MLB World Series 2018: Eh. Dodgers/Boston. Eh.

As they used to say, Chick's dig the long ball. It's launch angle and all, now. The "bat parallel to the ground" at contact and driving the ball idea is out of favor. I remember reading once that Reggie Jackson called hitting a home run an accident because the swing was a slight uppercut. In a segment on Sunday's ESPN game, Kris Bryant (he of 199 strikeouts in 559 ABs in his rookie year) pretty much told A-Rod that he's looking to swing for a home run every at bat. Not to blast it into the second deck, but to at least get it to carry the fence. Others are swinging for the upper decks, though. There also seems to be less of a stigma attached to striking out as there used to be. The most strikeouts DiMaggio had in a season was 39 in 637 ABs in his rookie year. In 1941 he struck out just 13 times in 541 ABs!

Maybe Dave Kingman was ahead of his time.

Frankly, the next efficient economic move for some teams may be to start rounding up players that may have little relative power but make contact and keep the line moving at the plate.

Bring back Whiteyball!

 

Wade Boggs said something similar after hitting his first home run as a Yankee.

 

Fucking Yankees....

While watching the Celtics I realized why I like baseball so much. There are 15 teams in each division in basketball, 8 of which go to the playoffs, more than half! That's stupid.

Baseball has the same amount of teams and only 5 go to the playoffs, one of which is only a 1 off game. That makes sense. No point in playing for months and months to let 55% of the teams into the playoffs.

 

Ummm...why do they not want Zobrist wearing black cleats?

 

There’s a rule stating that at least 51% of each shoe worn by a Major Leaguer must be the primary color of the team he plays for.

 

Of course there is.

 

^My exact thought when I heard about this. Baseball has more bullshit rules than any other sport.

 

They can worry about 51% of a shoe but can't figure out how to call a consistent strike zone

 

Meh. The NFL has some stupid uniforms rules, too. There's this gem on socks: “The stockings worn by players must be white from the top of the shoe to mid-calf and an approved team color from mid-calf to the bottom of the pant leg, which is pulled down below the knee.” They also have basically the same rule on shoes as MLB does (or at least as fastidious). They can be black or white with one team color. The shoelaces must the of the dominant color or the color of the shoe's tongue. There are also NFL rules on glove color.

 

^And hopped the foul lines, ate licorice while pitching and brushed his teeth between innings.

 

The uniform police have set their sights on Wilson Contreras.

 

I hated Selig, but Manfred is a special kind of stupid. All the things that baseball can improve, and he worries about this.

 

I feel like Contreras will have something to say back to MLB.

 

Though if he pushes his luck too far, he might be sitting down, for a few days at least