The Futures Game has its excitement for those that want to see the "stars of tomorrow".
The Legends/Celebrity softball game has its excitement for the casual fans that just want to have fun.
The HR Derby is quickly fading and many of the top home run hitters are shying away from participating due to the impact on their swing/performance post-all star break.
I caught this article the other day where Mookie advocates for doing something different. It was refreshing to see since I've been interested in seeing something more in line with what the NHL and NBA do with their skills competitions being adopted by MLB.
The Legends/Celebrity softball game has its excitement for the casual fans that just want to have fun.
The HR Derby is quickly fading and many of the top home run hitters are shying away from participating due to the impact on their swing/performance post-all star break.
I caught this article the other day where Mookie advocates for doing something different. It was refreshing to see since I've been interested in seeing something more in line with what the NHL and NBA do with their skills competitions being adopted by MLB.
I'd like to see the MLB adopt a skills challenge in place of the HR Derby, or scale down the Derby and make it a part of the skills challenge. Various competitions I can think of below. Many come from just adapting the NHL or NBA version.“Something like a throwing-from-the-outfield contest. Some type of throwing contest,” he added. “Trying to throw into a barrel or infielders have to take a ground ball to your left, ground ball to your right, slow roller and they have to throw into a screen with a box. That might be something.”
- Outfield accuracy - Outfielders throw from positions attempting to hit a target located at either 3B or home plate. Give each player 3-5 attempts. Points can be based on accuracy.
- Fastest runner - Fastest runner to round the bases.
- Pitcher accuracy - Hang a "strike zone" with four corner targets and let the pitchers throw at them. Maybe you include more targets of various points covering the entire strike zone and only give the pitchers 3 pitches to score the highest point total. Corners worth the most and down the middle worth the least.
- Fastest pitch - Give the pitchers two pitches each and see who comes out on top. This may not be the best choice due to injury risk.
- Bunting competition - Divide the area in front of home plate into sections and see who can put their bunts closest to the line.
- Catcher accuracy - Throw down to second base and hit a target. Count the number of targets hit out of 5 attempts or add a time element to hit the most targets in x seconds.
- Stolen base contest - Each team selects a catcher and pitcher, and the other team selects 3-4 runners to attempt to steal a base. Points awarded for a successful steal, caught stealing, and bonus point for the pitcher's team if the runner gets picked off first base.
- Rather than a HR derby, select your best hitters and give them X pitches or 2 minutes to swing. Swing result and/or distance can factor into a points total for the player. I'm thinking something like the MLB The Show game where you get a certain number of points for a home run, another for a line drive, fewer for a fly ball, less for a ground ball, etc.
- Batter Target Practice - Put targets around the field for batters to try to hit. Targets increase in point value depending on difficulty. Give them 10 swings to hit as many targets or accumulate as many points as possible.
- Relay races - two possible versions: 1) teams of OF, IF, C race to get the ball from the outfield wall to home plate. 2) Combine several small activities such as bunting, running, fielding ground balls, throwing, etc and time each team to completion.