We are going to be (trying) to ask a ‘Question of the Day’ to get a discussion going.
Today’s question is “Which year permanently changed how you watch baseball?”
Hmmmm that’s a tough one for me. I’ve watched baseball my whole life. I guess the change came when Bill James started publishing his ‘Baseball Abstracts’ in the 1980s and, around the same time, started noticing Earl Weaver, and how he managed differently than other managers.
I started looking at the differences among managers (back when each manager had their own way of doing things, one of the things I miss about the old days). Billy Martin would pick four starting pitchers and ride them hard (and, of course, fight with everyone). It would work for a season or two, but then the workload would catch up with them. Of course, Martin knew that he wasn’t going to last long in any job, so why should he worry about the health of his players?
Whitey Herzog built his teams to make the most of the home field. In KC, his team played on a very fast artificial turf and a huge outfield. He used fast outfielders who could cut off balls before they got to the track and, of course, could round the bases when their hits made it to the track. Fly balls died before reaching the wall, so power wasn’t high on his priorities.
Around the same time, the Blue Jays were assembling a young, talented roster, and I found myself enjoying watching them develop before my eyes. Watching Bell, Moseby, Barfield, Mulliniks, Whitt, Stieb and all would make a fan out of anyone.
Anyway, the point of this wasn’t for me to answer the question; it was for you guys to do it. Tell us what year permanently changed how you watch baseball?
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