HOW ABOUT HITTERS HIT 'WHERE THEY AIN'T'

I like Tom Verducci.  I think he's a great writer and a good guy.  We shook hands at the Jorge Posada honoring at the Joe Torre Gala last November. He had no idea who I was and I really don't care. The point is, it's nice to see these guys once in a while.

He wrote a piece about the shift in baseball in good old Sports Illustrated.  You know, that annoying move of defense that prepares the opponent so there are literally 3 guys on the right side of 2nd base and 1 shortstop, who's actually the 3rd baseman, and literally no one on the left side of the infield.  Sometimes even the outfield shifts too.

Teams do it to maximize their chances to get big hitters out who normally hit to the right side, like, all the time. Tom writes:

"I recently asked a veteran major league hitting coach what can be done to inject more offense back in the game. His first response was to address the new defensive positioning.

'The shifts,' he said. 'Get rid of them. You need to come up with a definition of illegal defense. I know you’ll say, ‘Well, you’re a hitting coach. Of course you would [say that].’ But it’s something that has really changed the game.'

Support of an 'illegal defense' rule – or at least the consideration of it – is gaining some traction in baseball. Such a rule might stipulate, for instance, that you cannot have three infielders on one side of second base. A shortstop would be able to shift as far as directly behind second base on a lefthanded hitter, but no farther."

But I need to ask... why are we thinking about this? This is baseball, not lacrosse.  I mean, sure, I like great defense like most people, but this is a terrific strategy in baseball.  Here's an idea, how about we actually get hitters to spray the field? How in the world can teams or batters complain about something that they can easily fix themselves?

When I was in my teens, and no where near Major League caliber mind you, I would go to the cages for hours with my dad and he would teach me to spray the field.

"Hit down the 3rd base line!"

"Now up the middle."

"I want a hard liner over second base."

We'd do it for quite a while, and over time, it became my signature in high school.  I'd single through third and short regularly as a lefty. I'd put it up the middle if the field seemed crowded. And when I couldn't do much of anything, I'd bunt down the line and run my ass off.  You find a way to get on base in High School... and by the way, I did it for free.  But now, Verducci and others in baseball are suggesting there needs to be some kind of a rule for 'illegal defense'?  Why? So it's easier for hitters?  This is Major League Baseball, right? These guys get paid millions of dollars to get on base. So... do it!

If the shift comes into play, adjust. Like when you were in Little League, the coach would joke, but say, "Look at those gaps... hit it there!"  These days, I see pictures of a frustrated, cranky David Ortiz throwing his bat down because he couldn't get on base because of "the darn shift." Well, that's your problem, Papi.

I saw Brian McCann ground out 2 times on Tuesday night because the shift killed him.
My wife said, "Why are there 2 right fielders?"

I said, "That's the second baseman."
"I don't get it," she said.
"Strategy," I said... and that's the last we spoke of it.  That's because it is.

It's a game of wits and smarts and strategy and the idea of putting an "illegal defense" rule into effect seems absolutely silly when these players are seasoned for years on how to play the game and hit the ball correctly.  Teach batters to spray the field and be confident doing it, and we wouldn't be talking about this!

I leave you with this quote:  "Keep your eye clear, and hit 'em where they ain't." That's old school and that's from Willie Keeler. That's baseball, ladies and gentlemen, and "they" means the fielders.

There is nothing easy about baseball.  Strategy vs. Strategy. Team vs. Team.  Now... get out there, see the field, and figure it out.

Play on...

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!

WHY THE SHIFT IS RIDICULOUS!

“Hit em where they ain’t.” Sage advice from Wee Willie Keeler, that today’s ballplayers could benefit from. He would know. A lifetime .341 hitter, he knew how to get the ball where he wanted in order to get on base. He was the master bunter of his day. In fact, he is the reason why there is a rule that if you bunt a foul ball with two strikes, it counts as a strikeout (read here). Keep that in the back of your mind as we look at the trend by managers to put on the shift.

Ahh yes – the Shift. Ever since Joe Maddon started using it every day when he took over the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006, the shift has gained more press time and more popularity than it ever deserved. It is actually a very creative defensive maneuver, based on the principle that if hitters consistently hit the ball in specific spots, put more defensive players to cover those spots. The story goes that it was put on against Ted Williams to distract him (some old-timers call it the Williams shift), and it has survived all the way to today.

The mystery to me is why it is so successful, and why teams are so willing to put it in play. Every time I see hitters like Mark Teixeira batting from the left side and the entire infield is to the right field side of second, I wonder how hitters do not make an obvious adjustment. A simple bouncer to third base gives them a free hit. Yet they continue to try to pull the ball, where they always hit it, and there is a fielder there ready to catch the ball and throw them out at first. It is baffling.

The answer may be as simple as hitters’ unwillingness to adjust. If a hitter insists on being a pull hitter, then take advantage and put all your fielders on one side of the field. In business, we call that being a dinosaur. Keep doing what you have always been doing, even if it no longer works and your business is going down the tubes. If hitters would adjust to the fielders’ positions, the shift would be a historical artifact.

I think guys like Don Mattingly would have loved teams playing the shift on him. He knew how to go with the pitch, and adjust his hitting to the circumstances on the field. He would look at the barrel of the bat on the flagpole to see what direction the wind was blowing and adjust accordingly. One of my favorite stats on Donnie Baseball was his .348 lifetime batting average against Randy Johnson. Left-handed batters were horrible against Johnson, but not Mattingly. He knew how to punch the ball out to left field when he knew he could not pull it. Sure, he did not have as much power to left, but he knew how to hit it there and get on base.

So, here’s a memo to all the major league hitters out there. You are professional athletes. Your job is win games for your team. Sometimes that means that you have to adjust to your opponents’ defensive tactics. It means that you have to hit the ball to the enormous gaps created by shifted infielders. You may not get home runs, but you will get on base and you will come around to score. You will put your team in a better position to win. Which is the point. Then managers will have to come up with another gimmick to stop you.

--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store!  Follow me on Twitter @BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook!