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2014 Home Run Derby, Mon 7/14 @ 8pm ET (ESPN)

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Bucky32 said:
Definitely needs some major retooling for next year. Maybe it's the format, maybe it's the players (hard to get excited about Brian Dozier), but something needs to be done.
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  1. Return to the traditional three-round format. Entire field is in the first round, top four advance to the second round, then top two to the final.
  2. Get rid of "outs" entirely, give each batter a predetermined number of pitches in each round. Boredom sets in when we spend more time watching players take pitches instead of swinging. If you only get a set number of pitches you'll get big swings on every one of them. Also, I think there's something to be said for determining a winner by who can go yard an all kinds of pitches rather than one who will wait around for their pitcher to get locked into a certain spot.
  3. Truly open it up to players who are not on the All-Star team. I'd much rather see a guy with 25 HR and a .220 BA in this thing than somebody with 15 HR who's a respected leader in the clubhouse.
  4. All in all, just forget about all of the artificial AL-NL crap. Get the best batting practice guys in the league and let them hack their brains out. That what we want to see.
 
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jlb1705 said:
  1. Return to the traditional three-round format. Entire field is in the first round, top four advance to the second round, then top two to the final.
  2. Get rid of "outs" entirely, give each batter a predetermined number of pitches in each round. Boredom sets in when we spend more time watching players take pitches instead of swinging. If you only get a set number of pitches you'll get big swings on every one of them. Also, I think there's something to be said for determining a winner by who can go yard an all kinds of pitches rather than one who will wait around for their pitcher to get locked into a certain spot.
  3. Truly open it up to players who are not on the All-Star team. I'd much rather see a guy with 25 HR and a .220 BA in this thing than somebody with 15 HR who's a respected leader in the clubhouse.
  4. All in all, just forget about all of the artificial AL-NL crap. Get the best batting practice guys in the league and let them hack their brains out. That what we want to see.
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Absolutely agree on all of these, but especially #3. We need Edwin Encarnacion in there coming out of his shoes on every pitch in an attempt to hit it out of the stadium. When people tune in, they want to see home runs of the Stanton variety, not wall scrapers. I'd start by looking at the list of longest average home runs hit and go from there.
 
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Here's my suggestion for the home run derby: get rid of it.

I don't get the fascination with watching someone groove pitches to a guy in a non-competitive pitcher/batter situation. The excitement of the home run, for me, comes from hitting it in a game against a guy trying to get you out. Add to it that this "contest" takes longer than most actual games and there's no way I'm watching it. :sleep1:
 
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Jake said:
Here's my suggestion for the home run derby: get rid of it.

I don't get the fascination with watching someone groove pitches to a guy in a non-competitive pitcher/batter situation. The excitement of the home run, for me, comes from hitting it in a game against a guy trying to get you out. Add to it that this "contest" takes longer than most actual games and there's no way I'm watching it. :sleep1:
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Bah! Next thing you'll be telling us is to get rid of the Slam Dunk Contest!
 
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jlb1705 said:
  1. Return to the traditional three-round format. Entire field is in the first round, top four advance to the second round, then top two to the final.
  2. Get rid of "outs" entirely, give each batter a predetermined number of pitches in each round. Boredom sets in when we spend more time watching players take pitches instead of swinging. If you only get a set number of pitches you'll get big swings on every one of them. Also, I think there's something to be said for determining a winner by who can go yard an all kinds of pitches rather than one who will wait around for their pitcher to get locked into a certain spot.
  3. Truly open it up to players who are not on the All-Star team. I'd much rather see a guy with 25 HR and a .220 BA in this thing than somebody with 15 HR who's a respected leader in the clubhouse.
  4. All in all, just forget about all of the artificial AL-NL crap. Get the best batting practice guys in the league and let them hack their brains out. That what we want to see.
Click to expand...
1, agree
2, no if anything give them 10 swings and then the final 15
3, agree
4, agree
 
Upvote 0
To be fair, I'm not generally a fan of All Star games in any sport. I don't give a shit about the Slam Dunk contest either, for similar reasons.
 
Upvote 0
jlb1705 said:
  1. Return to the traditional three-round format. Entire field is in the first round, top four advance to the second round, then top two to the final.
  2. Get rid of "outs" entirely, give each batter a predetermined number of pitches in each round. Boredom sets in when we spend more time watching players take pitches instead of swinging. If you only get a set number of pitches you'll get big swings on every one of them. Also, I think there's something to be said for determining a winner by who can go yard an all kinds of pitches rather than one who will wait around for their pitcher to get locked into a certain spot.
  3. Truly open it up to players who are not on the All-Star team. I'd much rather see a guy with 25 HR and a .220 BA in this thing than somebody with 15 HR who's a respected leader in the clubhouse.
  4. All in all, just forget about all of the artificial AL-NL crap. Get the best batting practice guys in the league and let them hack their brains out. That what we want to see.
Click to expand...

Yeah - there's no reason for line drive hitters like Frazier and Morneau to be in it and Adam Dunn or Chris Davis not to be....
 
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Jake said:
To be fair, I'm not generally a fan of All Star games in any sport. I don't give a [Mark May] about the Slam Dunk contest either, for similar reasons.
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I don't know what happened. I used to revel in All-Star weekends for NBA and MLB as a kid (NHL to a lesser extent...Pro Bowl, nah, never cared).

Now, I really do not give one ounce of f%ck.
 
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