Author | Lightnews

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 32m

That's a shame. He's a pretty likeable guy.

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 3h

Erik out there earning his World Series ring.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 16h

Oh yes. This is what I needed.

2

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 17h

Honestly. Giving the full "think of the children" treatment to intentional walks.

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 17h

Also tell me more about how condescending I am while you post brutally self-serious sermons about the dignified and graceful way for opponents to approach Ohtani. Give it up.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 17h

Maybe. And I'll admit I get fixated on this because I find peoples' sense of entitlement to their preferred opposition strategy very obnoxious. Nobody owes you a thing. You're not the Harlem Globetrotters. If you don't like Ohtani being walked, tell his teammates to get on base in front of him.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 17h

I'm glad we agree! It's a bad strategy! That's why it's not a problem.

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 19h

It's almost like this has been thoroughly litigated over the course of a century and they made this conclusion a few years ago for a reason.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 19h

Okay. Then they'll just pitch around him. It solves absolutely nothing, and will just take more time.

2

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 20h

And to be clear: I don't even agree with intentionally walking people. But banning it is an insane idea.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 21h

Blue Jays bullpen is a known weakness. Very homer prone. Not sure anybody has been shy about admitting that.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 21h

Yeah I can't have this conversation anymore. This is wild, wild stuff.

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 21h

All this to ban a strategy that puts the user at a strategic disadvantage. I honestly can't believe how many people are caught up on this. The real story here is the fact that the Dodgers were given so many free bases and never managed to score.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 21h

Baseball has to do no such thing. This isn't a problem. It just isn't to your taste. That's not the same thing.

1

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 21h

You want to give umpires the discretion to determine what's "competitive" and what isn't? Are all the teams going to share the proprietary databases on strategy and analysis with the league so they can instruct the umpires on what teams do in specific situations?

2

John @instacrows.bsky.social · 22h

Getting a free base is a very steep price to pay for this strategy. There really is no need for a rule. The success of this strategy is self-limiting.

And you can't prevent a pitcher from walking a batter. That's just not a serious suggestion.

1