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In the tradition of Ask the Rebbetzin and other popular threads... if you've got a question about baseball, post it here, and I'll do my best to provide a good answer. Whether you're watching baseball for the first time, and have basic questions, or have a complex question about angle's of throws in the infield, bring em on!
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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The allowed tolerance on the tightness of the winding in the baseball has been the same every year for a long time now. Although it is possible the meaasured tolerance is being falsely reported, this seems unlikely, and would probably have been exposed by now.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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I heard recently a guy was at bat for over a half hour, hitting 14 consecutive foul balls, followed by a home run. Is this true?
Posts: 2258 | Registered: Aug 2003
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Its completely possible. I couldn't verify this. Luke Appling once fouled off 14 consecutive pitches, so someone else doing it is conceivable. Often, in long atbats, the batter either strikes out or gets a big hit, so following up 14 foul balls with a home run is also possible.
However, I can't confirm from any reliable source.
A 14-18 pitch at bat, however, would not take over half an hour, as the pitcher is not allowed more then 20 seconds between pitches. This often isn't enforced, but most pitchers take between 10-25 seconds. Mark prior, who is supposed to have been the pitcher, would have worked faster then 1 pitch every other minute.
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Can the Angels still hold their first place rank even with some injuries to their core players? Its an opinion question actually.
Im an Angel fan though. I love them
They have been doing good. Thay have been winning many games even without Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson. Posts: 5 | Registered: Apr 2004
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Losing Tim Salmon and Garret Anderson, if they are out for an extended period, may cost the angels a chance at the playoffs. Oakland will come on strong, and if Texas's pitching stays decent, they have a ton of hitters. With the red sox and yankees in the east, the wild card will be hard to win. On the other hand, the Angels have good pitching.
Don't count the angels out, but their chances are badly hurt.
I think the Yankees, REd Sox, Rangers, and Twins will make the playoffs from teh american league.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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quote: Alex Cora also typified the pit-bull demeanor of the Dodgers offense by fouling off 14 straight Clement pitches during an 18-pitch at-bat in the seventh. Cora clawed until he slammed a two-run home run to right and drove Clement out of the game with another persistent sequence of slight, but effective, blows.
I saw part of the at bat Wednesday night and it was very impressive. I can't tell you if it lasted over an hour, though...
Posts: 959 | Registered: Jan 2002
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Is this the year for the sox? No. Pedro is not the same pedro who can dominate hitters, and wakefield is a knuckelballer. Means he's very inconsistent. Good, but you never know what you will get. Lowe has not been very strong this year. Arroyo is still young. Schilling is the only pitcher you can truly count on this year in the starting rotation. Red Sox will make the second round of the playoffs, but not make the world series.
Steinbrenner is not really the anti-christ. Baseball does need revenue sharing like football has.
Roger Clemens will not go 32-0. No one is that good. Right now, he is benefitting from being a great pitcher, going through the national league for teh first time. Thats always advantage pitcher. Expect him to slow down once teams see him a second time. 20 wins is very possible, as is the Cy Young. Rocket is one of the 5 best pitchers of all time, and he has built his body to last. He may have another 2 years left after this one.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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You forgot to mention that in Houston, Roger Clemens is MAGIC. Something about him gives the entire team the belief, balls and will needed to win, win and win again.
Posts: 2752 | Registered: Feb 2001
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"Baseball players are the dumbest of all athletes,"
Actually, I bet if you actually looked at high school and college grades, and courses, and standardized tests, you'd find that baseball players are on average smarter then players in the other major sports.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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If I had to take a guess at my own question...
I would say that Alex Rodriguez AND Derek Jeter will come out to the public saying that they have fallen madly in love and like to have sexual relations with each other.
Posts: 2752 | Registered: Feb 2001
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Liz- Baseball players are cuter because the sport relies on quickness in the hands and wrists, generating hip power, and upper leg strength. baseball players are generally better proportioned then football players or basketball players, for this reason.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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How do people enjoy watching baseball? Golf is bad enough with 1 person doing nothing, baseball has a whole team of players doing nothing.
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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If you build it, someone will come Probably little kids.
A kid in my hometown built a wiffleball replica of fenway park. Every year for opening day, he gets lots of celebrities out. So, the answer to your question is... yes.
As to the novels, couldn't tell ya. Haven't read em. Probably.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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Because its a mental game. If you understand baseball, there are hundreds of little things happening on every play and on every pitch.
Baseball isn't an "athletes" sport in that you don't need to be the strongest, or the fastest, or the best jumper, to do well. You need to be quick with your hands, have good hand eye coordination, be able to generate short bursts of power. Its a game of staying within your limits. Overthrow a baseball, and it won't go into the strikezone. Overswing at a ball, and you won't hit it. Steady teams that play hard day in and day out, but don't get over-excited often win the most games.
Baseball has history to it. more then any other sport, you can compare players across generations, and the rules stay basically the same, with only minor modification. Baseball competes against ITSELF.
Its a game for people who love numbers. Statistics are the lifeblood of baseball. Who has hit .400 in a season? Whats the record for strikeouts in a nine inning game? Whats barry Bonds slugging percentage? Whats Kerry Woods strike out total? People who like numbers tend to like baseball.
Baseball is a game about "going home." Its not football, where the game is played "in the trenches" or "on the gridiron." Its played on a field, in a park. Its about beauty, and perfection.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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Hmm. I've tried to watch a game, its just seems so boring. Only like 1/4 of the pitches are hit.
Posts: 2756 | Registered: Jul 2002
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About that, yes. Baseball isn't a game about perpetual action, its a game about perpetual mental battle. The pitcher doesn't WANT the hitter to hit the ball, his job is to make the hitter NOT hit it, or hit it badly.
Would you say basketball is exciting if the defending team let the offense do whatever it wanted?
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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I think the cutest players, no contest, are playing on Australian rules football. Watch it sometime and you'll agree.
Posts: 2843 | Registered: A Long Time Ago!
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I recently watched a program on TV that talked about the Oakland As and how they have the lowest average salary in the majors yet have a consistently good team that continually makes it to the playoffs (please correct any wrong facts - I'm going on pure memory here). I guess one of the arguments for the team's lack of success in the playoffs is that the playoffs are a big crapshoot. Is this true? And do you think it will ever be likely for a team with lower paid players on average to win the W. Series, even against teams that have 3 times their budget (like the NYY)?
Posts: 1423 | Registered: Sep 2003
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Well, the marlins did it last year. It happens. The yankees just have better odds, because they can afford to get a lineup of stars, whereas teams like the marlins do it by developing young players and winning before they reach free agency.
Oakland has managed to do well over the last years, with a lower payroll, by being smart. They get hitters who don't look like stars, because they walk a lot, don't hit for high average, but hit some home runs.
Walks and homeruns often make up for a lack of speed and batting average.
Oakland's lack of success in the playoffs is probably attributable to not having as DEEP a team as their opponents. The yankees and red sox and angels and dodgers can afford rosters that are good 1-25, whereas oakland usually doesn't have very many roll players, and has been known to have a suspect bullpen. Against an evenly matched team, having the one extra player to put into the game for a certain matchup, can often mean the difference between a win and a loss.
Oakland is run by a man with good baseball sense, who usually manages to pick up good players, and the organization is devoted to developing good pitchers, and hitters with good pitch recognition skills. This has laid the foundation for good success year to year.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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quote: Can the Angels still hold their first place rank even with some injuries to their core players?
The Braves are sure suffering from this problem right now. They just lost Marcus Giles today to a nasty neck/shoulder injury.
quote: Baseball players are cuter because the sport relies on quickness in the hands and wrists, generating hip power, and upper leg strength. baseball players are generally better proportioned then football players or basketball players, for this reason.
So true, so true. And of all of the positions, the cutest ones are catchers.
I don't have any questions for you right now, Paul, but I absolutely loved your explanation of why people like baseball. It was very eloquent. It's what I always wish I could tell people when they ask me why I like baseball.
Posts: 1635 | Registered: Aug 2002
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AK, Actually, soccer players are probably the real cutest, to me. But I see your Australian football players.
Paul, First of all, REALLY NICE reasoning for why people like to watch baseball, and why it is a headsport. Also, really nice explanation for why baseball players have the cutest behinds, equal to soccer players'. I am, honestly, glad there is a biological reason I might think this.
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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For Paul (one of the greatest movie quotes ever):
quote: Well, I believe in the soul, the [deleted for gentle eyes], the [deleted for gentle eyes], the small of a woman's back, the hanging curve ball, high fiber, good scotch, that the novels of Susan Sontag are self-indulgent, overrated crap. I believe Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone. I believe there ought to be a constitutional amendment outlawing Astroturf and the designated hitter. I believe in the sweet spot, soft-core pornography, opening your presents Christmas morning rather than Christmas Eve and I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days. -- Crash Davis, played by Kevin Costner in Bull Durham
I'm developing a serious thing for baseball movies.
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Yep. Costner does a good ball-player. He wasn't too bad in Tin Cup, either, though that's another sport and a whole 'nother genre. I also loved Remember the Titans, though it's also another thing altogether.
Perhaps more than anything, it's movies that are slowly getting me to understand sports.
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I really iked it a lot. I can't really tell you if it is a good film , but I loved the story and the characterization.
There is also a novel called "My Pal Al," which is pretty old,and may or may not still be in print. My dad gave it to me to read when I was in middle school. It was a funny novel about a ball player in the earlier days of the game. I will see if I can find in on the net.
Edit: OK, the only "My Pal Al" that comes up is a story of a little girl with a bunny. Not the one. I will ask my dad today when i talk to him.
[ May 16, 2004, 08:49 AM: Message edited by: Elizabeth ]
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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I was wondering how you were going to handle that one, my Retroactive Date. Nicely done.
I do have one, though, from softball the other day.
If there is a force run to third and the runner overruns tha base(but the ball has not made it to the third baseman yet), does the third baseman have to touch the bag, or is the runner automatically out for overrunning?
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Once the player TOUCHES the bag, its no longer a force play at the base. He can continue running to home, or go back to third, but he must be tagged by the defense in order to be out. A force play only occurs when a runner must advance to the base. Once the player has touched third, he no longer is forced to advance to third base.
Softball does have some different rules, but thats how it would be in baseball rules.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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some of the rules for softball are WEIRD! apparently you can sub in for a player, as in, y goes in for x. In baseball, X would be done. But in softball, X CAN STILL COME BACK IN! its crazy I left my kinda-GFs game early when she got subbed out cause i had to be somewhere, but she came back in, made a sportscenter catch in CF and hit her 4th homer of the day! ARGH!
Posts: 348 | Registered: Dec 2000
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On the playoffs, most teams recognize it's a craps shoot. Every GM works to get their team to the playoffs, but once they're there, it's pretty much however the dice roll. The reason for this is simply statistical flukes. Over the season there are over 160 games, a well built, well rounded, and strong team will just plain win more games than an inferior team. But the playoffs are so short that random blips in the statistical patterns determine whole series, and the best team in baseball can be knocked out by the worst because of it.
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Hobbes is correct about that. I start to wonder, in cases like Oaklands, if there's something else going on, because statistical fluke should go their way ONCE in a while. It doesn't seem to.
Posts: 4112 | Registered: May 2001
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OK, Paul, this is 3rd and 4th grade softball. the runner overran third base by going straight and sort of standing there, she did not even make a run for home. ha ha. Now what?
Posts: 10890 | Registered: May 2003
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Ths happened early in the season (mid-April), in a Marlins-Philly game. A ball pitched by Benitez in the 9th inning was hit by Palanco. The ball wedged under the padding on the left-field wall. Left fielder Jeff Conine noted the ball was not playable, and the umpire called for a ground-rule double. The Phillies tried to contest the call but didn't get anywhere.
What was the confusion, and why would the Phillies think this play was not a ground-rule double?
Posts: 5771 | Registered: Nov 2000
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Probably little kids.![[Frown]](frown.gif)
They just lost Marcus Giles today to a nasty neck/shoulder injury. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
