I would be willing to bet more people prefer DH in both leagues rather than pitchers hit. Avid or causal. The only demographic that would probably widely prefer the DH are the old fogies that grew up in a time when anyone throwing over 92 was considered a flamethrower and that advanced metrics didn’t matter. But thankfully that age group and thought is dying out.
Maybe you're right; more people may prefer the DH, but increased popularity almost never results in a better product. ...And it dam sure ain't gonna be a better product from this pair of eyes.
Red Sox fans aren’t that bad.
Wouldn’t*
I don't think the game is hurting for viewers exactly. There is a reason why TV contracts are so huge.
Kind of hard to make that statement when ratings have been declining both nationally and locally for decades now.
I have no data to back this up, but I think Michael Bourn lead the world in groundouts to first on a 3-1 count
Another thing that pisses me off.
Been thinking of getting a membership to baseball ref. They have situational stats going back quite a few years. Would be interesting to see the rankings
Most frustrating player in Braves history IMO. Would lead the league in stolen bases every year, a walk would usually mean he’s at minimum gonna be on second, and he had a good shot of beating out grounders that required a long throw to first, but always seemed to ground out right to the first baseman who was always guarding the line
If it were still the 90’s/early 00’s when Braves pitchers prided themselves on being able to to get a bunt down and not be gimmies with the bat, I’d be adamantly opposed, but as it stands now most pitchers can barely bunt these days.Pitchers collectively hit .110/.150/.142 last season. Only one position player (527 total players) with > 50 PAs had an OPS lower than pitchers did as a group. Even if I lower the PA bar to 20 there's still only 8 position players below .292 (out of 588).
Pitchers are really in an entirely different tier. People say things like "Gibson and Drysdale could hit!" but look at their stats. They were good hitters for pitchers. And then you see that guys like Newcombe and Wes Ferrell who could really hit will get lumped together with them because "pitchers who can hit" just isn't that big of a group. I love Bob Gibson but he couldn't hit like Ferrell and the Newk.
I know that you play sim baseball. Don't you want to put your fist through the screen if and when your pitchers are just trying to get a simple bunt down? They are just terrible at it, I definitely won't miss that
I prefer small ball. I would prefer that my team was full of Ted Williams or Babe Ruth. Both teams batting their pitchers still is equal opportunity. I prefer the game with the pitcher hitting. Of course, I prefer 2-way players in football also.Pitchers collectively hit .110/.150/.142 last season. Only one position player (527 total players) with > 50 PAs had an OPS lower than pitchers did as a group. Even if I lower the PA bar to 20 there's still only 8 position players below .292 (out of 588).
Pitchers are really in an entirely different tier. People say things like "Gibson and Drysdale could hit!" but look at their stats. They were good hitters for pitchers. And then you see that guys like Newcombe and Wes Ferrell who could really hit will get lumped together with them because "pitchers who can hit" just isn't that big of a group. I love Bob Gibson but he couldn't hit like Ferrell and the Newk.
I know that you play sim baseball. Don't you want to put your fist through the screen if and when your pitchers are just trying to get a simple bunt down? They are just terrible at it, I definitely won't miss that
Guess it’s just some selective memories from when he did it in critical situations3-1 is his best count actually, he's got a .371/.706/.569 slash line on 3-1 counts. Of course it is a good count for everyone though
The league hit .348/.715/.672 when faced with 3-1 last year. I don't know the average for the league for Bourn's entire career of course but he doesn't seem to be remarkably sub-par in that scenario.