For a sport enjoying its rudest financial health ever, people seem determined to declare baseball broken.
The latest salvo from the “baseball-is-dying” industrial complex is that the game must take action to increase run production or risk hastening its slide into irrelevance. Among the suggestions gaining traction are banning the new defensive shifts that are vexing sluggers and adding the designated hitter in the National League.
It is true that Major League Baseball is experiencing some of its lowest batting averages and on-base percentages since the DH era began in 1973, in the American League.
A crop of talented pitchers, batters who know how to swing hard but not necessarily hit, and the aftereffects of the clampdown on performance-enhancing drug use have helped limit scoring to an MLB average of 4.1 runs per game, among the lowest since the dead-ball era.
Whether scoring is down is not the pertinent question, though. The question is whether the lack of runs is driving people away from baseball.
Given that MLB’s 10 best seasons of total attendance have all come in the past decade and massive TV contracts have more money sloshing around, it would be difficult to argue that baseball needs a radical overhaul.
That professional hitters and managers should be so stymied by teams rearranging their fielders speaks to their surprising lack of imagination and gumption. Consider this response from a veteran major-league hitting coach in a recent Sports Illustrated article: “The shifts. Get rid of them. You need to come up with a definition of illegal defence. I know you’ll say, ‘Well, you’re a hitting coach. Of course you would [say that].’ But it’s something that has really changed the game.”
Defensive shifts have long been part of baseball, with the earliest documented shift coming in 1870. To suggest they just started killing the game is nonsense.
If teams want to beat these shifts, teach players at all levels to hit rather than just swing the bat. Bunt into the gaps left by the shift, hit to the opposite field and learn to take pitches. If runs are a concern, teach hitters a good two-strike approach to help lower the record-high 20.3 per cent rate at which they are striking out this season. Managers can fight strategy with strategy, rather than brute force or legislation.
Meddling with the rules by prohibiting shifts or making the DH universal would interrupt the natural ebb and flow between pitchers and hitters.
Drastically changing the game to suit lumbering, one-trick muscle men will not benefit fans, the teams or baseball itself.
pfreelend@thenational.ae
Follow us on Twitter at SprtNationalUAE
AndhaDhun
Director: Sriram Raghavan
Producer: Matchbox Pictures, Viacom18
Cast: Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu, Radhika Apte, Anil Dhawan
Rating: 3.5/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The 15 players selected
Muzzamil Afridi, Rahman Gul, Rizwan Haider (Dezo Devils); Shahbaz Ahmed, Suneth Sampath (Glory Gladiators); Waqas Gohar, Jamshaid Butt, Shadab Ahamed (Ganga Fighters); Ali Abid, Ayaz Butt, Ghulam Farid, JD Mahesh Kumara (Hiranni Heros); Inam Faried, Mausif Khan, Ashok Kumar (Texas Titans
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
More on Palestine-Israeli relations
Match info:
Manchester City 2
Sterling (8'), Walker (52')
Newcastle United 1
Yedlin (30')
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Dunki
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Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
Scoreline:
Barcelona 2
Suarez 85', Messi 86'
Atletico Madrid 0
Red card: Diego Costa 28' (Atletico)
hall of shame
SUNDERLAND 2002-03
No one has ended a Premier League season quite like Sunderland. They lost each of their final 15 games, taking no points after January. They ended up with 19 in total, sacking managers Peter Reid and Howard Wilkinson and losing 3-1 to Charlton when they scored three own goals in eight minutes.
SUNDERLAND 2005-06
Until Derby came along, Sunderland’s total of 15 points was the Premier League’s record low. They made it until May and their final home game before winning at the Stadium of Light while they lost a joint record 29 of their 38 league games.
HUDDERSFIELD 2018-19
Joined Derby as the only team to be relegated in March. No striker scored until January, while only two players got more assists than goalkeeper Jonas Lossl. The mid-season appointment Jan Siewert was to end his time as Huddersfield manager with a 5.3 per cent win rate.
ASTON VILLA 2015-16
Perhaps the most inexplicably bad season, considering they signed Idrissa Gueye and Adama Traore and still only got 17 points. Villa won their first league game, but none of the next 19. They ended an abominable campaign by taking one point from the last 39 available.
FULHAM 2018-19
Terrible in different ways. Fulham’s total of 26 points is not among the lowest ever but they contrived to get relegated after spending over £100 million (Dh457m) in the transfer market. Much of it went on defenders but they only kept two clean sheets in their first 33 games.
LA LIGA: Sporting Gijon, 13 points in 1997-98.
BUNDESLIGA: Tasmania Berlin, 10 points in 1965-66
