Black holes that trap ideas.

Provoked/inspired by:

Gravitational Waves Detected, Confirming Einstein’s Theory
OUT THERE FEB. 11, 2016 The New York Times

LIGO Hears Gravitational Waves Einstein Predicted
By DENNIS OVERBYE, JONATHAN CORUM and JASON DRAKEFORD

it is a ringing confirmation of the nature of black holes, the bottomless gravitational pits from which not even light can escape, which were the most foreboding (and unwelcome) part of his theory
_____________________________________

Baseball black holes are those of ideas, which are trapped in our lack of imagination.

- The catching position prevents us from using a simple fixed target as the way strikes are determined. It forces/allows a human being to function as a backstop. Eliminating the catcher, forces base runners to wait until the pitch is hit with a bat before they may advance. Foul territory would, of course, be extended 45 feet towards second from the back of the plate to eliminate dribblers and short bunts. The catcher could be deployed elsewhere, probably close enough to make tag plays at home. Better planetary alignment.

- The pitcher's mound replaced the pitcher's box, which made much more sense. Bring back the pitcher's box. Pitchers now throw from an elevated position and ever closer to the front of home plate, which is 60'6" from the rubber minus the 17 inches from the back of the plate to the front. Six foot ten inch  Randy Johnson, one foot taller than fellow Hall of Fame southpaw Whitey Ford, got to release the ball probably about 18 inches closer to the front of the plate than Ford. Pitchers should release the ball from the same distance,which should be in the center of the diamond, about 63'6", three feet further back from where they now start their leap towards the front of the plate. Johnson warped gravitational waves.

- Non uniform playing areas make home runs both random and unfair. They distort and pervert our normal all American sense of fair play. Home run distances and wall heights should be the same in all directions in all parks. Anything other breaches the space time continuum.

- Not permitting players to re-enter games never made any sense. It could easily be done within the confines of the batting order, i.e., the player may only replace a player in the same batting order position.

- As posted yesterday it makes at least as much sense as the way it has been done for each inning to start with the top of the order, you know, the batters we want to see, not the ones whose appearance warrants a break, possibly including a quick run to the deli.

- A two hour time limit would put games in line with other forms of entertainment. Baseball has clock rules but not for overall time and it does not enforce the ones that it does have. Space and time need balance.

- If lowering and moving the pitchers does not do the trick, rules should be tweaked to establish a balance between pitchers and batters. .500 on base average (percentage) has been achieved only 14 times since 1903 by only five batters.

Rk	Player	Year	OBP	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Barry Bonds	2004	.609	39	SFG	NL	147	617	373	129	135	27	3	45	101	232	120	41	9	0	3	5	6	1	.362	.812	1.422	*7/HD
2	Barry Bonds	2003	.529	38	SFG	NL	130	550	390	111	133	22	1	45	90	148	61	58	10	0	2	7	7	0	.341	.749	1.278	*7/DH
3	Barry Bonds	2002	.582	37	SFG	NL	143	612	403	117	149	31	2	46	110	198	68	47	9	0	2	4	9	2	.370	.799	1.381	*7/DH
4	Barry Bonds	2001	.515	36	SFG	NL	153	664	476	129	156	32	2	73	137	177	35	93	9	0	2	5	13	3	.328	.863	1.379	*7/DH
5	Ted Williams	1957	.526	38	BOS	AL	132	547	420	96	163	28	1	38	87	119	33	43	5	0	2	11	0	1	.388	.731	1.257	*7/H
6	Mickey Mantle	1957	.512	25	NYY	AL	144	623	474	121	173	28	6	34	94	146	23	75	0	0	3	5	16	3	.365	.665	1.177	*8/H
7	Ted Williams	1954	.513	35	BOS	AL	117	526	386	93	133	23	1	29	89	136		32	1	0	3	10	0	0	.345	.635	1.148	*7/H
8	Ted Williams	1941	.553	22	BOS	AL	143	606	456	135	185	33	3	37	120	147		27	3	0		10	2	4	.406	.735	1.287	*7H/9
9	Babe Ruth	1926	.516	31	NYY	AL	152	652	495	139	184	30	5	47	153	144		76	3	10			11	9	.372	.737	1.253	*79/H3
10	Babe Ruth	1924	.513	29	NYY	AL	153	681	529	143	200	39	7	46	124	142		81	4	6			9	13	.378	.739	1.252	*97/8H
11	Rogers Hornsby	1924	.507	28	STL	NL	143	642	536	121	227	43	14	25	94	89		32	2	13			5	12	.424	.696	1.203	*4
12	Babe Ruth	1923	.545	28	NYY	AL	152	697	522	151	205	45	13	41	130	170		93	4	3			17	21	.393	.764	1.309	97/83
13	Babe Ruth	1921	.512	26	NYY	AL	152	693	540	177	204	44	16	59	168	145		81	4	4			17	13	.378	.846	1.359	*78/13
14	Babe Ruth	1920	.532	25	NYY	AL	142	616	458	158	172	36	9	54	135	150		80	3	5			14	14	.376	.847	1.379	*978/3H1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/12/2016.

That's ridiculous. League on base average should be .500. Football and basketball do not have such a black hole.

Einstein would approve.