7/21-7/24 Red Sox vs. Twins Series Thread

I know it's the Twins, but this has been a clutch outing by Wright after the bullpen-eater yesterday.

The offense was awesome today. And wright was on his game.

Ortiz looked really good tonight.

It wasn't just you, lots of people in baseball, on the webz, probably his coaches etc thought he was on the outs. :/

One change that has been brought up before is just getting rid of one out guys. Making a rule that when a reliever comes into the game he can only leave it if he finishes the inning or puts a man on base would slightly reduce the number of relievers a team uses (especially in September) without altering the way the game is played.

While we're talking about rule changes, and in the spirit of ESPN's "Baseball 2.0" series, two more proposals, neither wholly original.

1) A relief pitcher who faces a single batter, and is relieved before the end of the inning for reasons other than injury shall be known as a matchup specialist. Each team may use just one matchup specialist per game; subsequent relievers must either face two batters or finish the inning, unless they sustain an incapacitating injury before the end of their second batter faced.

Because teams have existing investments in matchup guys, you would want to initially limit matchup specialists to one per inning and two per game. And you might argue in favor of leaving it that way, rather than going to this tighter version a few years later. But I personally like the extreme restriction as the eventual goal; it speeds the game more, adds more offense, and requires more careful strategy.

2) Add the following to the definition of a balk:

-- Three successive pickoff throws to the same base
-- Any pickoff throw to an unoccupied base
-- Five pickoff throws (to any base) during one plate appearance

This turns repeated pickoff attempts from one of the dullest things in the game to one of the most interesting and exciting. Throwing over twice in a row unsuccessfully gives the runner a titanic jump on every subsequent pitch. So throwing over once means that, on the next pitch, the runner is guessing no throw and the pitcher is therefore guessing that the runner is going. Great cat-and-mouse, where one throw over means the next pitch is a high-stakes, tense moment. This will speed up the game and boost stolen bases, both of which are good.

If this version seems too extreme, it can be initially implemented with four and six throws rather than three and five.

I'm curious as to what people think of these.

Been to about 10 ballparks around the country, Wrigley (and Fenway) just once each. Wrigley is my favorite park and I found the fans more unconditionally supporting their team, irrespective of standing than any. Sorry Sox fans, but during this golden era we've morphed more than halfway toward the spoiled Yankee fans I grew up with in that regard. Given their loyalty, and how long it's been, and Theo there, as a baseball fan I root for the Cubs to finally do it, there's even (incredibly) ambivalence if the sox face them.

Anybody who says Ortiz bat speed has slowed down is not watching the man hit. As long as his bat speed remains, he will be able to hit a baseball.

However I am a bit worried about if his Achilles or heels will make it through this year. He seems to really struggle to get out of the batters box and run.

However no one should doubt that he can still hit a baseball.