[chongli]

in a time of sports where games need to be more exciting

There's a problem with this, though. Home runs are only exciting when they're relatively uncommon. If the home run trend continues, we will effectively see the disappearance of everything else that makes up the game of baseball. Players will either hit a home run, a flyout, or a strikeout. Risky plays (small ball) such as hit-and-runs, sacrifice bunts, and stolen bases will see a continued decline. This will sap all of the strategy and nuance out of the game, turning it into pure spectacle.

Not what I want. Not what a lot of baseball fans want.

[paulcole]

>Risky plays (small ball) such as hit-and-runs, sacrifice bunts, and stolen bases will see a continued decline. This will sap all of the strategy and nuance out of the game, turning it into pure spectacle.

I thought it was pretty well established that bunts, stealing, hit and run are all bad strategy. Entertaining but not anywhere near optimal play.

[currymj]

right, which is bad because it results in an extremely dull game. it’s not inherent to the rules of baseball, though. the easier it is to hit for power the more this is true.

imagine if we averaged 0.5 home runs per game instead of the current 1.8. suddenly you’d need a lot more small ball type strategy to have any hope of scoring runs.