Baseball becoming a no-hit game

“Baseball has become a game of catch between the pitcher and catcher more than ever before.”

An article by Tom Verducci on Sports Illustrated’s website (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tom_verducci/05/04/contact.pitches/index.html) discusses how baseball has become less intriguing to audiences everywhere because pitchers have become so good.

This is something I never would have considered, though it makes perfect sense. Baseball is boring when all you do is walk and strikeout players. The contact with the bat and the ball is what really makes fans giddy.

Verducci says pitchers are not taking chances on easy hits, instead dabbling on the outside so teams don’t score up easy runs.

But this makes for boring baseball. Nobody likes it when boxers block all the punches; we want to see someone get hit. The same applies here.

He says another reason the game has become so ho-hum is the way hitting is taught. “Wait out the pitcher. Run up his pitch count. Swing early in the count only if the ball is in the middle of the plate. Take your walks. Teams don't swing at about 55 percent of all pitches.”

Teams aren’t taking any chances on strikeouts either. Teams are edging away from the record-breaking plays and are instead opting for the plays that might let them keep up with their opponents, and that makes for a less interesting, more snoozeworthy baseball game.