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Let's hope this first game is not indicative of the season to come. Sure seems like something that would have happened last year. Our starter pitched 7 innings of 1 hit ball and we gave up 4 runs in the 8th to lose 6-5.

The reliever that gave up 4 runs (Richie Dell) was a starter last year and is coming off an injury. I think it's more positive that Cruikshank had a great start (1 H in 7 IP) than Dell had a rough one. Let's see what Whitman has to offer in today's game.

Baseball let's up another 9th inning lead, but holds in 16 innings

Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I am more concerned with another blown lead in the 9th than a ghost runner in MLB. Why in the world can we not finish games?

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

Good point, burden.

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

Yes, the three true outcomes being what so many teams focus on is really hurting the game. On the other hand, it's making that Guardians fun as hell to watch. Batting average and stealing bases have become so devalued that a smart team like us has realized you can build a team that does those things really well for cheap and win. The bonus, high batting average and a lot of steals mean an offense that's actually fun to watch because there's runners on base a lot, and action on the base paths. It's also kinda funny how focusing on the three true outcomes has overvalued walks. So what was originally considered a corner stone of money ball (pay for walks because they're cheap) is no longer the case. It is a great example of how analytics is cyclical and not as simple as a coach saying "analytics say shoot a bunch of threes so let's do that" (looking at you every HS coach in America). Yeah I know I just changed sports there...

The Guardians Yankees playoff series really made the problem apparent to me. The Yankees seldom had anyone on base and barely ever got anyone in scoring position. They almost always scored off HRs. The result was well... Really effing boring. Their half of the innings had almost no drama or excitement outside of the 30 seconds or so for a HR. You're not on the edge of your seat because there's a scoring chance you just see a HR and then onto the next pitch. Baseball doesn't seem to realize watching dudes strike out a billion times and also hit a ton of HRs isn't actually fun. But hey, just another reminder why it's great to be a Guardians fan... We'll be fun as hell to watch until the league catches up and batting average and stolen bases start to be valued again. Then I'm sure we'll find whatever became devalued and switch to focusing on that.

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

I love the ridiculous long games for the inevitable bench chaos it creates. You end up with Fernando Valenzuela in left field and weird stuff like that.

As far as more action goes, then I'd like to see some de-emphasize the homerun and reward putting the ball in play. I've wondered if dropping the fences back would create more opportunities for triples and reward outfield speed. Things to get batters swinging earlier in the count for contact and getting more stolen base attempts would be nice too. But I agree, baseball isn't nearly as fun to watch as when I was a kid and that's sad.

2 out of 3 in Jacksonville. Not a bad start.

(02-19-2023 10:15 PM)bopol Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

I love the ridiculous long games for the inevitable bench chaos it creates. You end up with Fernando Valenzuela in left field and weird stuff like that.

As far as more action goes, then I'd like to see some de-emphasize the homerun and reward putting the ball in play. I've wondered if dropping the fences back would create more opportunities for triples and reward outfield speed. Things to get batters swinging earlier in the count for contact and getting more stolen base attempts would be nice too. But I agree, baseball isn't nearly as fun to watch as when I was a kid and that's sad.

Moving the fences back would help as these guys can hit home runs too easily. Don’t think it could be done in a lot of parks though. And if they did, I suppose the home run derby fans would come out of the woodwork and *****. I’m actually worried about all pro and college sports. The games just keep getting longer and longer.

(02-19-2023 10:15 PM)bopol Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

I love the ridiculous long games for the inevitable bench chaos it creates. You end up with Fernando Valenzuela in left field and weird stuff like that.

As far as more action goes, then I'd like to see some de-emphasize the homerun and reward putting the ball in play. I've wondered if dropping the fences back would create more opportunities for triples and reward outfield speed. Things to get batters swinging earlier in the count for contact and getting more stolen base attempts would be nice too. But I agree, baseball isn't nearly as fun to watch as when I was a kid and that's sad.

The changes I've seen in MLB in my time are too numerous to mention. If I have ONE complaint, only, though it is how darned long the typical game takes. It has increased 47 minutes since the 1950 season. Also, I've noticed in all sports that nowadays the officials seem to have no sense of urgency to move the games along.

(02-20-2023 11:20 AM)bopol Wrote:  2 out of 3 in Jacksonville. Not a bad start.

Not sure what kind of team the Dolphins are supposed to have, but on the surface it's not bad. A little disappointing because we should have swept them - but not bad.

(02-20-2023 12:56 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 10:15 PM)bopol Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

I love the ridiculous long games for the inevitable bench chaos it creates. You end up with Fernando Valenzuela in left field and weird stuff like that.

As far as more action goes, then I'd like to see some de-emphasize the homerun and reward putting the ball in play. I've wondered if dropping the fences back would create more opportunities for triples and reward outfield speed. Things to get batters swinging earlier in the count for contact and getting more stolen base attempts would be nice too. But I agree, baseball isn't nearly as fun to watch as when I was a kid and that's sad.

The changes I've seen in MLB in my time are too numerous to mention. If I have ONE complaint, only, though it is how darned long the typical game takes. It has increased 47 minutes since the 1950 season. Also, I've noticed in all sports that nowadays the officials seem to have no sense of urgency to move the games along.

Yeah, I watched Game 7 of the 1981 World Series and basically as soon as the pitchers got the ball, they pitched. No looking in for signs for 30 seconds and stepping on and off the rubber 3 times. The game moved along.

What's funny about that game is it really was two sides of the future of baseball with the Brewers who were sluggers and walkers vs. St. Louis who were ball slappers and base stealers. St. Louis won the game, which I think delayed the transition to the Brewers type teams being the dominate factor in baseball to come (starting in the 90s, the best teams were built off of the Harvey's sluggers model).

(02-20-2023 12:56 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 10:15 PM)bopol Wrote:  

(02-19-2023 05:27 PM)burden Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 09:10 PM)Muskrat Wrote:  

(02-18-2023 08:48 PM)bopol Wrote:  Why college baseball is better than MLB now? Because no ghost runner. I hate the ghost runner.

Oh, and great outing for Whitman today.

Agree, the "ghost runner" rule is awful.

I love the ghost runner as long as it’s only in the regular season. Who needs a 16 inning game that you never watch to the end. Baseball needs more action. The players are too good they need to get away from the walk, strike out and home run being the only outcomes. It might already be too late.

I love the ridiculous long games for the inevitable bench chaos it creates. You end up with Fernando Valenzuela in left field and weird stuff like that.

As far as more action goes, then I'd like to see some de-emphasize the homerun and reward putting the ball in play. I've wondered if dropping the fences back would create more opportunities for triples and reward outfield speed. Things to get batters swinging earlier in the count for contact and getting more stolen base attempts would be nice too. But I agree, baseball isn't nearly as fun to watch as when I was a kid and that's sad.

The changes I've seen in MLB in my time are too numerous to mention. If I have ONE complaint, only, though it is how darned long the typical game takes. It has increased 47 minutes since the 1950 season. Also, I've noticed in all sports that nowadays the officials seem to have no sense of urgency to move the games along.

I think baseball is trying to do the right things this year but I’m afraid it’s not just the length of the game. All sports have added at least 47 minutes to their game. Heck college football might as well be cricket. We all know the reasons (TV, rule changes, strategy, etc. etc.). But only baseball gets criticism for it. I think that’s because there are numerous reasons people don’t like baseball. Fantasy baseball is too much work, betting is not as well understood, game is slow even the 1960 version (that Carlin routine comparing baseball to football says a lot, listen to it if you haven’t). It’s on its way to becoming a niche sport much like hockey.

Jacksonville, Wofford, ut Martin and Canisius are non conference weekends. Pitiful.

Mid week games- murray state (2), ysu (2), Lake Erie (d2), Pitt (2), Indiana, Ohio state (2), Michigan. a little better but those games you’re facing the big boys 4th and 5th starters.

Schedule seems to be built by a guy with a warm seat. So while I’m hopeful we’ll be better not sure we’ll know until we’re deep into mac schedule.

0-2 so far this weekend.

And we got swept.

Yep, I am getting a little concerned about the bullpen here. The starters have mostly been solid and the offense good, but the bullpen is a bit shaky.