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Verducci gets bored watching the Mets
Mets Guy in Michigan May 27 2014 12:00 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on May 27 2014 12:08 PM |
OK, I grant you, I get all worked up any time Verducci thinks about mentioning the Mets. But I love how a guy who has enjoyed who knows how many endless Yankees games -- especially those marathon MFY-Boston games -- suddenly gets all worked up while watching the Mets.
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Ceetar May 27 2014 12:06 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
The answer is clearly no more of this "working counts stuff." Three pitches, three swings. Like the home run derby. If you don't put it in play it's a strike.
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 12:09 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
In fairness to Verducci, he's merely saying that he didn't enjoy watching THAT Met game. And, really, who can disagree?
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Ceetar May 27 2014 12:27 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
yeah, there's some validity in there. It boils down to a decision by MLB. either decide to enforce it or don't.
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 12:28 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
From Verducci's piece: Everybody complains about the pace of play in today's game, what with all the strikeouts, pitching changes, mound conferences and so much time between pitches. But it occurred to me that the players and managers don't even realize how much they have slowed the game in such a short period of time.
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Edgy MD May 27 2014 12:33 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
I like the idea of fining players certainly.
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Ceetar May 27 2014 12:35 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
Some minor changes would help at times too. A pitcher that warms up to start an inning must pitch to at least one batter. You can't throw to first 5, 10+ times in a row just to allow the guy in the bullpen time to warm up. A coach and the catcher cannot visit the mound during the same AB, or at least the same pitch.
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 12:41 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
"But the core of the issue Verducci is getting at is that MLB just doesn't care about the pacing."
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Ceetar May 27 2014 12:52 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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well yeah. But not quite that many TV timeouts. Although the 15 minute intermission is obviously quite a break. But coming from the other sports into the NHL it's certainly quite a different. "Woah, I've been watching non-stop action for 8 minutes?" Different animals of course. I agree about the newcomer stuff, but I'm not sure it's that dire either. I think the pace might be breeding more casual fans at the expense of diehards. Fans that'll watch 3-4 games a week maybe but will turn it off if it's slow or something better comes along. And if the team gets good and close to the playoffs? sure, they'll tune in. Maybe that's good enough? Lots of multi-tasking going on in the world, and it's easy enough to pay passing attention to baseball (or really anything) and then jump if it gets interesting.
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 12:56 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets Edited 3 time(s), most recently on May 27 2014 01:06 PM |
Verducci's solutions:
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 12:58 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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Turning off newcomers IS ALWAYS DIRE, no matter what your product or business.
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Ceetar May 27 2014 01:06 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
I just realized there was a second page to Verducci's article. That's a different rant.
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Benjamin Grimm May 27 2014 01:08 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
And while fans will crank up their interest when their team contends, as Ceetar suggests, there's still the issue of watching games that your team isn't involved in. Fans have become much less likely to watch a playoff or World Series game if their favorite team isn't playing. (That stupid "do your duty Judy" campaign a few years ago was MLB's way of acknowledging this.) I think that if World Series games ended by 10:30 Eastern Time, a greater number of casual fans would be inclined to watch. But why start watching a game if you know you don't care enough to stay up until 11:30, and you have to get up for work in the morning? I haven't watched a World Series game that didn't involve the Mets since 1993! (That's right; in the last 21 years I've only watched five World Series games.)
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Ashie62 May 27 2014 02:09 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
If its' not a Mets game I have zero interest in watching... would rather watch storage wars...
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 02:26 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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Baseball has always been a game where the local interest trumps the national. The time required to watch, follow, or attend a game now has probably just added to the gap.
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 02:35 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
Another angle I thought of to add to Verducci's list:
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Mets Guy in Michigan May 27 2014 02:40 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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The Tigers have started to fill the gaps between innings with assorted on and off-field fan contests and activities -- like I see in the minors. The team has always had some between-inning things, but it is spilling on the field more and more. They added car races recently -- think a Motown version of the sausages and presidents. That all has to add to the time.
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Ceetar May 27 2014 02:47 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
no way is the between innings stuff enforced. Pitchers take their time getting back out there, and then they have to throw 8 pitches, and they're rarely in a hurry to do so. Nevermind if a pitcher is on base..
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Frayed Knot May 27 2014 03:33 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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Teams can have cow milking or midget tossing contests between innings for all I care, I just want whatever they do to be wrapped up and the pitcher on the mound with his warmups over by the time the 2:05 proscribed limit is up. And if pitchers start taking too long to get out there that they don't have their eight throws in then they should have their warmups truncated.
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Frayed Knot May 28 2014 03:55 PM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
A Baseball Prospectus article (pre-dating the Verducci one) tackles the problems in trying to enforce the existing rules about slow play from both batters & pitchers.
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Frayed Knot May 29 2014 06:50 AM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
12 of the 15 games from Wednesday were over 3 hours with 7 of those 12 clocking in at 3:20 or greater (all games regulation except for one which went 10 innings) despite only one of the 30 teams reaching double-digits in runs.
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MFS62 May 29 2014 07:10 AM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
Didn't a batter stepping out after every pitch to re-adjust the strap on the batting gloves start with the MFYs. (Mattingly?)
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Edgy MD May 29 2014 08:05 AM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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Absolutely, Mattingly fetishised his drawn-out routine into every plate appearance. And he has spawned two generations of imitators. Just ask "Mattingly Beast of the Month" Spencer Sarel from Brighton, Michigan:
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Benjamin Grimm May 29 2014 08:14 AM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
I can accept that a player wants to have his little settling in routine as he steps up to the plate. But if he's doing that dance between pitches as well, then too bad for him. He should have to learn a shorter routine. Maybe after the pitch, touch the bat to the ground, take a deep breath, and then resume the stance.
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Frayed Knot May 29 2014 09:51 AM Re: Verducci gets bored watching the Mets |
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Mike Hargrove--Cleveland, Texas--got tagged with the handle 'Human Rain Delay' for all of his between-pitch tics and routines. I'm sure there were others who did so previously. The problem is that this has become similar to what 300 pounders are to the NFL: what was once a one-per-team novelty has turned so commonplace that you only notice the ones who aren't doing it.
Yeah, it's starts as a routine for many players but winds up being a crutch. Danny Espinosa, the Nats infielder cited in the Verducci piece as being one of the worst offenders and of defending his antics as necessary to his preparation, might need someone to point out to him that this stuff might not be as indispensable as he thinks judging by his .183/.213/.325 track record over the 2013-14 span.
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