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    Stealing strikes is ok but stealing signs is not?

    As seen in the Boston Herald and MLB Trade Rumors, more catchers are adopting a new receiving stance, "lowering one knee to the ground to give them a stronger base and allow them to better frame pitches for the umpires." The umpire gets a better view of balls and strikes but it makes it harder...
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    New pickoff rule coming to minors

    I don't recall hearing about this experiment in Indy ball but MLB is in the final stages of a plan that will change some of the pickoff rules in part of the minors in 2020. Pitchers will have to step off the rubber before they can throw to a base in a pickoff attempt. The Andy Pettite-style...
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    Flytrap: Oberlin College attempts a shift

    https://www.mlb.com/news/featured/oberlin-college-baseball-team-and-the-infield-shift This is quite funny and even has a Red Sox reference.
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    MLB unilaterally raising minor league minimum pay levels

    Surprised that no one has started a thread about the announcement from MLB that beginning in 2021 the minimum pay levels for minor leagues will be raised from between 38% to 72%, depending on the level. Currently, the minimum weekly pay for players in Rookie, Short Season A, Single A, and High...
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    Yoan Aybar, CF now LHP

    Signed out of the D.R. in 2013 as a 5-tool CF for a $450K bonus, hit didn't hit and was moved to pitcher five years later. Now, an MLB article ranking top fastballs by team prospects says he has the best fastball among Red Sox minor leaguers but is not expected to be anything other than a...
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    Blue Jays catcher Reese McGuire arrested

    According to MLB Trade Rumors, McGuire was arrested over the weekend in a vehicle in a retail parking lot near the team's training camp in Dunedin. Allegedly, McGuire was charged with “exposure of sexual organs.” He has more than one?
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    Will the NHL season end early because of lack of hockey sticks?

    Article in today's Globe indicates that over 75% of the hockey sticks used by NHL players comes from China and the coronavirus as well as shutdown of factories for Chinese New Year observation has resulted in a shutdown in professional grade sticks available. Even if a stick does not break, it...
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    Pete Rose petitioning MLB for reinstatement

    Rose is basing his request because his "lifetime ban is vastly disproportionate when compared with MLB's punishments of players who took performance-enhancing drugs and the players involved in the sign-stealing schemes by the 2017 Houston Astros." ESPN For as much as I have disliked Pete Rose...
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    Failed prospect sues Yankees, says Jeter reason he never made majors

    https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/failed-prospect-sues-yankees-claims-derek-jeter-is-why-he-never-made-it-to-mlb/ although a better source might be from nj.com as it also talks about the suit he file against an NC private football training complex when he failed to get into pro football...
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    AI in the announcer's booth (that's not an L)

    Bit curious about where to start this thread but a friend just sent a message to me and several others about an article on the Strategy+Business website regarding work done by IBM and Amazon to produce artificial-intelligence powered robots to provide personalized sports broadcasts. In fact...
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    RIP: Ted Lepcio

    I don't recall seeing mention on the board and a search of it didn't turn up anything but Ted Lepcio passed away on December 11. He spent 1951 in Class B and AAA in the Red Sox system and after one game in AAA in '52 was called up to Boston where he played SS/3B/2B through 3 games in 1959 when...
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    MLB plans to remove marijuana from banned substances list for minor leaguers

    https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/10/marijuana/mlb-plans-remove-marijuana-banned-substances-list-minor-leaguers/ "would be for minor leaguers who aren’t on the 40-man roster of players who are eligible to be added to the active roster" "Players on the Major League 40-man roster have not been...
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    Why Do Games Take So Long? and Time Between Pitches: Cause of Long Games?

    I would strongly suggest that people read a couple of research papers presented at SABR national conventions in 2018 and 2019 by David W. Smith, founder of Project Retrosheet on Why Do Games Take So Long? and a follow-up, Time Between Pitches: Cause of Long Games? The latter may change your mind.
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    It's time to go to WAR

    There is an article on the ESPN site by Sam Miller, "How is WAR calculated, really? Breaking down a single play to find out." Miller, with the help of some others who he credits, looked at a play in a game between the Braves and the Reds and broke it down second by second, describing whose WAR...
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    Wat Misaka (RIP)--broke pro basketball's color barrier

    Not exactly sure where to put this but Wat Misaka, who was the son of Japanese immigrants and the man who broke pro basketball's color barrier died at age 95. After graduating from University of Utah (NIT and NCAA championships), he joined the Knicks in 1947. They were part of the Basketball...
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    Wake from seams creates unexpected movement in change-ups AND also the Laminar Express

    Article from phys.org on how the wake creates by seams of a baseball have been used to create unexpected movement on change-ups. There is also a link at the bottom of the article on the differences of the fluid dynamics of 2- and 4-seam fastballs and how laminar pitching can be utilized.
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    MLB isn't confident it can produce a consistent ball

    Article in Yahoo Sports -- During the annual GMs meetings, the "the subtle shift in the aerodynamics that resulted in a not-so-subtle spike in home runs," was a big topic of discussion. "According to league sources, Major League Baseball is not confident that the ball can be made completely...
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    Russell now in the Hall

    With the election of Chuck Cooper to basketball's Hall of Fame, Bill Russell accepted his Hall of Fame ring in a private ceremony with his wife and close friends on Thursday. https://www.theroot.com/bill-russell-ends-44-year-basketball-hof-boycott-but-th-1839895796
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    Why are the seasons 2005 and 2008 unlike the others from 1908 through 2019?

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    A different take on salary cap

    I wan't sure where to put this but since the first thing I thought about upon reading it was baseball, I'll put it here and if someone thinks it should be moved, then okay. However... It seems as though an English rugby team (champions, no less) was just fined 5.36 million pounds and had 35...
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