As discussed in chapter ten there was "An age of the pitcher". During this period of time there was a decline in hitting and the reason why is because the sport of baseball came up with rule changes that gave the pitchers advantages against the batters. One of the rule changes was the size change in home plate. In 1900 they changed the size of home plate from a 12 inch square to a five sided figure that was 17 inches across. This new plate added 200 square inches and gave the pitchers a better advantage. The next rule implemented was they counted the first two foul balls as strikes. I feel that these rule changes did give way to what they called "the age of the pitcher."
I now believe in the 20th century there has been an even bigger advantage given to pitchers, and what this is, is the amount a different pitches a pitcher can throw, along with having many more back up pitchers to relieve them. I feel that through the years of baseball many new pitches have been invented and used more and more throughout the game. Back in the 1900's there was one pitch that batters despised and that was the "spitball". Now a days there are many options a pitcher has to strike out the batter. There are pitches such as the curve ball, slider, cork ball, screwball, forkball, change up, and the rare knuckle ball. I feel that since pitchers now have all these options of pitches it gives them a heavy advantage against the batters.
The other advantage I feel that pitchers have now over any other position is how many back-ups there are in the game. A team can have up to 15 pitchers. This is the more than any other position in baseball. If a pitcher is not doing well, or is getting tired a team has plenty of more options for relief. Overall I feel that these two advantages now in the 20th century give way the "The new age of the pitcher".
By watching this youtube video you can see how effective the curveball is against batters, and how it is an advantage for the pitchers.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXHx32z64QY
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I love that pitchers seem to have an advantage; I mean what sport can you actually hit a player with a 98mph ball and give a message at the same time saying back off or the next one is at your head. Pitchers in baseball seem like the QB’s of football and all it takes is accuracy and knowing your opponents mind. Now I know it’s not that easy to throw these pitches in the first place and I know it’s not that easy to strike a batter out to begin with. With that said there is still a ton of advantages that a pitcher has over a batter as you have mentioned. Likewise there is a lot of pressure on that pitcher that none of the other fielders feel on a consistent base, so I feel like these things even out. Pitchers feel the pressure from the team, coaches and worst of all the fans. How many times I have I heard this year already that the Indians need a better pitching line up or what not. (I love this because I’m a Reds fan, but we still have our problems). So overall I say it’s about time that pitchers start to gain another advantage over hitters and I hope that there is more to come.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the things that have been said about this year's Indians' pitching staff (and let's not forget the bullpen), it is hard for me to feel that it is still the age of the pitcher. In contrast to all of the pitches and relievers in the game, players back in the day often pitched complete games. There was a player in the Negro Leagues named "Double duty Ratcliffe" who was said to have pitched both ends of a double-header, by pitching the first game right-handed, and the second as a lefty. Can you imagine how marketable someone like that would be today? Does the pitcher still have an advantage? I wish I could say definitively that they do for Cleveland. Instead, I fear that it will be a long season!
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