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Wednesday, September 05, 2012

The BTF Time Machine

I have about a half-dozen podcasts on my iPhone, including ESPN’s Baseball Today, Gleeman’s Twins-based podcast, and the Baseball Prospectus Up and In podcast of Kevin Goldstein and Jason Parks. In Episode 100 of the latter, which is linked above, Goldstein and Parks answer an E-mail from a listener (it’s the last one in the E-mail segment) in which this question was asked:

Wind back the calendar to 1975. If you could have told MLB then one thing about the game, what would it be?

Jason Parks’s response was “Don’t pass on Mike Trout in the 2009 draft”. Kevin Goldstein’s response was “There are some bad drugs coming along, and you need to stay on top of the issue when it comes up.”

Being the type of person that I am, I thought this might trigger a lively discussion on BTF. So let me pose the question here:

What one thing would YOU have told MLB in 1975 about the way the game would be in 2012?

Mike Emeigh Posted: September 05, 2012 at 08:22 PM | 73 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
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1. GGC don't think it can get longer than a novella Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:11 PM (#4227780)

FWIW, 1975 was the first year I followed baseball. I'd have had them preserve the Astrodome or one of those concrete ashtrays. Astroturf may suck, but I like the game that was played from circa 1975 to 1986 and those big caverns were part of it..

2. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:15 PM (#4227782)

Take away Thurman Munson's pilot license and give it to Lyman Bostock.

3. cardsfanboy

Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:22 PM (#4227786)

What one thing would YOU have told MLB in 1975 about the way the game would be in 2012?

Hire that funny man in Kansas City writing books about baseball stats.

The obvious answer is Make sure to get in front of PED testing. (or make sure to never allow Loria to invest in the Expos)

4. Lassus Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:24 PM (#4227789)

Whoever you are, get in on the ground floor at MLBAM.

5. AndrewJ Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:26 PM (#4227791)

Tell the owners that the average salary of $44,676 will rise a tad in the forthcoming 37 years, so work a little smarter with the MLBPA.

6. Tulo's Fishy Mullet (mrams) Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:29 PM (#4227794)

MLB, this book tells the future. It tells the events of every major sports event til the end of the 21 st century. Football, baseball, horse races, boxing....the information in here is worth millions, and I'm giving it to you. One day, a kid, or a crazy wild-eyed scientist who claims to be a David Hill is gonna come around asking you to let this guy named Joe Buck announce sporting events. Now please don't let Joe Buck anywhere near these events.

7. AndrewJ Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:30 PM (#4227795)

Hire that funny man in Kansas City writing books about baseball stats.

PEDANT ALERT: In 1975, Bill was putting the finishing touches on his first Baseball Digest article. He wouldn't publish his first Abstract for another two years.

8. vortex of dissipation Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:35 PM (#4227801)

Develop your international scouting, and look to Latin America and Asia...

9. TerpNats Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:41 PM (#4227805)

Issue a confidential commissioner's fiat barring any MLB team from hiring John Sterling as an announcer...or any TV network that shares its name with an animal from carrying games...or anyone named Angelos from owning a franchise.

Also, dissuade placing a team in the state of Florida. Washington's a better market, even if you have to switch an AL franchise to the NL to make it happen. (Yeah, I know switching leagues is an absurd concept.)

10. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: September 05, 2012 at 10:59 PM (#4227821)

Hawk Harrelson is DB Cooper.

11. Guapo Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:00 PM (#4227824)

Statheads = Morlocks
Scouts = Eloi

12. Dale Sams Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:06 PM (#4227828)

Bill ditch the eephus, Don use your bench more.

13. AROM Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:12 PM (#4227833)

Don't let Donnie Moore face Dave Henderson.

14. Dr. Vaux Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:15 PM (#4227837)

Tell the players they'll need better masking agents. The ban on amps has ruined the game.

15. TVerik Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:20 PM (#4227845)

Jason Parks’s response was “Don’t pass on Mike Trout in the 2009 draft”.

That's glib and interesting, but crazy. As promising as Trout is, there's no way that thirty years of foreknowledge would yield this advice in the first dozen or so pieces.

16. JJ1986 Posted: September 05, 2012 at 11:21 PM (#4227848)

Even if you want to focus on a draft pick, Albert Pujols was a 13th rounder.

17. Steve Balboni's Personal Trainer Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:03 AM (#4227868)

1. PEDs...seriously, if you don'r get on that, it'll mess up the game for a long time.
2. Don't put any baseball franchises in Florida. It seems like a good idea, but fans don't come out.
3. Keep the food and the coke away from Dave Parker.
4. Invest time, money, and manpower in figuring out how to protect young pitchers' arms. Seriously - 35 years from now, they'll still not have figured it out.

18. Random Transaction Generator Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:05 AM (#4227871)

MLB teams in Florida really aren't as popular as you think they might be. If you have to expand there in the future, only do it for one team.

Expand your scouting to the Far East, especially Japan and South Korea.

19. Comic Strip Person Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:32 AM (#4227884)

All of the PED advice is apt, but I'm thinking of it a slightly different way. Every baseball conversation I have that's NOT here reminds me that most fans don't understand that PEDs were the latest iteration of players always looking for whatever edge they could get on each other. I can see why it makes sense to police these efforts, but I think my advice would be to understand that impulse in players, and don't demonize them for it. It only makes fans antagonistic to stars and suspicious of the whole product.

20. Dr. Vaux Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:37 AM (#4227885)

Sadly, fans are already going to be antagonistic to stars because of their high salaries.

I don't care one way or the other about the "performance enhancing" aspect, but how could the uptick in injuries in the past couple of years--which has gotten cartoonishly ridiculous this year--not be related to a lack of stamina increasing drugs?

I want to see the best players on the field, playing the best they can. The drug policy keeps me from getting that. It gives me watered-down product instead.

Edit: If there was evidence that amphetamines actually caused post-career health problems and shortened lifespans, I'd feel differently. But all baseball players born from the '20s onward used amps regularly, and their lifespan has been the same as or better than that of the general population.

21. Ray (RDP)

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:47 AM (#4227891)

Understanding how runs are scored would have given a 1975 team a huge edge. The biggest change in the game since then is probably the approach to PAs by hitters -- work the strike zone more, don't pay attention to strikeouts -- which has led to increased offense. A team that started its hitters doing that in the minors, or acquired hitters who did that, would have a tremendous edge.

Second might be (a) to stay with the four man rotation, and (b) to stay the hell away from running a closer-centric or push-button bullpen.

22. Pasta-diving Jeter (jmac66) Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:51 AM (#4227895)

try and have Pudge hit the foul pole--makes great television

23. Austin Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:53 AM (#4227896)

That's glib and interesting, but crazy. As promising as Trout is, there's no way that thirty years of foreknowledge would yield this advice in the first dozen or so pieces.

Just to be clear, this was Jason Parks supplying an answer. I've never heard Jason Parks answer a wide-ranging question like this one seriously.

24. puck Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:01 AM (#4227900)

Jesus, 23 posts in and no one mentioned they should make sure there were plenty of urban baseball fields and leagues for black kids??

25. puck Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:05 AM (#4227902)

And I guess by making a joke, I made it obvious I can't think of anything for real. I guess I'd do my best Charlton Heston in telling them how they cancelled the damn World Series. Then mention how much the game has grown since when there was relative labor peace.

26. Dr. Vaux Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:27 AM (#4227909)

guess I'd do my best Charlton Heston in telling them how they cancelled the damn World Series.

And then they cancelled its significance forever by expanding the playoffs.

27. cardsfanboy

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:33 AM (#4227912)

Second might be (a) to stay with the four man rotation

This is 1975, not 1920.

28. Obo Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:36 AM (#4227914)

"Baseball is still great. Don't worry about a thing."

29. David Nieporent (now, with children) Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:46 AM (#4227916)

Kill Bud Selig in his crib.

30. Shock Posted: September 06, 2012 at 02:07 AM (#4227923)

What on earth would bud Selig be doing in a crib?

Don't answer that.

31. Swedish Chef Posted: September 06, 2012 at 02:34 AM (#4227933)

"Go all in on Red Sox in 86"

and

"Spiderman on the bases is a cool idea"

32. Robert in Manhattan Beach Posted: September 06, 2012 at 02:38 AM (#4227935)

Wohlers would have been five in 1975, I probably could have drilled into him to never go off-speed on Leyritz. Then again I was born that year and my communication skills were questionable at best.

Seriously, that's the one thing I would change. Even sixteen years later, it's unbelievable how much that sucked.

33. the Hugh Jorgan returns Posted: September 06, 2012 at 02:39 AM (#4227936)

Ray, and I hate to admit this, has nailed it.
A better understanding of the strike zone from entire teams, trickling down to their minor league franchises would be a huge advantage.
Manage your starters better! 140 pitch outings are not necessarily a good thing(Doc Gooden and Brett Saberhagen may stay great for longer)

34. Gonfalon Bubble Posted: September 06, 2012 at 02:52 AM (#4227938)

Give Bartman and Maier great seats behind home plate.

35. Sleepy supports unauthorized rambling Posted: September 06, 2012 at 03:07 AM (#4227940)

Robot umpires are working great, in 2012. They are mostly harmless, much better at getting the calls right, and never create country western music. That incident in Philadelphia was the fans fault, and they deserved it.

Also, institute instant replay for post-season games prior to 1985.

36. greenback

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 03:10 AM (#4227942)

Don't let Fidrych above A-ball. And like [33] said, keep a guy in his early 20s on a pitch count.

Teaching Lonnie Smith how to pick up the third base coach would save the world from millions of Jack Morris discussions.

37. God Posted: September 06, 2012 at 03:27 AM (#4227944)

Get rid of that damned DH while the union is still willing to let you.

38. you got a STEAGLES? you're gonna need a STEAGLES. Posted: September 06, 2012 at 03:28 AM (#4227945)

MLB, this book tells the future. It tells the events of every major sports event til the end of the 21 st century. Football, baseball, horse races, boxing....the information in here is worth millions, and I'm giving it to you. One day, a kid, or a crazy wild-eyed scientist who claims to be a David Hill is gonna come around asking you to let this guy named Joe Buck announce sporting events. Now please don't let Joe Buck anywhere near these events.

i'd just like to say that in that movie, they went to the year 2015 and in that year, the cubs beat miami to win the world series.

so...my money would be on another significant realignment within the next few years.

39. God Posted: September 06, 2012 at 04:01 AM (#4227951)

Or a more drastic overhauling of the playoff system...

40. Rafael Bellylard: Built like a Fielder Posted: September 06, 2012 at 05:33 AM (#4227956)

Instruct umpires to call strikes as the rulebook states, not as a personal interpretation. Also, you might consider both 1) paying the umpires more to relieve the strife of 2) putting a system in place that demotes umpires for doing a poor job.

41. Benji Gil Gamesh Rises Posted: September 06, 2012 at 07:09 AM (#4227961)

Come with me if you want to live.

42. TomH Posted: September 06, 2012 at 07:26 AM (#4227966)

please, somebody besides NYY draft Jeter. They may win as much, but the credit will be spread equitably.

43. Dag Nabbit has the talking pillow Posted: September 06, 2012 at 08:26 AM (#4227993)

Keep Joe West in the minors.

44. TomH Posted: September 06, 2012 at 08:35 AM (#4227999)

Athletes will begin to discover weight training is effective. Guys will be stronger. Advances will be made in technology to improve bat speed. This will result in more home runs; emphasis on power and less on speed. The 70s and 80s are a cool time with a good MLB product. If you don't plan well and consider ideas like 1. bigger parks 2. ever-so-slightly deader balls or 3. regulations on bat handles, by 2000 the game will look silly as teams average scoring 5 or even 6 runs a game, many while jogging around the bases.

45. Greg Schuler Posted: September 06, 2012 at 08:54 AM (#4228008)

Jesus, 23 posts in and no one mentioned they should make sure there were plenty of urban baseball fields and leagues for black kids??

BASN can provide their own recommendations...and obviously everyone in the future is racist.

46. Greg Schuler Posted: September 06, 2012 at 08:55 AM (#4228009)

My advice - TV money is crazy money and cities are suckers for new public stadiums.

Oh, and drugs are bad, mkay.

47. BDC

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 09:33 AM (#4228028)

Save those original Technicolor doubleknits. In 35 years everyone will want to buy them, and you'll be wearing them half the time on Retro Days anyway.

48. Lassus Posted: September 06, 2012 at 09:38 AM (#4228030)

please, somebody besides NYY draft Jeter. They may win as much, but the credit will be spread equitably.

You just erased the "Death of Derek Jeter" thread from existence. FAIL

49. Tom Nawrocki Posted: September 06, 2012 at 09:48 AM (#4228039)

A better understanding of the strike zone from entire teams, trickling down to their minor league franchises would be a huge advantage.

No team this year is on pace to come within 100 walks of the number drawn by the Reds back in 1975. Believe me, they understood how runs are scored.

50. toratoratora Posted: September 06, 2012 at 09:52 AM (#4228042)

Frank McCourt may not be the best option for the Dodgers.

And oh yeah, plunk Bucky F'ing Dent instead of pitching to him

51. Mike Emeigh

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 10:06 AM (#4228053)

Jesus, 23 posts in and no one mentioned they should make sure there were plenty of urban baseball fields and leagues for black kids??

I like this one the best so far.

-- MWE

52. fra paolo Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:03 AM (#4228137)

Don't try to bust the MLBPA: it will stall baseball's progress as a business at least ten years, lead to embarrassing controversies and cost owners hundreds of millions of dollars.

53. DL from MN Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:13 AM (#4228157)

Pete Rose is a fraud, don't let him manage.

54. TerpNats Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:15 AM (#4228160)

Let Bill Veeck buy the White Sox again, then have him sell them to DeBartolo. He'll make sure that franchise wins several Super Bowls...er, World Series.

55. Random Transaction Generator Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:27 AM (#4228188)

Pete Rose is a fraud, don't let him manage.

"Hey, Pete. Come here. Let me tell you something. We're watching you. Stop gambling. Now. That's your last warning."

56. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:40 AM (#4228203)

1. Figure out an equitable way to split up TV money from this new thing called "cable TV."

2. Don't ##### about the cost of players, embrace it. Send the message to fans that you don't mind spending money on the best in the world.

3. The only response to the question "Hey Lou, how about sending us Bagwell for Andersen?" is to put the phone down, walk to the Eliot Lounge and have a drink. At no time should the word "Yes" come from your lips.

57. Tippecanoe Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:40 AM (#4228204)

No team this year is on pace to come within 100 walks of the number drawn by the Reds back in 1975. Believe me, they understood how runs are scored.

Maybe it was the other 11 teams that kept walking them that didn't get it.

58. Infinite Joost (Voxter)

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 11:52 AM (#4228215)

(1) For the love of God, don't expand to Tampa just because they built you a monstrosity.
(2) Frank McCourt and the Wilpons are bad news and will #### up premiere franchises if you let them.
(3) Union-busting won't work.
(4) Steroids make players look like cartoons and give people and excuse to hate them.
(5) Hawk Harrelson is not human. Feel free to kill him like the dog he is.
(6) Emulating the NFL is a solution to a problem you don't have.

59. gef the talking mongoose Posted: September 06, 2012 at 12:50 PM (#4228310)

There's a 1-year-old kid in California named Chris Truby who must be kept away from Uncle Anton's Satanic Bible at all costs.

60. JJ1986 Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:07 PM (#4228331)

I think the biggest actual problem with the game (as opposed to with the perception of the game) is the fact that a huge number of pitchers are getting injured and missing years due to surgery. It seems like the problem is getting worse and not better. I don't know if there's anyway to fix that, but that would be my first focus.

61. Jose Can Still Seabiscuit Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:31 PM (#4228359)

Don't let networks dictate TV coverage. Trading a few bucks for greater control is going to be a long term winner for you.

62. Tom Nawrocki Posted: September 06, 2012 at 01:45 PM (#4228376)

Artifical turf is a fad. Rip it up sooner rather than later.

63. TDF, situational idiot Posted: September 06, 2012 at 04:19 PM (#4228575)

"Hey, Pete. Come here. Let me tell you something. We're watching you. Stop gambling. Now. That's your last warning."

Yea, like that would have worked.

64. TerpNats Posted: September 06, 2012 at 04:36 PM (#4228595)

The only response to the question "Hey Lou, how about sending us Bagwell for Andersen?" is to put the phone down, walk to the Eliot Lounge and have a drink. At no time should the word "Yes" come from your lips.

And tell Bill Giles that if he has to trade Larry Bowa, find a throw-in other than Ryne Sandberg. Bring up "Joe Tipton for Nellie Fox" as a hint.

65. Rafael Bellylard: Built like a Fielder Posted: September 06, 2012 at 05:39 PM (#4228671)

Don't let networks dictate TV coverage. Trading a few bucks for greater control is going to be a long term winner for you.

Let the Masters be your guide.

66. Edmundo got dem ol' Kozma blues again mama

Posted: September 06, 2012 at 05:47 PM (#4228689)

And tell Bill Giles that if he has to trade Larry Bowa, find a throw-in other than Ryne Sandberg. Bring up "Joe Tipton for Nellie Fox" as a hint.

Alternatively: "Bill, you have three good looking middle infielders in the minors. Keep Sandberg and Franco, Samuel is the one to trade. I don't care if he is faster than Cool Papa Bell. Speed is overrated."

67. Tim Wallach was my Hero Posted: September 07, 2012 at 11:21 AM (#4229255)

or make sure to never allow Loria to invest in the Expos

That.

And don't cancel the 1994 WS.

68. Don Geovany Soto (chris h.) Posted: September 07, 2012 at 01:07 PM (#4229431)

Hey Bud, you might want to work out a plan on how to handle a tied All-Star Game when the teams run out of pitchers.

Not saying you need to make major structural changes. If the game just ends at that point, fine -- it's just an exhibition game anyway. But write something down. You don't want to be caught off guard.

69. ShoeGrit Posted: September 09, 2012 at 02:30 AM (#4230789)

Lock the doors on every mothers basement before the game is ruined.

70. Walt Davis Posted: September 09, 2012 at 05:30 PM (#4231100)

Expand within 5 years by putting 1-2 more teams in the NY Metro area.

71. drdr Posted: September 21, 2012 at 06:39 AM (#4241819)

Before mid-eighties start testing for drugs, performance enhancing and others. Make sure that recreational tests are unannounced, and that players know at least a week in advance about steroids tests. Make sure everyone, specially team doctors, visit seminars that explain all the dangers of steroids, including proper cycling and proper cocktails that enable them to look like people, not monsters (like A-Rod's cocktails). Make sure everybody knows amphetamines are banned, except under special exception by MLB-licenced doctor and under his strict supervision. Make sure players can get the exception easily by filling questionnaire like "I suffer from sleepiness/fatigue/lack of focus/loss of appetite (cross non-existing symptoms) and I need amphetamines."
Every year find a couple of fringe players, every 4-5 years find one good player, and when media starts to ask questions, proclaim: "Testing works! Over 99.9% tests were negative! The game is clean!"
Keep exact procedures, including the timing of tests and (specially) if players have a way to know in advance if they are to be tested, confidential, explaining, if needed, that any details would make it more easy for those who may want to cheat to do so.

(PEDs themselves aren't the problem, if taken carefully. There are amphetamine and steroid regimes that can keep players healthier and in better condition without harming them long-term. Public perception of PEDs is the problem.)

72. Best Regards, L.M. Posted: September 21, 2012 at 07:36 AM (#4241828)

Don't let Jeffery Maier into the ballpark, so we don't have to hear O's fans ##### about how they got screwed in a series they lost 4-1.

Start working on instant replay now, when people still think it's cool and don't have inherent problems with implementing it based on negative past experiences.

Get the big market teams to agree to extreme revenue sharing now, particularly with local television revenue, while the differences are small enough that it's not that big a deal.

Cut a deal with the players to give them free agency after 10 years, before your leverage is gone.

Make Saturdays an all-day nationally televised baseball day, so you can own Saturdays like the NFL owns Sundays.

Find a way to keep umpires in shape before we lose John McSherry and Eric Gregg.

Get rid of Eric Gregg before 1997.

Work out a sensible PED education, testing and penalty program before external forces pressure you into a non-sensible one.

Schedule an in-person interview between Doug Pappas and Bud Selig on May 21, 2004.

73. zonk Posted: September 21, 2012 at 08:58 AM (#4241868)

Don't just hand Steve Garvey Czechoslovakia and think he'll be satisfied.

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