Baseball's Twilight Zone

[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.

[oldjudge]

But the older fan base will not dwindle. Crispr gene editing in 2025 cured all disease. A few years later science found a way to reverse cryogenic freezing of bodies. In 2042, a reconstituted Ted Williams led the AL in hitting with an .832 batting average.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

But the older fan base will not dwindle. Crispr gene editing in 2025 cured all disease. A few years later science found a way to reverse cryogenic freezing of bodies. In 2042, a reconstituted Ted Williams led the AL in hitting with an .832 batting average.

But he still finished behind Mike Trout in WAR, who exceeded infinity for the first time as the formula was tweaked to favor him for the 19th time.

[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.

[doug.goodman]

Amazing

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by edjs

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

Tommy LaSorda, yes the Tommy LaSorda, is still active in personal injury law firm advertising. He’s smarter than he looks. He has recently purchased the parking lot at the stadium, yes there is one, in Rancho Cucamonga, the future home of big league Dodger Blue. Cucamongans are already donating to his future sect, a la Jim Jones and the People’s Temple Agricultural Project, calling themselves Tommy’s Cucamongan turkeys. And yes Tommy’s sect is already holding rallies in the aforementioned parking lot. By 2043 the congregation will have grown to over 500,000. On August 23rd there will be a rare simultaneous occurrence in the parking lot of breathtaking smog and gut wrenching dysentery caused by a deadly viral infestation of that day’s Dodger dogs. The parking lot will be used as a mass grave. The personal injury lawyers will cash in and Tommy, who became a partner in the firm in 2037, will walk away with billions.
Now you know the rest of the story.