This is the first baseball season in which there may be more strikeouts than hits. And it turns out that maybe the fans aren't as enamored of home runs as some people thought, especially when the alternative is strikeouts. Attendance is getting lower and, as Yogi Berra said, "if people don't want to come to the ballpark you can't stop them." The players say that they are just giving the front office what they want: power pitching and power hitting. As Kepner says in yesterday's New York Times, "With that formula, at times, comes a lack of nuance from a game that should have so much to offer -- daring base runners, far-ranging fielders, pitchers finding ways to last deep into game."
The question becomes, of course, what can be done about this. I think banning the shift would be a mistake; rather, hitters should learn how to beat it by hitting to the opposite field and bunting. These days there is almost no bunting for hits or even very many sacrifice bunts. I would also suggest deadening the ball, with home runs even being hit these days on check swings; make the home run a dramatic exception instead of the routine way of scoring runs. This would also enable pitchers to go deeper into the game --as not everyone has to be overpowered -- and perhaps even cut down on the now-routine Tommy John surgery. Further thoughts and suggestion to come.
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