Btw, if the walker stomps and you are under it in the tunnel you still get hit. It knocks you out of cat as Calico, so you can get trapped.

So you probably know that Boston is NOT on a grid. In fact many of the roads follow old cattle paths or new shorelines as the buildable land was expanded into the late 1800s. Fast forward a few decades and Boston wants to build a baseball stadium but there isn’t a lot of room… no problem! Well just build a giant wall in left field and it’ll all come out in the wash! So now Fenway looks like this:

So that adds… weirdness generally but it also turns many doubles into singles, home runs into outs, and some of the other corners turn singles into home runs. And whoever is playing LF needs to ‘play the wall’ as they say. Bc the ball bounces off the wall, you gotta take that into account when positioning. Apparently routine catches aren’t YouTube video worthy lol so I couldn’t really find a video besides this one (which is another short so sorry if you can’t see it!) https://youtube.com/shorts/enCktNoC4TU

Ah yeah that makes sense. It’s also probably easier to have consistent football fields bc they are a rectangle.

Ikr!!

Hehe thanks! 2 down, 28 to go!

Haha naturally. Wack that they chose to just… ignore an entire aspect of the place they play 50% of the games…

That’s crazy, it’s like a whole other mechanic of the game that is only relevant in one park! Kinda like Fenway with the Green Monster lol

The parks are so cool tho bc I don’t think other sports have such differences in the parks. Like a football field is a football field is a football field l, ya know? (please correct me if that is not true of your football. Is it called a pitch?) But Fenway is so different from Coors is so different from Wriggly. Fun fact the Astro’s park used to have a HILL in center field. And the Yankees, many many years ago, had STATUES in center.

I kinda want to see a game in every stadium but we shall see if that ever comes to be lol

Very true that the Rockies are tied to their park in ways that other teams are not! Like the Rays’ park recently caved in during a hurricane but no one is that sad about it bc that park was kinda bad (allegedly) and it wasn’t intrinsic to the team’s identity. They had a sting ray tank tho which is cool (there was a net to protect them from fly balls, fret not) but a Rocky that doesn’t live in the Rockies would be silly!

Oh my gosh bc there is less air to push against? That’s kinda crazy! Y’all must have to take that into account when you pick pitchers. A tricksy pitcher throwing mostly curveballs and cutters would have a harder time than a speed demon. Lorenzen does seem to have his fastball as his primary pitch so that’s probably good for him.

Heheh yeah it’s usually easier to just say Boston lol

Heheh it’ll be a great series either way :p I’m excited to see the Sox play in Coors! We have a power hitter or two that could hit one heck of a homer

I live in Cambridge which is technically not Boston but it’s a 10 minute walk to Boston proper so not that separate lol

Haha indeed! I wonder if we’ll get some funky strategies from the countries that don’t play that much

Yup! They changed the scheduling a bit in 2023 to make sure every team plays every other team. I think it alternates on the year who is the host team. So the Sox will play the Rockies at Coors in late June this season :D

Oooooooooo huh that’s a good question idk. I would guess it’s decided to minimize travel but still give each team different opponents. I cant imagine the undertaking it is to schedule and coordinate all these games.

I just googled the schedule and it looks like there are some funky games too lol. The Sox play a college team and the Rockies play the “United States”.

Which lead me to the knowledge that baseball is coming back to the Olympics in 2028! Also known as: Japan v United States and also the other guys.

Yeah that’ll be v exciting! Having a new guy to be hopeful about is so key.

Mostly it’s whoever the manager thinks needs the time. Of course, pitch count is still considered and catchers need breaks, but other than that it’s about getting as many guys as much time as they want/need. For example the Sox have some big prospects, one of whom is Christian Campbell. We saw a bit of him last year but he wasn’t really able to keep up with big league pitching so I expect we’ll see a bunch of him in spring training to give him as many opportunities as possible before the season starts.

Haha it’s very true!

🤞🤞🤞

Spring training starts most of the way through Feb, so soonish! Spring training games are fun too bc they don’t count for anything and most of the guys need a bunch of time to warm up after the winter break so it’s high key a mess. Teams will also bring up prospects to give them some playtime in a major league stadium so you never know what you’re going to see. I’ve always wanted to go to one but unfortunately they are all played in the south or southwest bc it’s too cold in the northern states. For example, the Sox play in Florida :/

:o that’ll be the baseball apocalypse lol

Which probably isn’t very likely since there isn’t another team in the area Colorado can root for. The diamond backs or the Astros/Rangers are options I guess but the Midwest is a little baseball team-less. They also run the risk of having the same fate as the A’s, just getting up and moved.

Copenhagen lol. She just marred her Danish now-husband and wow surprise surprise they decided Denmark might be more stable than the US rn Omg yes I’d love some must sees!

Indeed!! There are some really pretty and amazing places here. I hope you get to see some! If you do ever end up on this side of the ocean, I’ll happily send you some recommendations too :)

Tis the real question, ain’t it. Like why don’t the baseball factories just buy the magic mug and put it on themselves? Or maybe make the leather slightly less white? Currently each team is responsible for mudding up a bunch of balls for every game.

Surely this guy will have a wake up call soon? There is no reason a team needs to be that bad. And like don’t rich people want to make more money? I feel like if the team were better that would be easier

Gasp! 4 whole cities! I jest lol. My fiancé’s sister just moved to Denmark actually and I really look forward to visiting.

American born and raised. In Jersey actually tho I grew up in the farm part, not the fake tan part lol.

Indeed! Some momentum could change the whole game! You just need a rally but on like a franchise level lol

Oooo I had no idea, that’s so interesting!! There is so much infrastructure around the consistency of the balls it’s crazy. Like they have to rub them down with special mud bc the balls right out of the factory are too slippery and too white. But the mud is a big secret! It comes out of some river bed in New Jersey but it’s like MLB secret #1 where that is. And they haven’t been able to replicate it in a lab so here we are, still using the magic NJ mud.

Oof an uninterested owner is the worst cause there really isn’t anything anyone can do :/ again with the problem of rich people

Hahaha that makes more sense. Honestly that’s kinda more than I was expecting! You could start a pickup league in the street like the days of yore lol. Are you in Copenhagen? (Are there other cities in Denmark lol?) Surely city streets are wide enough, right ;p

You might lol this definitely leaves us with a bit of an infielder problem in that we don’t quite have enough guys and if one were to get injured………. But ‘sources’ say we are pivoting to try and get Bichette (free agent from the Jays). Im not hopeful there tho bc he’s probably looking for a huge contract and the Sox just don’t seem to be giving those out.

Ah yes the classic lol the Red Sox shorten to the Sox generally to avoid this confusion and the White Sox just don’t get a nickname lol bc they certainly can’t be the Whites!

Oof a 5 is not ideal! Well 🤞 this guy helps bring that up!

A bunch of messages ago you mentioned playing baseball, was that when you were a kid or more recent? Does Denmark have little league baseball?

Dang, just learned Bregman went to the Cubs :/

Ikr! Good lol. I’m not a fan of the dodgers honestly bc it feels like they are trying to buy wins. Which is what everyone is doing but idk they have pulled so many tricks that it just feels kinda scummy.

Yeah I read somewhere that hitting a baseball is one of the hardest acts in professional sports. Seems hard to measure that but I’d lowkey believe it.

Oo I don’t know him. I googled him tho and he seems like a good pick up! Do the Rockies have a pitching problem as well?

Yay I’m glad! Of course :)

It opens up options more than anything else. A hitter can be trying for a high ball, and if it’s a hit, yay, but if it’s just a fly out, also yay bc that gets the man on third home. But yes 100% if you are able to get a hit that is better than a sac fly.

Hmmm the Red Sox trade decisions baffle me honestly. We are (hopefully) trying very hard to resign Bregman who will not be cheap, so maybe we are saving for him?? And our biggest weakness last year (besides the errors) was starting pitching. I know we picked up some pitchers already (Sonny Gray being the most notable) so perhaps John Henry has decided he is done spending (wouldn’t put it past him).

Also mostly unrelated and probably not much to discuss with this play lol but it’s so fun I had to share https://youtu.be/AelWuluKiJQ

In the live swing you can get a broad impression of the swing but mostly it’s from replays, especially in slow-mo, cause yeah these guys can swing it crazy fast!

Haha so the count matters A LOT in an at bat. 0 balls, 2 strikes (0-2) is a pitchers count because the pitcher only needs to throw one more strike to get the batter out. Thus the batter can’t really swing for the fences bc that has a high chance of missing AND they have to be both aggressive, bc they don’t want to get struck out looking, but also selective bc they don’t want to get struck out swinging. The pitcher has many mind games available in a pitchers count. A 2 ball, 0 strikes count (2-0) on the other hand is a hitters count bc they can, for example, swing for the fences and even if they miss the count is still in their favor (2-1).

Thus, a full count (3-2) is a pitchers count bc they have all the mind games available, tho it’s slightly better for the batter than a 0-2 bc if the pitcher misses they get a walk.

However, in this situation the batter doesn’t really want to walk because that would not advance the runner and it would open up the possibility of a double play ending the inning as it creates a force out at second and at first for the next batter.

Does that make more sense?

This was very likely planned imo. The state of the game is 0-0, 1 out, man on third, full count. A full count is a ‘pitchers count’ (as opposed to a hitters count) which means it’s slightly harder for the batter to be productive as they have less wiggle room in the count. Therefore, the jays have to be cautious here not to try for too much.

Which is why the sac fly is perfect. The batter just needs to elevate the ball and make strong contact, much easier than getting on base. If you look closely at the batters swing you can see it has a slight upward trajectory to try and get that lift. In contrast, compare the swing to this ground ball with a flatter swing : https://youtu.be/sMKFLZxg1B0

Of course if they are able to get a hit that’s better, but trading one out for a run is almost always worth it.

Waaiiitt that looks sooo good! Now I’m hungry

Ah damn you’re right! I misremembered the stakes my b. Ikr it’s probably gonna haunt him forever

Sure!! Do you have one in mind?

Haha totally fair and there are many plays, many of which are very similar. I am happy to make you a big list if you’d like, just say the word. But you’ll also definitely pick it up as you watch more. Yes it is get people on base and then get them home, it’s just nuance therein. Like the batter can just hit the ball for however many bases. But there is also a sac fly which is still an out but also advances a baserunner (it’s a fly out super super deep allowing a man on base to tag up which means they wait until the ball has been caught and then run to the next base and it’s a race between the outfielder’s arm and the runner). And you can of course steal a base (any base, including first under very specific circumstances lol).

🤞 for one day!

A clean smack is always great! I love when you can hear off the bat that it is going out. A home run hit has such a distinct sound!

Oh my goodness rude pt 2! lol I’ll just describe it to you. So it’s extras in the last game of the World Series with the home team Dodgers batting, 2 outs with a man on third. The dodgers only need one man to cross home to finished the game but the Phillies only need 1 out to stay in it. The batter hits the ball back to the pitcher on a bounce and instead of throwing to first where there is a force out and will end the inning before the guy on third can get home, he throws it away over the catchers head thus allowing the batter to get to first AND the runner to get home. Of course the man on first doesn’t matter bc the game is over and the Dodgers win the World Series the second their man crosses home. One of the greatest chokes of all time! I honestly feel pretty bad for the pitcher, it’s gotta suck knowing you messed up that bad.