Assuming the Red Sox hold onto their lead, the Red Sox and Yankees will end up tied in the AL East division.

So why do the Yankees get to call themselves the division champs?

Alex Rodriguez: $25.7 million dollars.
Derek Jeter: $19.5 million dollars.
Randy Johnson: $15.4 million dollars.

Knowing that nobody cares you're abusing the lack of a salary cap: Priceless.

Assuming this is a serious question, baseball has lots of rules to detemine tie-breakers, and yes, they change every time they change something to the divisions and the playoffs. Today though, if two teams tie after 162 games, the division winner is the team with the better head-to-head record in the season series.

Ahh. I see. Yes, it's a serious question, but I'm also annoyed that the Yankees get to add great players to their already bloated roster every year because there's no salary cap.

Since I already made the thread, I have a few more questions about baseball rules.

1) What's with the infield fly rule, and when is it used?

2) Sometimes when a strikeout is thrown, but the catcher drops the baseball, he has to tag the batter. What's up with that rule?

1.) The infield fly rule is used with less than two outs and with runners on at least first and second base. It's purpose is to try to keep the defensive team from making easy double plays (and triple plays). If the umpires believe that there is a reasonable certainty that a pop fly in the infield will be caught, they call it and the batter is out. This prevents the defender from "dropping" the ball and then making easy force outs of as many of the lead runners as possible, due to the fact that the runners would have to stay close to their base to keep from being forced out by not being able to get back before a throw by the player who caught the ball. I hope that's not too confusing. There are other things involved with the rule, but that's the basic gist.

EDIT-I had to edit the above because even though I never realized it before, the main purpose of the rule is to prevent easy force outs at third base. Hell, if you just catch the ball, that's the same as getting only ONE force out, but I originally said that you needed a runner at first base, so that's what happens when it's Alzheimer's.

2.) A strikeout is thought of as some kind of bond between the pitcher and the catcher. (Don't ask.) As long as first base is open, or there are two outs, a batter who strikes out may attempt to make it to first base if the catcher doesn't catch the pitch. This includes even when the ball bounces in front of the catcher and he "catches" it, but he didn't get it before it hit the ground. If the catcher can tag the batter, he'll try to do that, but if he has to move a bit to get the ball, he'll try to throw him out at first base.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

quote:

Originally posted by Bobthespirit:
Assuming the Red Sox hold onto their lead, the Red Sox and Yankees will end up tied in the AL East division.

So why do the Yankees get to call themselves the division champs?

Alex Rodriguez: $25.7 million dollars.
Derek Jeter: $19.5 million dollars.
Randy Johnson: $15.4 million dollars.

Knowing that nobody cares you're abusing the lack of a salary cap: Priceless.

You're not the only one to ask that, bob. Tony Kornheiser, on PTI, raises it not as a question proper, but as a problem with the system: why should two teams with equal records not be considered TIED and forced to play a one-game playoff?

If the Yanks and BoSox meet in the ALCS, the Yanks get home field advantage.

I would have liked to see a 1 game playoff for division supremacy, but I think more baseball is always good.

Mark's explanation of the rules is good...but the infield fly is also able to prevent forceouts at second. If you had a REALLY fast guy at first and a REALLY slow guy at the plate, you could, instead of catching a sure pop up, let it drop, forcing the fast guy to sprint (hopelessly) for second. You'd give up the slow guy at first, but you'd rather have him there than the fast guy.

On the payroll issue: the Yanks are far and away the tops (roughly 208 million) with the Red Sox second (123 million).

My beloved Cards are 6th (92 million), the Angels are 4th (97 mil).

Other playoff teams include the Braves (10th, at 86 mil), the Astros (12th, at 76 mil) White Sox (13th, 75 mil), and Padres (16th, 63 mil).

With that kind of money (spent well), the Yanks should have RAN AWAY with the division. A good GM (Schuerholz, Jocketty) might have put together a monster team with part of that...if Jocketty had an extra $20 mil to make moves for the Cards, they would have won 115 games...

Hmm...well, I understand going by season series record in this case, because they both made the playoffs.

Just because, I think the Red Sox are better off with an extra day rest before playing Chicago than they would be having one more home game against the Yanks.

Besides the fact that everyone hates the Yankees, good questions Bob. I remember being confused about that stuff too. Recently I got my girlfriend into baseball (yes, she now loves the Yankees) and she would always ask me some questions. The cutest one was "why do they call it a Bases on Balls?"

Does anyone have any other questions?

My wife absolutely loves watching baseball with me (She's a big Big Papi fan and we named our dog Manny), but she was a fan of baseball before she met me. One summer the company she worked for packed up and left Knoxville, but they gave all of their employees very nice severence packages-- she got like six months of salary. She spent the rest of the summer going to all of the Knoxville Smokies' home games with another friend of her's that was also on severence. She still seems to have trouble understanding the difference between a force out and a play where the fielder has to tag the runner out. I've tried to explain it to her on several occasions, but I must not be getting through, because I can still tell she's not getting it. I guess since I grew up playing, it seems second nature. How would you explain the difference?

I played baseball when I was younger as well but it is pretty interesting how they forget certain aspects/rules that you have explained many times before. I remember when we watched Aaron Boone hit that home run over the Red Sox everyone was saying a "walk-off" home run. I explained to her what it meant and she still says "but why is it called a walk-off?"

Another good one is how she doesn't understand the baseball notation of certain things. She says "why just a 'K' for a strikeout?"

I should probably look this up more thoroughly (and I will, I swear...), but I've never understood WHY matching a batter against an opposite handed pitcher, left handed hitter against right handed pitcher and vice versa, (platoon system) is given such importance? I know it gives coaches the impression that they can contribute to the game, you know, like having Homer pinch hit in place of Darryl Strawberry. I also realize that it's often considered "playing the statistics", but those statistics don't have error bars so I'm not convinced.

That still doesn't address the "why", from a physiological and epistemological standpoint. Is it just that it's been a baseball tradition, regardless of it's real effectiveness? Maybe it's because all those "strategic" pitching changes allow for more commercial breaks. And hey, relievers should have to earn their hundreds of thousands of dollars by pitching to just one batter, right?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Winterlong Pixies,

My understanding is that it's because a left-handed batter can see the ball better coming from a right-handed pitcher(and vice versa). I could be wrong though. I never played baseball growing up.

Well the short answer is that a lefty batter can pick the ball up quicker against a righty pitcher-- usually. Take for instance David "Big Papi" Ortiz. Against right handers, he's hitting .342 this year. Against left handers? .289-- still good but that's over a 50 point difference. Not everyone is quite so pronounced. Mike Lowell (a right handed batter) is hitting .330 against lefties this year and .329 against righties. So if you're a manager playing the percentages, you have to take each player on a case by case basis. Also, there are anomolies like Mariano Rivera (a righty) who's cutter is devastating on left handed hitters due to the movement.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
Take for instance David "Big Papi" Ortiz.

What an unusual choice for you.

You're right though. Except for pitchers who really hide the ball well, you pick up the ball sooner. That said, I think it's really a skill you need to develop. I played ball through high school, and I remember always being uncomfortable against lefties until about my senior year, mainly because I just didn't face many.

OK. The old school definitin is because a righthander's curveball breaks away from a righthanded batter, and a lefthanded pitcher's curveball breaks away from a lefthanded batter. Therefore, the batter who "bats" opposite the way the pitcher throws has a better chance of hitting "good pitches" (in the strike zone). The lefty has a tendency to throw balls which look good, but they end up way OUTSIDE (away) from the righthanded batter and vice versa. Of course, nowadays, with splitters and "back-up pitches", it sometimes evens out.

I guess the main thing which bothers me about modern baseball is that it's obvious that EVERY SINGLE pitcher throws a "vaseline pitch" (spitter). When was the last time you saw a pitcher NOT go to the bill of his cap to get a little extra in between pitches?

This only proves to me that Barry Bonds should be credited with about half his home runs. These "legit" pitchers he's currently facing are allowed to throw "Vaseline" pitches, and the majority still can't get the ball to do what they want. I am OLDE. I used to watch great pitchers. Whitey Ford, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson and my pop, Don Drysdale. Barry Bonds wouldn't be anywhere near his numbers if he batted against those guys. Then again, neither would any other current player. Shut TF up, mark!

Did you just say that Don Drysdale is your father?

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:

I guess the main thing which bothers me about modern baseball is that it's obvious that EVERY SINGLE pitcher throws a "vaseline pitch" (spitter).

I always thought the KY ball was more effective.

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
Did you just say that Don Drysdale is your father?

It's a serpentine story, but Don Drysdale dated my mom before he joined the Dodgers. It's just a rumor, but the time frame fits.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:

quote:

Originally posted by Maximum Jack:
Did you just say that Don Drysdale is your father?

It's a serpentine story, but Don Drysdale dated my mom before he joined the Dodgers. It's just a rumor, but the time frame fits.

Huh yeah I caught that too and immediately did a wiki search. Didn't see that he had any kids named 'mark', if that is your real name, so figured it was a joke. You should edit yourself in.

Also, many thanks for the prompt responses. I played ball in middle school and early high school, though I don't remember much about my experience, other than that I was a piss poor player. Just going through my mind trying to justify the "handedness" I didn't think that which hand or stance or whatever the pitcher threw and the batter stood would make an appreciable difference in a batters ability to see and hit the ball. But when it comes down to tenths of seconds in being able to judge a pitch, the arguments for its importance/impact make sense. I'm still not sure that in most cases if the statistics were considered "scientific" that the apparent disparity in a batters average would be "significant" per se.

One other thing Pixiestame. The side of the plate you should be hitting from does not really depend on whether you are left or right handed. A good little league coach will find out whether you are right or left eye dominant before he decides where to have you hit from. Usually it does go hand in hand with your dominant hand though. If you are right-eye dominant than you should be on the left side of the plate as you face the pitcher and vice versa. Again this helps with the amount of time you see the ball. Some people are aren't dominant one way or the other, and, of course, they make the best switch hitters.

Okay let's talk about Manny's 390 ft single, shall we? I think the umpiring crew made the right call, mind you. But here's my beef. Instead of silly yellow line, why can't all ballparks just have a fence? We never had this probem in youth league. If the ball was over the fence you knew it. Just put the damn fans six feet behind the wall or fence and be done with it. Also, the wall or fence should be about three inches wide, so there is no possibility of a questionable call.