The problem is that certain numbers seem to indicate the optimal way to play the game, but the optimal way is not necessarily exciting for fans. I think an analogy would be if someone discovered that in tennis, one should always try for an ace on the second serve instead of easing up to make sure the ball is in play. Even if that were deemed a more successful strategy, it would be extremely boring for the fan to see nothing but aces and double faults.

Exactly. It's a boring game right now.

baseball is only dull to the dull-witted.

Amen . It’s only been boring since everyone’s attention span turned into a 3yr olds .

Amen . It’s only been boring since everyone’s attention span turned into a 3yr olds .

Or if you've been watching the White Sox for the last decade

Or if you've been watching the White Sox for the last decade

The problem is that certain numbers seem to indicate the optimal way to play the game, but the optimal way is not necessarily exciting for fans. I think an analogy would be if someone discovered that in tennis, one should always try for an ace on the second serve instead of easing up to make sure the ball is in play. Even if that were deemed a more successful strategy, it would be extremely boring for the fan to see nothing but aces and double faults.

Technically there is an ideal way to have sex.

Amen . It’s only been boring since everyone’s attention span turned into a 3yr olds .

It’s become boring since the game has emphasized only walk/strikeout/home run outcomes. A ton of baseball strategy (the best stuff) has become obsolete.

As someone who played through college until 2010. Thank god I didn't play with boring shifts, and the idiotic #'s. Players don't care, even todays kids don't care. Give us batting average, RBI, HR, ERA. All you need. Noone talks about their damn WAR

baseball is only dull to the dull-witted.

What a circle jerk of bitching...

What a circle jerk of bitching...

There is an art to pitching. Kyle Farnsworth could throw the ball 100 MPH, but everything was the same speed/location and he got torched regularly. Always laugh when they talk about "spin rate", much of it has to do with setting up hitters by getting them to look fastball then throwing anything off speed that breaks. Watching guys like Rizzo and Schwarber hit is maddening (pun intended) because they could easily put an extra fifty points on their batting average by going just putting the ball in play to the opposite field. There will likely be someone who will use the old Cardinals template and get a bunch of slappy/speed guys and expose the good hit no field corner infielders.

The thought process is that the way to beat the shift is to hit over it, not completely change your batting style.

Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results is the definition of something. It’s not good baseball.