Baseball's Twilight Zone

[ullmandds]

Doesn’t seem too crazy a scenario to me, Frank!!!

[barrysloate]

Frank, it's amazing but I was thinking the very same thing this morning. If teams decide to let their starters pitch every second or third day, but limit them to three innings max, even a great pitcher is likely to finish the year 0-15. In fact, such a pitcher could never win even a single game.

Imagine that pitcher and his agent sitting down with ownership to negotiate a long term contract, and being able to tout "my fine 0-73 won lost record over the past five years." That ought to get him that big payday he was looking for.

On the other hand, the guy who pitches second, say innings four to six, could easily win 25 games or more. The game wil be unrecognizable.

[Peter_Spaeth]

It's a fun but silly hypothetical; if baseball really evolved to where nobody pitched past the third inning, the way wins are defined would change.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It's a fun but silly hypothetical; if baseball really evolved to where nobody pitched past the third inning, the way wins are defined would change.

Taking your silly hypothetical to the next level, when your win definition is instituted and Arnold Hefflinger ends up with 400+ three inning wins, are you really going to consider him the equal of Walter Johnson for Hall of Fame consideration?

Peter, that’s BS, even in the Twilight Zone.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Taking your silly hypothetical to the next level, when your win definition is instituted and Arnold Hefflinger ends up with 400+ three inning wins, are you really going to consider him the equal of Walter Johnson for Hall of Fame consideration?

Peter, that’s BS, even in the Twilight Zone.

It's a moot question, you've already enshrined him. I wonder if the Hall will elect Pitching Committees, much the way the Rock Hall of Fame elects whole bands?

[oldjudge]

Actually, since I have the ability to see the future, I will tell you what actually happens. What you have hypothesized was on the path to happening when several pitchers were injured when hit by line drives off the then new titanium bats. There was public outcry that the game had become too dangerous so, on June 18, 2041, the Rancho Cucamonga Dodgers (they left Los Angeles in 2027 due to the deadly air pollution levels) premiered the first robotic pitcher, Mr Zip. Mr Zip could pitch complete games every game. This eliminated pitcher injuries and paid for itself in saved salaries in less than a season. Within a year all teams had their own versions of Mr Zip (except the Mets-they were still under an austerity program caused by the hit that ownership had taken from the Madoff fraud). In 2058, the first robotic pitcher was inducted into the intergalactic HOF, Tin Cook, the much beloved hurler from the S F Apples (purchased by company in 2038 with name changed six years later). Not only was Tin the premier moundsman of his (or her) day, but he/she could concurrently pitch, photograph fans in the stand, and grill hot dogs. Those pictures were immediately available for purchase at special Apple fan booths around the stadium.

[Peter_Spaeth]

As the older generation of fans dwindles, they will be replaced by people who do not look up even once during the game from their devices. They will know what's happening from Twitter feeds sent by the players themselves, as voice recognition technology and further miniaturization will enable players to tweet even as they hit and pitch and field. The fans will not speak with their friends they came with, or neighboring fans, as they will be too busy multitasking maintaining 15 text dialogues, constantly checking email and Facebook, monitoring 27 apps, and playing 6 interactive games. If the device owner goes more than ten seconds without touching the screen, an app will remotely check his or her health.

All teams will be owned by Fortune 500 companies and managed by either an officer or director of the company. Important strategic decisions will be made real time by instantaneous shareholder votes.

[leaflover]

Let's not forget the Senior Fairness/Awareness Act of 2037. The new law stated that each ML club must have a person over 65 make at least 3 plate appearances in a 9 inning game.
Remember the jubilance of the "old jocks" as they dusted off their mitt and spikes and rushed to spring training parks in Arizona and Florida.
Opening day brought sadness and gloom to the "old timers'' as real pitchers proved to be tougher than batting cage machines. Soon cheers turned to boos. After the 1st month combined BAs for these guys was .007.
Coaches were replaced with therapists and the bull pen phone in the dugout was now a suicide hotline.
The law was repealed after Congress returned from their Summer/Autumn vacation.

[edjs]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

There was public outcry that the game had become too dangerous so, on June 18, 2041, the Rancho Cucamonga Dodgers (they left Los Angeles in 2027 due to the deadly air pollution levels)

The problem with this vision is that the weather here travels from west to east, carrying the smog with it. Then it runs into the San Gabriel's, and the smog gets stuck right around Mt.Baldy, Arrowhead, and Big Bear mountains. Settling in nicely right over Rancho Cucamonga.

[h2oya311]

Beautiful! The Tampa Bay franchise will be lauded as the most innovative of their time.

Jalen Beeks was a stud "second starter" this past year in TB (after being traded by Boston) when he would often come into the game in the 2nd or 3rd inning after the "closer" or "first starter" got through the top of the lineup in the 1st. He was 5-0 with Tampa Bay in August/September despite not starting a game. He got to face the weaker part of the opponent's lineup to start his game and then he was warmed up by the time he got to face the 1/2/3 hitters. How often do you see starters who give up 3-4 runs in the first inning before settling in? Also, how often do you see pitchers implode once they face a batter a "dreaded" third time through the order? The stats support this sort of strategy.

This sort of change will also completely alter the fantasy baseball landscape for years to come. It'll be interesting to see how many other teams adopt this sort of "bullpen day" approach.