It’s pretty mind-blowing. For years, when the Tampa Bay Rays were overcoming the odds and fielding a competitive team on a minimal budget they were heralded as innovators. Some even considered them geniuses.
Now, when they’re on the precipice of winning it all, they’re ruining the game.
Really? It’s fine to be creative and just miss the playoffs or be eliminated early, but make it to the World Series and you’re scoundrels?
I just don’t get it.
Charlie Morton would never have been taken out in the good old days.
Well, back then, pitchers were able to cruise through the bottom of the order. In those days, bullpens weren’t stocked with arms throwing 95-mph with wicked breaking stuff.
The nerds are ruining the game. They ruin everything.
Yeah, like morphing a perfectly useful rotary phone into a hand-held rectangle capable of taking pictures, playing and recording videos, not to mention serving as a gateway to the Internet.
Those freaking nerds, who do they think they are?
The Rays are doing what is necessary to win, with analytics guiding their endeavor. There is nothing wrong with that. MLB isn’t the WWE where the E stands for entertainment. Kevin Cash’s job is not to be entertaining; it’s to win baseball games. If a computer printout aids pitching moves, lineup changes and defensive positioning, he’d be making a mistake to not heed the directions.
Things change and evolve. Instead of complaining, learn to understand the reasons. Doing so usually leads to appreciation of the brave new world, not condemnation.
The problem is this takes effort. The lazy way is so much easier.
The media would rather wax poetic about when they were growing up. The younger generation prefers to fire up all the wireless rectangles the nerds invented.
It really is unfortunate because the impetus behind Tampa Bay’s innovation, along with other organizations is enlightening, and fascinating. It’s too bad the playoff announcers aren’t explaining the reasons behind the innovation. It’s a shame writers are crying in their oatmeal instead of edifying readers.
But then, educating the audience requires doing your homework, or relying on others more knowledgeable to disseminate the information.
At some point, there simply must be a generational transition with analytics respected and not chastised. Instead of being considered innovative, it will be obvious.
To be fair, the paradigm shift is underway. My fear is I won’t be around when it’s commonplace and not alternative.
Still, that’s my ray of hope. Understand and appreciate evolution; don’t categorically dismiss it as destructive.
Something to note is some juxtapose the Rays approach to the league-wide trend of fewer balls being put in play. To be fair, the two overlap since many of Tampa Bay’s methods work because of the current landscape, but they aren’t to blame for them.
More strikeouts, more homers and fewer balls in play are independent of what Tampa Bay has done. That said. To blindly label the trend as ruining the game without comprehending why this is more conducive to winning is another example of laziness.
But that’s a rant for another day.
Go Rays!