Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Why all that room behind home plate?

Maybe they built the original stands far back from home plate to protect fans and because they didn't have the brains to invent the screen that all parks have had for that purpose for ... 80 years? But why continue that practice. The new Yankee Stadium has 60 feet behind home plate. It's immediate predecessor had 80 feet. Why not build the stands 15 feet away? Is there something entertaining about watching the ball roll away from players? Or could it be that baseball people (fans, players, management) have less than zero imagination? Yeah, I think that's it.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Pitching machine ... Yes!

I can't believe it took me this long to think of it. Replace the pitcher with a machine. Same machine for both teams. That would result it a true contest. Base runners would not be allowed to take leads and the catcher and pitcher can be deployed in the field where they can do some good. This is the essence of the game: batted balls, fielding and base running.