OT: 2025 MLB Thread

of course geddy lee wouldn't miss the jays opener


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It took many years, but I finally was able to sneak away from work for a 1pm opening day game. Buddy offered me a free ticket although with the unspoken expectation that I buy him beer. Four beers later (plus two more after the game) and he probably came ahead in that transaction.

The group behind us had an interesting ongoing side game. Prior to an at bat, somebody can claim "I have a good feeling about this" and if the player hits a home run they have a communal pot that would be used to purchase a jersey of that player. If the player doesn't hit a homer, the person contributes $5 to the pot. One of the guys did this for Gavin Sheets who proceeded to hit a game tying pinch hit homer.
 
So the bat thing is a bit of a development of an idea that goes way way back. In the 1980s bat makers started to hollow out the last half inch or so of the end of the bat. They also made the handle much thinner to lighten it to help swing speeds. I don't think the torpedo idea is completely new. The trade off is that while the sweet spot is bigger the end of the bat will be worse. Maybe they have done a study to show that balls hit towards the end of the bat are not worth enough to support them and it's better to have the sweet spot larger?
 
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So the bat thing is a bit of a development of an idea that goes way way back. In the 1980s bat makers started to hollow out the last half inch or so of the end of the bat. They also made the handle much thinner to lighten it to help swing speeds. I don't think the torpedo idea is completely new. The trade off is that while the sweet spot is bigger the end of the bat will be worse. Maybe they have done a study to show that balls hit towards the end of the bat are not worth enough to support them and it's better to have the sweet spot larger?
Article for the Yankees suggested they identified players who tended to make consistent contact on the same part of the bat and then created the center of the torpedo there. The bat is tailored for each batter to make the thickest part that players zone. One of the players in question had a contact spot more towards the handle than most, as an example.

So some big data that would have been harder to confirm by hand 10-20 years ago.

I don’t believe they think all batters would benefit from going to this style of bat, just guys who basically only get good contact off one part of the barrel anyway.
 
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Article for the Yankees suggested they identified players who tended to make consistent contact on the same part of the bat and then created the center of the torpedo there. So some big data that would have been harder to confirm by hand 10-20 years ago.

I don’t believe they think all batters would benefit from going to this style of bat, just guys who basically only get good contact off one part of the barrel anyway.
I remember when the secret was to rub a bone against the bat. Somehow some players had this belief that being rubbed with the bone slightly compressed the wood to make it more dense at the same weight. Sounds like voodoo to me but guys did it.
 
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I remember when the secret was to rub a bone against the bat. Somehow some players had this belief that being rubbed with the bone slightly compressed the wood to make it more dense at the same weight. Sounds like voodoo to me but guys did it.
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This sounds like some Jobu nonsense. I told that cat to go F himself awhile ago; he can’t hit the curve.
 
Feel bad for my old college roommate who is/was an A's fan. Sounds like he's in the process of picking a new team. He settled in Seattle but the Mariners being a division rival seems to rule them out. His wife is from Toronto, so the Blue Jays are in the conversation. He spent a decade in San Diego, so the Padres are a maybe.
 
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