The Atlanta Braves Freddie Freeman who hit .341 last season will DH when needed at American League parks as the DH will not be in effect during National League games this season (file photo from Atlanta Journal Constitution)

That’s Amaury News and Commentary

By Amaury Pi-González.

The last time I remember seeing  a ‘hit and run’ I was in the parking lot outside the park, before the game started. I am afraid we will eventually see a defensive alignment of five outfielders when a guy that seldom hits a ground-ball comes to the plate.

A complete game thrown by a starting pitcher would be tantamount to a perfect game. Bullpen games would be regularly scheduled, in other words, the manager will give his lineup and also a “pitching lineup” of the seven pitchers he is planning to use in any given game.

In other words, there will be two lineups, the regular one with every player place in the batting order as well as position the he is playing and then the seven pitchers to be used. Plus, other stuff that would make it look like a game from the planet Pluto.

Those that were against the Designated Hitter rule will find that as a “traditional” part of the game, almost like wood burning in a fireplace on a cozy Christmas Day, compared to what is coming down the pike with more Analytics and more regulations and changes.

We have strayed so much from the game of baseball as it was meant to be, that it is soon coming to the point of no recognition. Are hitters so lazy that they cannot adjust to the shift? If the third-baseman is playing in mid-right field, and the shortstop and second-baseman can shake hands behind second base and the hitter cannot hit to the left side of the infield, which is vacant of fielders.

What do we have? Atlanta’s first-baseman, Freddie Freeman won the National League Most Valuable Player this year, he hit .341 and he can find the hole in the infield when the shift is on, that is why he hit .341. Freeman is the exception in today’s game.

Image a quarterback that every time he goes back to throw to the end zone, there are 4 unobstructed receivers standing there just waiting for the ball? Or in basketball a 7’4″ center waiting under the basket with nobody allowed to check him or block a shot? OK, baseball is different, I get it.

Still the biggest changes in the game of baseball throughout the years have been mostly by their players. They are faster and stronger. There is more advances in the science of conditioning, surgeries, rehab programs and such.

The equipment has changed, catchers (unlike years past) do not have to wear 60 lbs of protections, today’s material is lighter and more resistant to impact, the ball is lighter than it was, the gloves are better, the playing surfaces are in immaculate condition and we have many parks with re-tractable roofs, so there can always be a game, with rain or shine. Players today are stronger and faster than ever, however that doesn’t mean they are better ballplayers, they might be better all-around-athletes.

Today’s players make ridiculous amounts of money and the advances in technology are now part of the game. Analytics, finances and technology as we head to 2021 is what really rules the game. Yet, baseball has long had the goal of moving things along, shortening the time of the game has been one of the topics, but baseball will never be what it was meant to be if we begin looking too much at the clock.

This is why one of my favorite quotes was by one of my all-time favorite managers, the great Earl Weaver of the Baltimore Orioles who said: “In baseball you can’t kill the clock. You’ve got to give the other man his chance.”

That’s why this is the greatest game”. We agree that is ‘the truth and nothing but the truth’. In baseball strategy, every move counts. An extra-base hit, a walk, an error, can gain a run, one run can win a game, one game can win a division and one game can win the World Series. Statistics are a great part of the game.

What would it be without? Scoring a game you need a road-map to know what happened, and watching the game is much more fun when there is a strategy at play. It is a game of averages and a mathematician dream, but we should not be carried away, because stats are not always what they seem.

In the words of ex-baseball player Toby Harrah: “Baseball statistics are like a girl in a bikini. They show a lot, but not everything”. I hope and pray for today and future generations this great game is played correctly and doesn’t become just another video-game of quick self-gratification.

I still love the game of baseball, otherwise I would be writing about something else. Most of my life, since a kid, it is the game I mostly compare to life, because it like life, everyday is different.

Wishing you a Very Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah.

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