FOUR MEN AND A CLOSER

The Mechanics Of Baseball: Baseball has evolved in favor of the hitter. Here are nine factors that have changed the game. (JIM KAAT, April 2003, Popular Mechanics)

Critics of baseball will tell you that Abner Doubleday of Cooperstown, N.Y., invented the game in 1839 and not a thing has changed since. Nothing could be further from the truth. First, no one has yet proved that Ol' Abner actually invented the game, and second, the game of baseball changes constantly--with every game, every day, and every player bringing something unique to the sport.

The peanuts and Cracker Jack are still there, but everything else is different than it was 20, 30, even five years ago. In my opinion, no sport has changed as radically as baseball has in the past 20 years. To me, baseball is a matter of who is in control--the pitcher or the hitter. The vast majority of the changes in major-league baseball over the past 20 years have favored putting the hitter in control. Why? Because fans would rather see an 11-8 ballgame with balls getting smacked over the fence than a 2-1 pitcher's duel. And hitters today are delivering.

Unfortunately, Mr. Kaat leaves out the most significant factor, which is poor management. If you look back at baseball stats from prior to the late-70s/early-80s, you'll find that the vast bulk of decisions and innings belong to only a handful of pitchers--four starters, a "closer" who went two or three innings if necessary, and a mop up guy for blowouts. Nowadays--thanks, or no thanks, to Whitey Herzog and Tony LaRussa--there's been a sea-change and every team has five starters, two set up men who go an inning each, and lefty and righty specialists who face only a batter or two per game, you just have way too many marginal pitchers tossing innings that matter. Posted by Orrin Judd at April 24, 2003 10:50 AM