catholic School we were allowed to have radios, and one teacher brought in a TV for "science" class)

Posted by: Old Time Baseball at December 5, 2005 2:47 AM

Very well said. You're right, the DH messes with the "delicate balance", no question. Pitchers would pitch differently knowing they had to bat later on. That's what makes don Drysdale and Bob Gibson the most fascinating pitchers to me. They let you know who owned that piece of turf on the inside corner, yet, they really hung in when batting -- and were terrific hitters themselves.

When I said I advocated 75 per cent day games for baseball, it was more wishful thinking than an idea that could be realized. I guess I just have very fond memories of late summer, afternoon ballgames, always checking the radio, as each at-bat could shift the entire complexion of the standings. But, I agree with you: The World Series should be day games: kids, the next generation of baseball lovers, never, ever forget them, as I never forgot my '69 Mets.

Posted by: Seth at December 5, 2005 9:53 AM

Your logic about why the White Sox won is counterintuitive. The different DH/non-DH rules in the leagues favor the NL. Every NL team has at least one guy on the bench who can hit, whereas since AL pitchers never hit and then suddenly have to, the NL pitchers -- who have hit all season, some with a degree of success -- give their teams an advantage in the games that are played in the NL park.

Posted by: at December 10, 2005 11:57 AM