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Baseball has become to damn specialized...

Rockin' Doc Jul 06 2008 04:05 PM

The game of baseball has changed quite a bit in the last 20 or so years, but I don't like many of the changes that have transpired as the game has evolved. Baeball, at least at the major league level, has become too specialized for my personal taste. Call me old school, but I long for the days when baseball wasn't so damn specialized. Relief pitchers could pitch 2, 3, or even 4 innings if they had the hot hand. They didn't need to be shuffled in and out of games with a new reliever every three outs. The ace reliever could pitch more than just in save situations. The hell with saves, how about using your best reliever when the game is on the line and your team needs him to help secure a win?* We'll save the discussion of the abomination that is the designated hitter rule for another rant. *This rant is prompted by the Mets current in game situation, as we wait out the rain delay, but it is something I have been contemplating for quite some time.

seawolf17 Jul 06 2008 05:53 PM

I'll second that. I know Feliciano did his job, but that post-delay Howard AB is the game right there. (Or, at least, in retrospect, it could have been.) You want your best guy in that spot. Let Wagner get the big outs, and let Feliciano face the bottom of the order in the ninth.

Zvon Jul 06 2008 07:37 PM

I third what your saying Doc. These guys are major leaguers and should be able to pitch in much less limited fashion if needed. I truly don't understand why pitchers can't be used in a more flexible way. If things work out perfectly then okay, they play their limited roles. But this is baseball, and so many times things don't go as planned and you have to have a flexibility and resiliency to deal with what the game dictates. Todays players supposed to be better athletes due to modern training techniques and conditioning than players we saw growing up, so why they can't perform in a like manner is beyond me. Don't tell me because they want to enjoy longer careers or whatever because the pitchers that are fortunate and good enough to last, will last.

Grote15 Jul 06 2008 08:17 PM

I think Johan Santana would agree with you all Hey I loved the 4 man starting rotation with a nine man staff. 13 pitchers now? Dear Lord..

Centerfield Jul 07 2008 07:01 AM

Maybe Feliciano was the best man for that spot. Fucking Wagner.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 09 2008 12:00 PM

He's 77 years old. I don't know how his health is, and I doubt he'd be interested, but... I'd love to see some team hire Earl Weaver and tell him, "Manage just like you did in 1970."

AG/DC Jul 09 2008 12:05 PM

Maybe not ours, though.

Benjamin Grimm Jul 09 2008 12:09 PM

No. I'm afraid it would be an experiment that would fail. But I'd like to see it tried because I'd like the upshot of its success.