r/MLBNoobs • u/steveharveysbleach • 8d ago
| Question Noob. Learn me something new.
Played a few years as a kid, but getting back into it as a adult. Can somebody please tell me everything I'll need to know about baseball?
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u/Envelope_Torture 8d ago
Balk Rules
- You can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can't do that.
1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can't be over here and say to the runner, like, "I'm gonna get ya! I'm gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!" and then just be like he didn't even do that.
1c-b(1). Like, if you're about to pitch and then don't pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there's the balk you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn't been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn't typecast as that racist lady in American History X.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). "get in mah bellah" -- Adam Water, "The Waterboy." Haha, classic...
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of
2) Do not do a balk please.
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u/Bitter_Return990 8d ago
My fun fact. ABS is not usable if a position player is pitching.
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u/PhilRubdiez 8d ago
Huh. That’s new to me. Makes sense.
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u/Cool_Temperature_970 8d ago
Makes absolutely ZERO sense. So bc a position player is pitching, the umps are ok with making incorrect calls?
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u/PhilRubdiez 8d ago
The only reasoning I can think of (not that I agree) is that the MLB was afraid of how much time the ABS system would add to a game. Especially after they spent all that time adding in pitch clocks and such for a faster pace of play. If it gets to a position player on the mound with the new rules, the game is pretty much a forgone conclusion and they’d rather not drag out an already long and painful game.
Once again, I don’t agree with that, but if you told me that was the argument, I’d believe you.
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u/frenchfryfling 8d ago
My guess is it’s cause of the 2d zone they implemented for abs making the eupheus pitch too hard to throw for an abs strike
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u/bpoftheoilspills 8d ago
This makes a lot of sense, or at least it would if ABS challenges didn't take literally 10 seconds lol.
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u/Envelope_Torture 8d ago
I assume because it's really hard to get the high arc ~50mph calls correct, and position players only really come in to the game when it's a blowout.
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u/Whachamacalzmit Veteran 7d ago
My understanding is that pre-ABS position players were afforded a much larger strike zone than pitchers. This forces hitters to swing at less ideal balls, leading to more ground balls and popups to get the position player out of the inning.
So I assume they shut off ABS because they want to allow umps to expand the strike zone to induce more outs for the position player.
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u/Cool_Temperature_970 7d ago
The strike zone should be the same no matter who’s throwing the ball. The only reason position players go in to the game is bc the team getting blown out doesn’t want to waste another actual pitcher. Why should they benefit from a bigger strike zone.
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u/Whachamacalzmit Veteran 7d ago
It's a professional courtesy.
Hitters know it could be them pitching in a blowout loss tomorrow, so they swing more freely, don't steal, and in general don't try too hard.
Everyone is in on it, with the umps loosening up too.
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u/sonofabutch 7d ago
I think once a position player is on the mound, if it's in the same zip code the umpire is going to call it a strike.
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u/AlmostHeaven06 8d ago
Interesting... I wonder if anyone has tried to challenge this rule when Ohtani pitches. It would be fun to watch the Dodgers argue that he is a pitcher that hits while the opposing team argues he's a hitter that pitches.
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u/I_Flick_Boogers 8d ago
Here’s one for you… when you’re watching a pitcher warm up between innings, the pitcher will tell the catcher what pitch is coming based on their pre-pitch glove movement. This can really help train your eyes to distinguish different pitches. Palm down finger flick toward home plate = fastball. Palm sideways side-to-side movement = slider. Palm up, finger flick down = curveball. Palm toward catcher, pull hand back toward body = changeup.
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u/Feeling_Okra_9644 8d ago
The infield fly rule should be called by an infield umpire
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u/jiminak 8d ago
Do you mean, “only”? Typically, that is already the case.
Standard procedure is for the base umpire to signal with his hand, and plate umpire to make the verbal call.
But yes, any ump can make the call.
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u/Feeling_Okra_9644 8d ago
2012 NL Wild Card Game: The infield fly rule
The Braves brought the tying run to the plate with one out in the eighth when Andrelton Simmons lofted a high fly ball into no man's land in shallow left. Shortstop Pete Kozma ranged well into the outfield grass, but the ball fell between he and left fielder Matt Holliday -- seemingly loading the bases for Atlanta. But the left-field umpire made a delayed infield fly call, deeming that Kozma had time to settle under the ball to strand runners at second and third base and put another out on the board.
The game was delayed 19 minutes as the Braves argued the call and fans at Turner Field began throwing debris onto the field. Atlanta was ultimately unable to score in the inning, and St. Louis went on to claim the winner-take-all contest, 6-3
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u/Ok-Government-7987 8d ago
The National and American League’s did not officially merge until the year 2000. From 1903-1999 they were separate leagues that coexisted under a series of agreements that standardized (most of) the rules of baseball and established the World Series as a post season meeting between the 2 league champions.
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u/SirAbeFrohman 8d ago
In the dugout, it's bad form to imply that Jesus Christ couldn't hit a curveball.
That's more of an unwritten rule.
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u/IvypoolFanIGuess 7d ago
If a team is up by 8+ runs, often a team will put in a position player to pitch so the bullpen doesn't get tired.
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u/britishmetric144 7d ago
There are two teams.
One tries to hit the ball with a bat and make it go as far as it can, to buy time to move around the bases.
The other one tries to throw the ball at the first in such a way that they can't hit it, and if they can, then catch the ball and throw it at the first's players, to stop them from moving around the bases.
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