There are several large aggravations with watching baseball on TV. There are advantages like instant replay and all the various camera angles. From the disadvantage side we will have to exclude the announcers because they are add on annoyances to the game of baseball itself. The most aggravating parts of watching baseball with the exclusions of course is watching a pitcher who can not throw strikes and watching a batter not swing even if he did see a strike. In little league, if a pitcher walks everybody it is boring and after a few walks the coach gets out the hook because the batters are not swinging either. The fans are watching a bad game of "playing catch".
In professional baseball, when pitchers walk people then probably fitee percent of the time as a result of those base on balls, a run will score. So, listen up all you high priced pitchers, throw freakin strikes. That's all. "Rock and Throw" as my dad would say. Do not walk them. Ever. Hit them before you walk them. Do not get cute with the curve ball, just throw the damn ball. Playing a little chin music is better than a one hundred mile per hour fast ball missing the corner of the plate. As a catcher behind the plate I could tell the minute the pitch was release whether it was a ball or a strike. I would yell out "throw strikes" to the pitcher. I loved to say"This guy is a dill weed and he can not hit anyway so throw a freekin strike, will ya?". Sometimes the pitcher needed a tongue lashing so I would uncrouch and walk to the mound and say, "Hey, throw a freaking strike Dude". If the wildness continued I would get the coach's attention and tell him to find someone else to pitch, this guy bites the big one.
My favorite pitcher these days is probably Tim Lincecum of the Giants or James Shields of the Tampa Rays . They rock and throw. They wind up, look you directly in the eye and with malice and forethought propel the ball and throw strikes. Even the statistics guys will tell you if a pitcher throws strikes he will usually be more successful than the nibblers. The ball is coming, it will be a strike or close to it and so try to hit it. If the ball is hit, it may be fielded or caught, it may be ineligible yet there is a good chance that a hit will not result. If a pitcher walks a guy there is no chance to get him out unless he downs some PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) on his way to the base or slugs the first baseman upon arrival.
For the batters my advice is "swing the bat". Just like a broken watch is correct twice a day, if you swing, you may hit something. Recently in the playoffs, I saw a pinch hitter, (Pinch hitters are often used to replace a starting player when the pinch hitter is thought to have a better chance of reaching base or helping other runners to score) go up to the plate,first dig in with the front foot and then when he was ready drag in the back foot and balance his stance, stand in the batter's box attentively and watch five pitches swoosh by without moving a muscle. The pitcher threw a strike, a curve for a ball, a strike, another ball and then the third strike. The guy walked back to the dugout, down the steps, into the club house and probably kept going until he was out of the stadium, off the team and back to his momma's house because he will never get another "at bat" in a baseball game. The bat never left his shoulder and he did not even attempt a swing. In a playoff situation, I would have thrown the bat at the ball, jumped in front of the curve ball and swung three time at each pitch for hell's sake. They would have had to use a stun gun to get me off the field.
My favorite batter to watch is Vladimir Guererro. He is floundering around in the minor leagues somewhere trying to get back to the Major Leagues. Not only does he have a great name and a sweet swing, it has been said of Vlad, " If it is round and has threads on it, Vlad will swing at it." I saw a video clip of him hitting a ball that bounced in front of the plate on the way in. I saw him hit a home run off of a pitch that was higher than his head. He swung twice at the pitches during an intentional walk. He came to hit and he was going to do his utmost best to hit that damn ball. How could anyone do less and expect to get paid. When I played baseball, I decided before the pitcher even threw the ball that I was going to swing and I usually did. There are some batters that just swing as hard as they can and whenever they hit the ball, it went a mile. The Boob, Boog Powell was like that. Lord have mercy on that ball because that big old farm boy was going to smash the stuffing out of it.
Lets make the game of baseball more enjoyable for me at least and if you are a pitcher and not going to throw strikes, become a first baseman. If you are a batter and not going to swing, stay in the dugout with the commentators and save us all some aggravation.
In professional baseball, when pitchers walk people then probably fitee percent of the time as a result of those base on balls, a run will score. So, listen up all you high priced pitchers, throw freakin strikes. That's all. "Rock and Throw" as my dad would say. Do not walk them. Ever. Hit them before you walk them. Do not get cute with the curve ball, just throw the damn ball. Playing a little chin music is better than a one hundred mile per hour fast ball missing the corner of the plate. As a catcher behind the plate I could tell the minute the pitch was release whether it was a ball or a strike. I would yell out "throw strikes" to the pitcher. I loved to say"This guy is a dill weed and he can not hit anyway so throw a freekin strike, will ya?". Sometimes the pitcher needed a tongue lashing so I would uncrouch and walk to the mound and say, "Hey, throw a freaking strike Dude". If the wildness continued I would get the coach's attention and tell him to find someone else to pitch, this guy bites the big one.
My favorite pitcher these days is probably Tim Lincecum of the Giants or James Shields of the Tampa Rays . They rock and throw. They wind up, look you directly in the eye and with malice and forethought propel the ball and throw strikes. Even the statistics guys will tell you if a pitcher throws strikes he will usually be more successful than the nibblers. The ball is coming, it will be a strike or close to it and so try to hit it. If the ball is hit, it may be fielded or caught, it may be ineligible yet there is a good chance that a hit will not result. If a pitcher walks a guy there is no chance to get him out unless he downs some PEDs (performance enhancing drugs) on his way to the base or slugs the first baseman upon arrival.
For the batters my advice is "swing the bat". Just like a broken watch is correct twice a day, if you swing, you may hit something. Recently in the playoffs, I saw a pinch hitter, (Pinch hitters are often used to replace a starting player when the pinch hitter is thought to have a better chance of reaching base or helping other runners to score) go up to the plate,first dig in with the front foot and then when he was ready drag in the back foot and balance his stance, stand in the batter's box attentively and watch five pitches swoosh by without moving a muscle. The pitcher threw a strike, a curve for a ball, a strike, another ball and then the third strike. The guy walked back to the dugout, down the steps, into the club house and probably kept going until he was out of the stadium, off the team and back to his momma's house because he will never get another "at bat" in a baseball game. The bat never left his shoulder and he did not even attempt a swing. In a playoff situation, I would have thrown the bat at the ball, jumped in front of the curve ball and swung three time at each pitch for hell's sake. They would have had to use a stun gun to get me off the field.
My favorite batter to watch is Vladimir Guererro. He is floundering around in the minor leagues somewhere trying to get back to the Major Leagues. Not only does he have a great name and a sweet swing, it has been said of Vlad, " If it is round and has threads on it, Vlad will swing at it." I saw a video clip of him hitting a ball that bounced in front of the plate on the way in. I saw him hit a home run off of a pitch that was higher than his head. He swung twice at the pitches during an intentional walk. He came to hit and he was going to do his utmost best to hit that damn ball. How could anyone do less and expect to get paid. When I played baseball, I decided before the pitcher even threw the ball that I was going to swing and I usually did. There are some batters that just swing as hard as they can and whenever they hit the ball, it went a mile. The Boob, Boog Powell was like that. Lord have mercy on that ball because that big old farm boy was going to smash the stuffing out of it.
Lets make the game of baseball more enjoyable for me at least and if you are a pitcher and not going to throw strikes, become a first baseman. If you are a batter and not going to swing, stay in the dugout with the commentators and save us all some aggravation.
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