The Foul Ball Epidemic

Comments · 742

• NO

  @nomorefielders · 2 months ago · pinned

  Download Baseball Hits 26 and join my Club Moore Fielders today: <a href="https://app.adjust.com/22jpz736">https://app.adjust.com/22jpz736</a>

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• MA

  @mayitakeyourhatsir8632 · 2 months ago (edited)

  you know as a tigers fan id prefer thinking about the existential dread that comes with our current societal trajectory than think about staying up until midnight to watch my team get knocked out of the playoffs in like the 16th inning, but you had to remind me of both &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&gt;:(

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• JO

  @johnfeathers1055 · 2 months ago

  &quot;Babe! No more fielders just dropped!&quot;<br><br><b>remembers I&apos;m divorced</b>

  310

• TH

  @themadscientest · 2 months ago

  A full count foul fest is one of the best parts of a game, it&apos;s tension leading to usually a sweet right down the middle change-up that gets sent orbital.

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• MI

  @misterandrew · 2 months ago (edited)

  Back on Oakland, the A&apos;s got something like 1 extra foul out per game because foul territory was so large. Every park has tiny foul territory now, so there are fewer fouls caught in play than in old parks

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• CA

  @cakewolf44 · 1 month ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8OU49Sc8ls&amp;t=494">8:14</a> You can&apos;t just chop the bottom off a graph to make a change seem bigger than it actually is.

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• TI

  @tillitsdone · 2 months ago

  Jim Rice became a hero in Boston forever that day, in ways deeper than his HOF career. I watched that on TV as a kid.

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• BA

  @backsgl · 2 months ago

  I think this is just another example of the batter-pitcher meta evolving. We have been through an era of three true outcome emphasis, but that might be shifting. The Brewers and Rays are winning and competing while emphasizing getting the ball in play, forcing the opponent to play defense, and creating chaos on the basepaths with a ton of speedy players swiping bases. If these are the most cutting edge teams in terms of maximizing the value they can get with the budgets they set for themselves, as is the common consensus, we might be in for a few years of this small ball &quot;revolution.&quot; Of course it will eventually be optimized by teams like the Dodgers afterwards, who are experimenting in their own ways but have the financial ability to learn from the Brewers&apos; successes and mistakes and refining that approach with massive budgets to back that up. It&apos;s the sports equivalent of a weird indie band inspiring a huge star act that goes on to release records that take their approach to multi platinum hit status. I guess that would make the Rays PC Music and the Dodgers Charli XCX, if you want a real world example of this.

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• TH

  @TheTEN24 · 2 months ago

  I feel like the added velo on pitches makes it harder for guys to react quick enough to put heaters in play leading to more fouled balls

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• JO

  @joyfulanomaly3984 · 2 months ago

  “Congratulations! You fouled off the fifth pitch in this at bat! Yer out! Go sit down! Next batter!”

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• DA

  @darweasel184 · 1 month ago

  It sounds as there is not a change that can be made. I love the battle over a 2-strike count. It’s part of the game and a natural ebb and flow.

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• GA

  @gakster29 · 2 months ago (edited)

  Another variable I&apos;ve been thinking about and vaguely researching, though it&apos;s hard to find much:<br><br>It feels like new and renovated stadiums are putting seats closer and closer to the field to sell them as premium seats, this shrinking foul territory, thus making less foul popups (and also less time for fans to react to screaming line drives).<br><br>The cookie cutter era had to fit football fields, so it&apos;s easy to imagine that foul territory would be larger. But I also am surprised at how large foul territory looks in old photos of Ebbets Field (for example) despite how intimate it was supposed to feel.<br><br>I guess, a worth while stat to research: did the percentage of foul balls that turned to outs decrease over the same stretch?

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