Old school 1983 (12-23-2020)
...the 2-2 to Woodsen and here it comes...and it is swung on and missed! And Tom Browning has pitched a perfect game! Twenty-seven outs in a row, and he is being mobbed by his teammates, just to the thirdbase side of the mound.
bm1475 (12-24-2020),goreds2 (12-24-2020),wally post (12-24-2020)
I propose zones with movement restrictions placed on players
To make it interesting I place a electronic device in the sole of each players foot, if they don't follow protocol they get a shock that drops them to the ground
HUHUH (04-14-2021),KronoRed (12-24-2020),Red Raindog (12-25-2020),Sabo Fan (01-01-2021),texasdave (12-24-2020)
Revering4Blue (12-24-2020),westofyou (12-24-2020),WrongVerb (12-24-2020)
I suspect the ultimate answer to beating the shift is the hitters will render it useless. I'm also a little dubious about how successful a ban will be. What's the rule going to be? I assume it will be some version of having two guys on either side of the 2B bag as the pitch is delivered, but that's not buying you a ton of space on a shift. For a shift vs. lefties they'll probably be able to position the SS deep and have him break to his left as the pitch gets released. It will put him in essentially the same place as where they get played with the current shift.
Last edited by M2; 12-24-2020 at 01:30 AM.
I'm not a system player. I am a system.
I have similar thoughts. However, it should eliminate the extreme shifts where everyone is on one side and the 2B is basically another RF. Like this:
Attachment 16843
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
The shift works today because, IMO, the art of hitting is in decline. I don't think the shift would have had as much of an effect 30-40 years ago (but I could be wrong). I don't like the shift. Strategy or not, I just don't like it.
Looking at how long the game has been around, I'm shocked it wasn't thought of years ago. LOL
"In my day you had musicians who experimented with drugs. Now it's druggies experimenting with music" - Alfred G Clark (circa 1972)
The art of hitting is in decline because the art of pitching has exceeded all expectations.
The reaction ability of hitters must be extraordinary to cope with the pitching advances in velocity, spin rate, movement.
Combine all this with the shift and you have a one-sided game.
*BaseClogger* (12-24-2020),drowg14 (12-27-2020),Edd Roush (12-24-2020),GAC (12-25-2020),goreds2 (12-24-2020),Griffey012 (12-24-2020),HammerTime (12-26-2020),Old school 1983 (12-24-2020),REDREAD (12-24-2020),sjjones (01-07-2021),westofyou (12-24-2020)
I think initially they might just keep it simple. The infielders will be two on each side of second base, however shallow or deep they choose to play. They will be prohibited from crossing over until after the pitch has been released. I guess at that point they can still try and shift but it becomes more difficult.
If an infielder crosses over before pitch is released, there needs to be a penalty. Maybe an automatic “ball” call or safety if ball is hit in play. Penalty can be declined if manager likes the outcome.
Rule would still allow infield to shade hitter one way or the other, as long as the mid-line is not breached.
Last edited by Kc61; 12-24-2020 at 09:54 AM.
This keeps getting brought up, however, hitting the ball the other way is actually easier the faster the pitch. The idea behind going the other way is to be behind the ball, which is easier the faster the pitch is. Pulling a 98 MPH fastball is much harder than going the other way with it. If you can rip it and pull it, you have the skills to go the other way.
The issue is that pitchers are jamming hitters inside more often. But as I mentioned earlier, there are many pitches in an AB, and if a pitcher only pitches inside, the hitter can cheat and crush those over the shift for XBH’s. Pitchers have to pitch outside and with off speed stuff during each AB, or else they will get crushed. If hitters wait for those pitches, they should be able to serve them the other way rather easily, if they are trained with that swing.
But as I mentioned earlier too, every hitter these days only knows how to grip it and rip it, swing as hard as they can from their heels. If hitters changed that, I am convinced the shift will stop being an issue.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
I believe this is applicable to a different era.
Bat control is extremely difficult facing 95+ MPH fastballs with movement. It’s difficult to place the ball by choice - whether oppo or pull - against such pitching. The reaction time is too limited. It’s not just a question of waiting pitchers out.
If it were easier to hit to the opposite field, we’d see it more often. We don’t because batters can’t do it on demand against this pitching. Grip and rip is a reaction - a counter to today’s pitching and shift by seeking to score with more long balls.
Last edited by Kc61; 12-24-2020 at 11:27 AM.
Griffey012 (12-24-2020)
Hitting the other way requires a completely different swing than pulling it. It’s not about doing the same thing but swinging later.
The best way to describe it is that it’s like tennis, with pulling the ball requiring a forehand swing and hitting the other way requiring a backhand swing. Hitters these days just don’t learn or use that backhand swing. Again, that backhand swing is actually is better and easier way to hit a 98 MPH fastball, as it allows you to wait a fraction of a second later, you have more time to hit the ball with this swing.
The reason why everyone swings from their heels with a grip it and rip it approach is because they are coached that way. Analytics revealed that that approach produces the best results overall, pulling it and launching it produce more HR’s. When that happened, teams started using the shift to protect against it and because they didn’t have to worry about batters going the other way.
I would think that the analytics would reveal that with these extreme shifts happening all the time, that the grip it and rip it approach isn’t as productive anymore, and would encourage coaches and batters to go the other way more often. Of course that would take time.
Hoping to change my username to 75769024
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