Basesball

Easy - because people thought they improved performance, and so it was banned. Nobody thought to test, back when they were first banned, because it was just universally agreed that it worked, common knowledge and all that.

Nowdays, the rules have been changed from those, and they’re illegal not because they’re specifically corked bats, but because any bats modified with a foreign substance are illegal. You’d get the same penalty if you filled it with a steel bar, or lead shot, or runny custard.

(though I desperately want to see someone in the major leagues break a bat, and custard just starts pouring out. Scott wants more exciting sports, I just want more absurd sports.)

And before you say “But pine tar is a foreign substance” - there’s a bunch of rules regarding pine tar, including where and how much you can put on the bat, and what’s approved for use.

If they worked as suggested - which they don’t - then yeah, it would be something similar. But the issue at that point is safety - you’re firing a ball out at a potentially lethal speed, faster than the pitcher, who wears no protection, can realistically react and either duck or otherwise try to protect himself. And unlike corked bats back in the day, that one was actually tested - they simply view it as an unacceptable risk for the batter strength you tend to see in the major leagues.

Edit - Random fact, they tried aluminum Cricket bats too, which are now also banned - but not because of saftey reasons, it’s because they damage the ball.

Oh, yeah. I would be totally on board with cameras on every manager, third base coach, pitcher, and catcher every pitch. Mine those datas. Get some misdirection going. Counter-counter-intelligence. I want it all.

On another note I don’t know why the pitcher gets all the fame (out of the catcher - pitcher duo).

I played at a state level in high school, started off as a catcher and ended up as a pitcher (after a lot of training lol).

Catcher looks like they’re not doing anything but requires more exertion and is more difficult than the pitcher, even though after the pitch you have to be ready to dive for a catch coming back at you or badly placed bunt.

All the randomness happens for the catcher (dealing with sliders or people who try to knock the ball out of your glove). The pitcher themselves is something else whether you miss a signal (or they don’t remember to do one), the pitcher is an idiot or throws off, plus fly balls. Plus of course having the extra weight you have to wear, once you’re use to it, it’s more the heat (I passed out on a day when the temperature was 42C). Also the crouch for long periods is not something I can do anymore but at the time I could crouch for ages.

As pitcher there is a bit more strategy in terms of your pitch (speed, position in the strike zone, psych out to get them to swing for something silly). Beyond that it’s just getting your motions perfect for max speed on your fast balls. Dealing with base stealing is not really hard.

I was also opening batter, aluminium bats were allowed so we all used them but trained with wood ones. I never used cork, but as @Churba says there is way more absorption happening and diffusion of energy along the length of the cork.

Definitely should be more challenging though the entire field is tiny for the number of fielders present. Definitely more difficult being the batter unless you’re going to home run every hit.

More points for stealing bases.

100%. Catchers are hardcore, man.

https://twitter.com/natssquid/status/905881624004481025

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That’s not a lot of games, and afternoon games are the lowest ratings least hot games. They are probably the worst 25 games on the schedule. Sounds like they are just dipping the toe in with a test run.

Who’s your favorite team? Now it’s the Brewers.
https://youtube.com/watch?&v=s6etG8NaIxk

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These few short days are always the best time of the year for Mets fans.

Mets played an entire game and are still undefeated!

Actually, despite overall stinkiness, the Mets have the best record if you only count opening day. They do it so we can joke about being undefeated for this one day. Better not miss the opportunity.

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Hey, man. The Red Sox have won more Mother’s Day championships than any other team in the league.

The Mets are 8-1. 8-1 is the best any Mets team has ever been after the first 9 games. If we win tomorrow we will be 9-1. No Mets team in history has ever been 9-1.

Did the Rangers and Giants die for this?

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8-1, pretty good. I wonder what the record is for best start…

http://mlb.mlb.com/cin/history/timeline.jsp

1869 Nov. 6: In the final official match of the season, the Red Stockings defeat the Mutuals of New York, 17-8, on Union Grounds. Baseball’s first team of professionals finished the season with a perfect 57-0 record.
1870 June 14: The Red Stockings’ winning streak ends at 81 games as Cincinnati falls to the Brooklyn Atlantics, 8-7, in extra innings in Brooklyn.

W T F

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They do’d it. 9-1. Just end the season now please.

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My friend gave me his free MLB.tv access from T-Mobile so I’m watching a lot more baseball when I’m bored. I’m fascinated by the Arizona Diamondbacks. They look posed for a good run this year.

Mets started strong. The strongest ever, but now we are sucking. Injuries have come in, but also just slumping.

And then today the craziest bad news. Matt Harvey is DFA. That means designated for assignment. Same as being put on waivers in hockey and such. He done. Basically kicked off the team. A Met no more.

You have to realize how crazy this is. This is the biggest boom and bust for an athlete that I can remember. When he came into the league he was god tier. I think in his debut he struck out 11 in 5 1/3 innings. Even though the team sucked, Mets fans would celebrate “Harvey Day” when it was his turn to pitch, because those would be the days we would win, or come close. They gave him the nickname “Dark Knight of Gotham”.

Since, and including, the World Series run in 2015, he has not been so good. He has been injured, but at the start of this year he was supposedly healthy. Skill wise, he is not anywhere near where he used to be. First we sent him to the bullpen. Today they wanted to send him to the minors. He refused to go to the minors, so now he’s DFA.

Clearly his ego has killed his career as much as anything else. Let that be a warning to others. If you somehow get very lucky in life and become super great at something, stay humble and keep working hard. Most pro athletes seem to know this, because those who don’t, don’t last long.

Top baseball plays:

  1. Relay to the plate
  2. Smart baserunning

As the guy got closer to 2nd, why didn’t he throw to the second baseman?

I THINK he was trying to fake him out into thinking he did so he’d turn around and run into the tag.

The pitcher is left handed, so has their back to third base. The runner on first puts on a good job of acting like they stumbled to get the pitcher distracted. Then they steal home.