Quote:
Originally Posted by Dean
I'm with Scott. I thought the sequence was...
Batter steps into the box, pitcher steps on the rubber, batter can call time until pitcher starts motion or something like that. Balk if pitcher stops motion.
I have no problem with anybody changing hands/sides between pitches, but if that is the sequence, then the batter should have to declare first.
Maybe this is MLB's way to somewhat negate the switch pitcher rather than letting the athletes/game progress.
Another thing this brings up is if Venditte's 4 finger and two thumbs/webs glove is legal, why hasn't there been any other apparent progression in glove design/materials? You can't tell me a classic leather glove is state of the art in catching a ball and transferring it to the throwing hand.
|
I think the only rule for a glove is its maximum length, which was done because 1st basemen were starting to wear comically massive gloves to make the throw to 1st base effectively shorter.
But there isn't really much that can be done to advance glove technology in a meaningful way IMO. Gloves need to be tough and impact absorbing. Leather already does that extremely well. The only thing I can think of would be something as strong and compliant at leather, but much lighter.
However, the only time a lighter-weight glove would really help is for middle infielders moving/diving for a ball at short notice... right now 2nd and SS use relatively small gloves which helps them move a little faster... a larger glove that's just a light might help them get to and stop more ground balls by extending their range without slowing them down. But then you run into the problem of turning double plays, where a large glove makes pulling the ball out harder... which is really the primary reason why they use the smaller glove. So the larger glove might not be an advantage in the long run if it makes taking the ball out harder
Really, since baseball is such a game of long-term statistic, little things like how light a glove is aren't going to make a useful difference over the course of the season. The number of times where it'd be an advantage is so far outweighed by the number of times it makes no difference that in the long run it's statistically unimportant. Kinda like a batter wearing a leg guard... sure he'd be a tiny bit faster on that close play at 1st base... but it happens so infrequently that the play is so close that the leg guard would have made the difference it's much better to wear the guard to prevent injury that would have a real long-term effect on the outcome of the season.
On the other hand... something like a lighter bat makes a world of difference because it improves your bat speed for *every* swing, which theoretically raises your chance of hitting a homerun some percentage for the whole season. Statistically, now were looking at raising the average number of runs for the season, which could in fact have an effect on your overall season standings.
So, long story short, I would guess that it's a matter of diminishing returns. Advanced gloves probably don't make a huge difference, so people use what's familiar and comfortable. It's actually kind of a cool topic I've never really considered.