Just to toss this into the mix... For those who say it falls on the batter to hit it the other way...why can't the onus be on the pitcher to throw the ball where the batter can't pull it? Seems to me that allowing the shift is helping out the pitcher just as much as outlawing it could help the batter. Why aren't the pitchers being told to "man up"?

 

Hitters just need to learn to hit. It's that simple.

I remember watching The King and His Court Fastpitch team, they only used a Pitcher, Catcher, First Baseman and a Shortstop/Left Fielder. Sometimes they would put on the shift, they would send the 1B and SS to the dugout:)

Let's mark off the field into nine segments. Every time a fielder moves out of his area, the batter is awarded a hit. Maybe that will raise averages above the current .258 average or whatever it is these days.

I think a few stubborn hitters could eliminate shifting by learning to bunt.

 

I respect Tom Verducci a lot, but I'm disappointed that the word "bunt" didn't appear once in that piece. Suck it up and help your team win, by whatever means necessary. A bunt single counts the same as a line drive single to RF in your BA and OBP, which means zero loss of bargaining power at the contract negotiation table.

I respect Tom Verducci a lot, but I'm disappointed that the word "bunt" didn't appear once in that piece. Suck it up and help your team win, by whatever means necessary. A bunt single counts the same as a line drive single to RF in your BA and OBP, which means zero loss of bargaining power at the contract negotiation table.

 

It's only going to take a handful of bunt hits to get them to stop doing it.

Another dumb idea. I love the game, but baseball continues to slide down the landscape of American sports.

Lower the mound. Boom! Problem solved.

 

Let's face it. While some love seeing the 1-0 or 2-1 pitcher's duel, the majority of Americans want to see home runs and runs scored. That is the reason college coaches were so ticked when they went away from BESR bats and changed to BBCOR. Their game was the most popular it had ever been and the NCAA took it down a notch.

I love the game, but baseball continues to slide down the landscape of American sports.

 

Yep! :thumb:

The idea has merit... There have been numerous times rules have been changed even in baseball to swing the pendulum back to hitters. And I definitely see a point in that it pretty much eliminates one kind of hitter...

Love the A's, but I don't really mind the shift. I think the only valid argument someone could make against it is if it becomes an issue with timing and delaying a game that's already too long to begin with.

 

When it gets to the point that each batter and each point in the count calls for a wait so the defense can shift accordingly, and those waits start adding up, an already boring game loses even more appeal.

I kinda think professional hitters should make the adjustment. No rule change needed here. If guys like Bruce can't adjust, maybe they should just be working at Walgreens instead.

Is this thread serious or a joke? (I hope the latter.)

They need to let them bring roids back in the game and start letting them hit bombs.

They need to let them bring roids back in the game and start letting them hit bombs.

 

That's what I'm saying.

To be fair the NBA and NFL have made plenty of rule changes to traditional rules to benefit the offense . If the they can do it why not the MLB .

 

Lowering the mound, shrinking the strike zone, altering the ball, and creating the designated hitter... just to name a few. Major League Baseball has long been ahead of the curve in trying to increase hitting and scoring. They've been at it for over 100 years.