MLB Looking Into New Baseballs

[memorabiliaunlimited]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/sources-mlb-seeking-new-ball-with-stickier-cover-so-it-can-enforce-foreign-substance-rule-162554693.html

what does everyone think of this?

[TBM]

I just don't see what all the fuss is about. What the heck is wrong with the game that they gotta go messing with things. It's like Manfred is dead set to make as many changes as possible. 90 minute games become the norm because of pitch clocks, free no pitch walks, runners starting on second in extra innings, sticky baseballs that'll look like crap on my shelf two years later. A baseball game is not a movie dang it!! It don't need to fit in a 90 minute window. If I wanna spend 90 minutes watching something I'm going to the theater.

I love extra inning games. Four hour games are great. A one run pitching duel is the best. Some of the best times I've had at a baseball game were extra innings and rain delayed games and Manfred wants to take that away from me. If they're going to cut the game time down they better cut the prices down too. Ticket prices need to drop, player pay needs to drop, concession prices need to drop and memorabilia prices need to drop to go along with reduced game time. People tailgate for hours before game time, watch the game and tailgate more after the game. Players get to the stadium six hours prior to game time to work out, watch tape, go over strategy and more. Why trivialize all that with a 90 minute game.

I'm lucky enough to make 4 or 5 games a year. It's a six hour round trip for me for every game plus a hotel stay if I wanna go to two games in one trip. That's too much time, money and effort for a 90 minute game. I'll stay home and go watch a movie. Maybe if I was a season ticket holder I'd see things differently. Maybe 81 games takes a toll on the fans. I still catch every game I can on TV and/or radio though. I'm right there every night in spirit if nothing else and wishing I was at the game.

Here's an idea Manfred, since you want shorter game times why not just play for 90 mins whoever is ahead at that time wins. There, problem solved.

Sorry, rant done for now.

tldr leave the balls alone, it'll screw up the double play cause players won't be able to tear it outta their glove fast enough. Have u ever rolled a sticky ball across the floor? It picks up everything. On a good bunt or grounder that ball could be like sand paper in a players hand or could be stuck to the glove on a line drive. Just think of the movement the ball will get with all that stuff stuck to it. Make it harder to throw out a runner at the plate. No more Bo Jackson nailing Reynolds at the plate from the outfield wall. That balls going to end up who knows where.

[KGoldin]

Personally I am for as little changes in baseball as possible as well as equipment changes. So its possible to the best of everyone's ability to be able to compare statistics and players from one era to the next

[joecoco]

Oh great, I can see it all : "Come on son! Let's go outside and knock around the ole' chemically enhanced horsehide."

[sox83cubs84]

The idea for these baseballs sounds major league...CRAPPY!:mad:

Dave Miedema

[coxfan]

On a recent TV interview, Manfred was opposed to starting a runner on second in extra innings. ( A commentator had raised this issue with him.) I think the MLBPA opposes pitch clocks, but I could be wrong. The NCAA is using pitch clocks when bases are empty, and between-inning clocks, and has for a couple of years.

A little-known fact: college games also rub mud on their balls, though it doesn't have to be the MLB magic mud. The NCAA rules allow any nearby river as a mud source.

[mrjohnmalton]

No. No, no, no... no.

Oh, and take the New Era logo off of the caps.

:mad:

[sorklora]

So, how will this affect autographing now? I can't imagine a ball with chemicals will be good for signing. Will the baseballs sold from Rawlings and at stores be normal, and the teams will have to spray them themselves before games, or will all balls sold be like that, if approved? I'm definitely NOT for this as a fan and as a grapher.

[metsbats]

First the players are chemically enhanced and now the balls:eek:

In the future they should replace human umpires with robot umps given all the mistakes that have been exposed since the introduction of replays. Think of all the time saved not reviewing the replays and robot umpires would be hard to argue with:)

[coxfan]

Seriously, the future should bring in more technology to help umpires make accurate calls without replays. The sport of fencing has for decades used technology to determine touches. Racing can measure times instantly to hundreds of seconds. Similarly baseball could instantly determine tag plays and force outs with electronic technology that's already feasible.

Slow-motion replay is raising some new issues of definition. When is a ball caught on a force-play? When the ball first enters and touches the glove, or when it rests at the back of the glove? Before slow-motion replay, the micro-second physical difference there wasn't noticed, but now it's apparent and even provokes comment by the TV analysts. A couple of years ago, slow-motion replay caught a case of a bat twice hitting a ball so rapidly it wouldn't have been noticed before extreme slow-motion replay.

I personally suspect, from studying a recording of the final pitch of Don Larsen's perfect game, that the last pitch was a legitimate strike. Slowing the recording down seems to show that the batter broke the plane with his swing, but retracted it so fast that it looks like he held up his swing at regular speed. He protested he hadn't swung (maybe the batter dost protest too much?) The ump actually considered it a called strike.