Exactly…I know I’ve heard Casey Stern and Brad Lidge state that all they need to do is create or pick a substance that is already out there and approve it for use by all. Put it in the dugouts and behind the mound and let them use it so all players are using the same stuff…and, as many of you have pointed out, players have something that they can use so the ball doesn’t slip and get away.
So is the use of sticky stuff based in any way to the changing balls year to year differential? Or is that a completely separate issue?
I’m not saying that pitchers shouldn’t be allowed to use SOMETHING, but I also firmly believe that pitchers saying they are using this to get a better grip for the safety of the batter is a joke and cover for them to cheat. The HBP numbers seem to refute their argument. The pitchers are doing this to get batters out, plain and simple.
Someone posted above that their needs to be some agreed upon substance that is allowable for pitchers to use for grip. Off the top of my head, I agree with that. It seems reasonable. But since the HBP numbers are double what they were in 1990, I wouldn’t lose sleep if they were told to stick to the rosin bag either.
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The overriding problem here is not that pitchers are cheating.
The problem is that, as usual, the MLB is a mealy-mouthed chickenshit organization run by fucking dicknoses.
Much like the video sign-stealing, instead of dealing with it head on and actually being forthright and honest about it, they let the players do all the work via social media.
Fuck the MLB and fuck Rob Manfred. This could be addressed literally in 10 minutes with an announcement that, going forward, players can only use blahblahblah, and any other foreign substances found on them will result in ejections/fines.
Problem solved.
Instead we get hearsay and accusations from morons, and then everyone starts screaming cheaters again. And the MLB stands by and doesn’t really do shit other than announce that they’re “cracking down” without much detail as to what that means.
Also, specifically fuck Trevor Bauer.
ETA: Regarding HPB numbers, as has been stated previously in this thread, those numbers have been going up with the advent/addition of batter body armor. Unless you can show me that injuries/body shots by HBPs also went up that much, I don’t put much stock at all in that number. Craig Biggio alone probably is half of that doubled number.
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TBH, if you could throw a baseball 100 mph, you’d only have to get it within 10 feet of me and I’d probably have to change my shorts and be unable to continue the AB. So yeah, I would want you to be able to grip the ball.
That said, this feels very much like a “give an inch, take a mile” situation. There’s gotta be a middle-ground substance out there that gives pitchers a comfortable amount of grip, but which doesn’t jack up spin rates by 15%. Legalize that. Or, hell, legalize everything, but move the mound back 2 feet to give some counter-balancing advantage to the hitters.
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My tin foil hat starts buzzing when people talk about MLB using this “issue” to divide the players ahead of CBA negotiations.
In related news I now get free wifi.
you’d need a really really large staff
I’ve got that covered
I hope so.
“It’s twue!”
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In regards to hbp being at an all time high, there are a few factors. More pitches are being thrown now then at any time that we have records for. I read somewhere that even though total hbp has gone up every year the average velocity of the hbp has actually gone down in recent years, this while the league wide fastball velocity goes up every year for the last 25 at least. Guys are throwing more breaking balls than ever, breaking balls are just more likely to get away, especially when you have 2 strikes and wanna throw that super nasty backfoot slider but hit the guy on his actual foot.
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Chris Devenski (30) - TJ surgery, after being placed on the 60-day injured list on 15 May by DBacks.
Hate that for Devo.
Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. If it helps reverse the slow demise of his career, good for him.
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SuperJack lives on:
Hope so; he’s just 30…
And comes across as more than a bit whiny in this post-gamer from last night…
https://twitter.com/Jared_Carrabis/status/1405361453436125189
WFW - “It’s so hard to grip the ball. So hard.” Try gripping a power saw or a jack hammer you pitiful slacker.